Jodi Lynn Anderson
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release Date: July 3, 2012
Source: Purchased
Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .
Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.
Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything--her family, her future--to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.
With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.
From the "New York Times" bestselling author of "Peaches" comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.
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CATCHALL
I'd heard such awesome things about Tiger Lily, so when I saw it at the bookstore, I knew that I had to buy it. So I did.
One of the dumbest things I have ever done in my life.
Don't get me wrong; Tiger Lily wasn't totally awful, but I will definitely not be singing its praises. I could totally have lived a happy life without having ever read this. Because unfortunately, even though so many people have told me that it is amazing and awesome, it appears that we have a difference of opinion.
THE HEROINE
TIGER LILY
Tiger Lily is supposed to be "strong" and "independent," but if I'm honest I actually just thought she was a total bitch. She constantly acts like she doesn't really care about anyone else and she probably doesn't. She's incredibly selfish and never focuses on anyone but herself. For mostly the entire book she focuses on things that are important to her and never stops to think about how they'll affect anyone else. I just did not like her at all. She has no compassion whatsoever and I found her absolutely impossible to relate to.
THE LOVE INTEREST
PETER PAN
I'm not even sure how I felt about Peter. There were some moments where I was like, This is the Peter Pan I fell in love with as a child, and then there were moments where I wanted nothing more than to slap him for being such a jerk, because he kind of is a jerk at a ton of places in the novel. Still, I do think that I ended up liking him more than I disliked him. Also, his character is a dynamic one and it is interesting to see the way that he grows and changes.
THE ENGLISH GIRL
WENDY
Honestly, I didn't care for Jodi's portrayal of Wendy. It's like she made her as pretentious and ridiculous as possible for no reason at all. Frankly, it was…irritating. Condescending. There was no reason to make Wendy some insipid idiot. And yet that is what she was made into.
THE FAERIE
TINKER BELL
I pretty much have nothing to say about Tinker Bell, but since she is our narrator I feel obligated to mention her. I didn't really like her, either. For one thing, she likes Tiger Lily, which doesn't exactly score her any points in my book. I mean, she was okay at some points, sure. I don't really have strong feelings about her either way.
THE PLOT
Okay, well, see, I liked the plot mostly. So much of the reason this book was ruined for me was because Tiger Lily existed.
I mean, Jodi's retelling of Peter Pan is gorgeous. I don't really many classics other a few treasured favorites, so I've never gotten around to reading the original Peter Pan. Obviously I've seen the Disney movie. But even with only that to go on, I completely fell in love with the Neverland that Jodi provided. It was brilliant, really. As far as I know, it fit it with the original story while also managing to secure its own unique appeal.
One of the main problems is, the plot was a bit…how do I say this nicely…erratic. Since Tinker Bell was the narrator and not Tiger Lily, it was difficult to get a straight insight into the story. Tiger Lily's feelings aren't always clear, and Tinker Bell spends a lot of time tangenting (which I'm pretty sure is so not a word, but whatever) into her own story. Not only was a that story not solid enough to be important, it took away from Tiger Lily's story and made the whole thing confusing. I spent more time than I should ever have to spend trying to keep the story straight.
Not to mention, there were too many random side plots that apparently contributed to the story, only they didn't really. Something random would pop up, and optimist that I am, I assumed it would be important later, but most of these random things never were relevant at all.
However, for all the time I have spent complaining, the plot actually was done really well, and it was one of the aspects in the novel that I most enjoyed.
THE ROMANCE
Despite this supposedly being some kind of awesome love story, it wasn't anything special for me. In fact, I'm not sure it's entirely instalove, but it didn't seem to be entirely genuine to me either. There wasn't really enough development for Jodi to convince me that Peter and Tiger Lily actually loved each other. Yes, I could see that there was something that drew them together…but that's about it. When it came to Peter, though, I could see the development, and he changes and evolves from "loving" Tiger Lily to Wendy.
THE WRITING
Jodi's writing is lovely. Her descriptions of Neverland are gorgeous. Peerless. I can really picture the island and its inhabitants. The people, the nature, everything. The world-building is awesome. Neverland feels like such a real place that it seems impossible to believe that it's not real. However, for all that the description is perfect, I found the dialogue lacking. It didn't sparkles, and in fact it was rather dull. I wish that the dialogue had been less simplistic, but oh well.
THE ENDING
The saving grace of this novel that won it an overall three stars is the ending. It was, of course, absolutely heartbreaking, but somehow perfect. Although it was expected, I couldn't bring myself to dislike it for that. It was everything a tragic love story should be, and beautiful. It did bring tears to my eyes, especially that last letter. It was full of truths, which sounds crazy dramatic, but there you have it.
WRAPUP
So, I'm not sure that I could recommend this. A lot of people loved this, so you should keep that in mind, but I personally cannot give you my recommendation. I did end up liking this book at the very end, but for the majority of the book it was a huge struggle just to convince myself to finish. However, I know that there are tons of people out there who love it and more who will. I will be reading more of Jodi's work in the future, too.
FINE.
I'd heard such awesome things about Tiger Lily, so when I saw it at the bookstore, I knew that I had to buy it. So I did.
One of the dumbest things I have ever done in my life.
Don't get me wrong; Tiger Lily wasn't totally awful, but I will definitely not be singing its praises. I could totally have lived a happy life without having ever read this. Because unfortunately, even though so many people have told me that it is amazing and awesome, it appears that we have a difference of opinion.
THE HEROINE
TIGER LILY
Tiger Lily is supposed to be "strong" and "independent," but if I'm honest I actually just thought she was a total bitch. She constantly acts like she doesn't really care about anyone else and she probably doesn't. She's incredibly selfish and never focuses on anyone but herself. For mostly the entire book she focuses on things that are important to her and never stops to think about how they'll affect anyone else. I just did not like her at all. She has no compassion whatsoever and I found her absolutely impossible to relate to.
THE LOVE INTEREST
PETER PAN
I'm not even sure how I felt about Peter. There were some moments where I was like, This is the Peter Pan I fell in love with as a child, and then there were moments where I wanted nothing more than to slap him for being such a jerk, because he kind of is a jerk at a ton of places in the novel. Still, I do think that I ended up liking him more than I disliked him. Also, his character is a dynamic one and it is interesting to see the way that he grows and changes.
THE ENGLISH GIRL
WENDY
Honestly, I didn't care for Jodi's portrayal of Wendy. It's like she made her as pretentious and ridiculous as possible for no reason at all. Frankly, it was…irritating. Condescending. There was no reason to make Wendy some insipid idiot. And yet that is what she was made into.
THE FAERIE
TINKER BELL
I pretty much have nothing to say about Tinker Bell, but since she is our narrator I feel obligated to mention her. I didn't really like her, either. For one thing, she likes Tiger Lily, which doesn't exactly score her any points in my book. I mean, she was okay at some points, sure. I don't really have strong feelings about her either way.
THE PLOT
Okay, well, see, I liked the plot mostly. So much of the reason this book was ruined for me was because Tiger Lily existed.
I mean, Jodi's retelling of Peter Pan is gorgeous. I don't really many classics other a few treasured favorites, so I've never gotten around to reading the original Peter Pan. Obviously I've seen the Disney movie. But even with only that to go on, I completely fell in love with the Neverland that Jodi provided. It was brilliant, really. As far as I know, it fit it with the original story while also managing to secure its own unique appeal.
One of the main problems is, the plot was a bit…how do I say this nicely…erratic. Since Tinker Bell was the narrator and not Tiger Lily, it was difficult to get a straight insight into the story. Tiger Lily's feelings aren't always clear, and Tinker Bell spends a lot of time tangenting (which I'm pretty sure is so not a word, but whatever) into her own story. Not only was a that story not solid enough to be important, it took away from Tiger Lily's story and made the whole thing confusing. I spent more time than I should ever have to spend trying to keep the story straight.
Not to mention, there were too many random side plots that apparently contributed to the story, only they didn't really. Something random would pop up, and optimist that I am, I assumed it would be important later, but most of these random things never were relevant at all.
However, for all the time I have spent complaining, the plot actually was done really well, and it was one of the aspects in the novel that I most enjoyed.
THE ROMANCE
Despite this supposedly being some kind of awesome love story, it wasn't anything special for me. In fact, I'm not sure it's entirely instalove, but it didn't seem to be entirely genuine to me either. There wasn't really enough development for Jodi to convince me that Peter and Tiger Lily actually loved each other. Yes, I could see that there was something that drew them together…but that's about it. When it came to Peter, though, I could see the development, and he changes and evolves from "loving" Tiger Lily to Wendy.
THE WRITING
Jodi's writing is lovely. Her descriptions of Neverland are gorgeous. Peerless. I can really picture the island and its inhabitants. The people, the nature, everything. The world-building is awesome. Neverland feels like such a real place that it seems impossible to believe that it's not real. However, for all that the description is perfect, I found the dialogue lacking. It didn't sparkles, and in fact it was rather dull. I wish that the dialogue had been less simplistic, but oh well.
THE ENDING
The saving grace of this novel that won it an overall three stars is the ending. It was, of course, absolutely heartbreaking, but somehow perfect. Although it was expected, I couldn't bring myself to dislike it for that. It was everything a tragic love story should be, and beautiful. It did bring tears to my eyes, especially that last letter. It was full of truths, which sounds crazy dramatic, but there you have it.
WRAPUP
So, I'm not sure that I could recommend this. A lot of people loved this, so you should keep that in mind, but I personally cannot give you my recommendation. I did end up liking this book at the very end, but for the majority of the book it was a huge struggle just to convince myself to finish. However, I know that there are tons of people out there who love it and more who will. I will be reading more of Jodi's work in the future, too.
FINE.
***FINAL RATING: 2.65 RED ROSES***
