Tiger Lily
by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Published: July 3, 2012
Genres: Retelling, Romance, Young Adult
Format: eBook (292 pages)
Source: Purchased
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...
Take the beautiful, imaginary world of Neverland and make it a literal place where everything is messy and covered in dirt and that is the uninteresting world where Tiger Lily is set. I didn’t think it was possible to make Neverland so completely boring. A few magical elements remain like fairies and mermaids but they felt very flat and unoriginal. There’s also a poorly explained excuse for why some people get old and some people don’t. If you’re curious the reason some people don’t get old is because it just happens when something important happens in your life for no logical reason whatsoever.
The plot felt very been there done that in the way that Avatar was. It’s kind of a tired plot line to have new people come and mess everything up for the indigenous people. I also felt like there was nothing new or interesting added to this retelling of Peter Pan. I personally like my retellings to have new twists otherwise what is the point of the retelling? I’m not really sure what the overall conflict even was. It felt like the plot just kind of dragged along with an ending that kind of baffled me. Honestly, the whole book felt a little preachy. There were a few cute scenes between Peter Pan and Tiger Lily but not enough to make me really love this book.
The writing was good though it wasn’t my favorite. The word choice stood out to me sometimes and felt a little awkward here and there like it was trying too hard to be poetic or something, but there were a few quotes I really liked. Like this one:
“I’m not myself,” [Tiger Lily] offered, guilty. . . .
“You can never say that. You’re just a piece of yourself right now that you don’t like.”
-Jodi Lynn Anderson, Tiger Lily (p. 69)
My favorite character by far was Smee who sadly shows up in the book only a few times. The rest of the characters I had a hard time connecting with, especially Tiger Lily and the very strange decision she makes at the end of the book. I honestly found it hard to tell some of the characters apart.
Overall, I did not enjoy the world building in this book at all. It had a tired plot line with a cast of characters that I ended up not caring much about.
Content Rating: Medium, for some violence and non-graphic instances of rape and abuse.
About Jodi Lynn Anderson
Jodi Lynn Anderson is the New York Times bestselling author of Peaches, The Secrets of Peaches, Love and Peaches, the popular May Bird trilogy, and Tiger Lily. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and an endless parade of stray pets.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
My name is Jessica. I love to read Young Adult and classic literature. I’ve been a book blogger for six years and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I’m a very curious reader. Writing about all the questions and thoughts I had while reading a book is the best hobby ever.
Aw I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this much. :( This book seems to get very mixed reviews.. People either love it or they don’t; there’s very little in between!
I wonder if I would like it.. “overdone” plots usually don’t bother me *too* much if it’s a plot that I like!
Great review! :)
I know so many people loved it. I feel like I missed something. :( I mostly felt bored reading it though it could come from the fact that I had read the original Peter Pan right before it and it was a rich fantasy with a lot of fun plot. Tiger Lily focused a lot on social issues and didn’t have much plot (but it felt preachy to me personally).
UGH UGH UGH. I am so with you on this one. Though, I can applaud you for finishing. Ha. I couldn’t get that far. The book was SOO FREAKING DRY to me! And Tinker was so boring, and just there was NOTHING connecting me to the book. It’s kinda sad, since like everyone else loved it. [[[HOW?!]]] Haha anyway. Great review as always. I think I pounded in mine. I’m so negative. Lol.
<333 Inky
What? Tinker Bell? Oh yeah. I forgot she was narrating half the time lol. Tinker Bell in the original is so sassy and fun. I can tell you what happens at the end if you’re really curious. It made me so frustrated with Tiger Lily.