Tiger Lily

Title: Tiger Lily
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Published: July 2012
Synopsis from Goodreads


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.



While this book was different, a bit hard to follow at first, and out of the ordinary with the way it was told, it was also utterly amazing.

This is the story of Tiger Lily.

Now, I really had to think about who Tiger Lily was. I have never in my life read Peter Pan. Everything I know about him I learned from Disney, Robin Williams, and a cartoon series that I used to watch on Fox back in the 1990s.

So, I'm not an expert.

But doesn't everyone have a love for the boy who will never grow up? As a child don't you long to grow up only to wish you could turn back time and be a child, forever? I think this appeal is what draws us to Peter Pan as an adult. As a child it's the adventure of living without the rule of adults... but if you think about it... they are always looking for a mother :)

So, back to the book. Who is Tiger Lily?

She's the indian girl who Peter saves from Captain Hook.

 Remember her now?

I hardly did, but as refreshed my old noggin with Google images it started to come back to me.

Tiger Lilly lives in the tribe of the Sky Eaters. Her father figure is Tik Tok. That's not his real name. He renamed himself that after he found a clock and just really dug the sound.

Tiger Lily's best friend is a boy named Pine Sap. He's in love with her, but she think of him as a friend. Tiger Lily thinks that he's perfect for Moon Eye.

The Sky Eaters live in Neverland which is an island where nobody ages older than they should. Once you get to that age then you just stop. There are old people and young people, bald people, fat people, all sorts. Only the Englanders age.

The pirates are Englanders. And with the pirates is a man named Hook. He's a mean nasty man who is out looking for his lost boys. A boy named Peter Pan keeps taking them from him.

The lost boys live out in the woods with the boy who rescued them from the pirates. They do mostly everything together. That is until Tiger Lily enters the picture.

The Sky Eaters do not like to mess with Peter Pan. He's a killer. He won't think twice about slitting your neck. Tiger Lily didn't mean to run into Peter, it just kind of happened, and when it did - her neck stayed on her shoulders.

Tiger Lily got to know the leader of the lost boys. And slowly but surely she started to have feelings for him. But maybe that's because Peter told her he had feelings for her fist. Did he put this idea in her head? Or was it his kiss?

Seriously, girls and boys, this story is great. You just have to get past the first 40 pages to really grasp it. The book might be confusing to some because it is told from Tinkerbell's pov. I really dug that. It was told like a story and not a "My heart melted by the very sight of him". No no no... it was as though you were sitting down with Tink and she was telling you what really happened.

And I adored hearing things that lined up with the Peter Pan story that I knew. Like the clock, and Captain Hook's amputation, and how the lost boys got their name.... and even the Wendy Bird. That was probably the most interesting. I really wonder how many versions of Peter Pan the author read before her story came together.

Now, there are many questions that I would like to ask the author. Questions like:

Tik Tok wore a dress and had long hair. Was he a transgender? 

Tinkerbell ate loads of bugs and could sting people like a wasp. Is this in the original story?

While Captain Hook's amputation was mentioned throughout the book his prosthetic never was. Why is that?

What was aging like in Neverland? How long does it take to age a year?

Where do you think Neverland is located? For some reason, I figure it's in Australia.

Just silly things like that. I do admit that Tik Tok fascinated me. I mean, I really think he was a transgender. He was all the time wearing dresses and doing his hair. But then again, maybe Neverland is a part of Hawaii... but it would be hard for Englanders to get over there.

The ending is what got to me. I really did just ADORE it. It's in the form of a letter and just perfect.

So, my recommendation is: Read it baby! Give it a try! I haven't even told you a quarter of what goes on... so you'll be super surprised to find out what's awaiting you when you just turn a couple of pages :)