Today's review is brought to you by a former secondary student of mine, Megan Smida. Her review puts mine to shame it is so good! Enjoy! Check out her bio at the end of the review.
*Book cover pic from Goodreads.com
I was initially hesitant to pick up Tiger Lily. I realized that it was a retelling of Peter Pan, and I was never a huge fan of that movie when I was little. However, I thought it would be interesting to see the story from the point of view of Tiger Lily, the Native American girl who plays a small role in the original story. I’m here to tell you to pick this up no matter how you feel about Peter Pan. This book is a very loose retelling. Don’t worry though, it still features the naïve and charismatic Peter Pan and even Wendy Darling from a perspective that might infuriate you and change how you see her forever.
The setting of this book is absolutely magical. I could always put myself in the characters' shoes no matter where they were. Whether or not Tiger Lily was in the village that her and her tribe live in or hanging with the Lost Boys in their hideout, it was like a movie was flashing before my eyes. Although the characters appearances are never really deeply described, I still had very vivid faces that I associated with them because I grew attached to all of them. Well, maybe not Wendy Darling and Phillip, but other than that…
Not only are the characters amazing on their own, but the character dynamics are some of the best I’ve ever seen. We have Tik Tok, Tiger Lily’s non-biological father. Tik Tok likes to wear dresses and wear his hair in long braids. Tiger Lily doesn’t think anything of that until a white man comes—Phillip—and gets everyone to shun Tik Tok for his lifestyle. Instead of following in their footsteps, Tiger Lily stands by her father and has his back through everything. I loved every word that these two exchanged. The incredible relationships don’t end there. Pine Sap is Tiger Lily’s childhood friend.
“Many people in the village wanted her to be more of a girl, and Peter had wanted her to be large and brave but a little less large and brave than him. But Pine Sap was sure enough to want her to be exactly who she was.”
As much as I loved them, Peter still managed to capture my heart. I never thought it would happen since I never really thought he was all that great in the Disney movie. The things he said to Tiger Lily honestly made my stomach flip at times. I mean that in the best way possible. There were a couple times I almost happy cried because it seemed like they were soulmates.
Another thing that Anderson incorporated into this novel is this: the book is narrated by Tinker Bell. This was very effective because she could watch everyone because she was so small. I always had this opinion that Tinker Bell was stuck up and a bit annoying. This book changed my perspective completely. She valued Tiger Lily’s feelings more than her own. Even though she was in love with Peter Pan, she didn’t let her jealousy consume her when she saw Tiger Lily and Peter together.
Basically Tiger Lily herself is one of the best heroines I’ve ever had the pleasure to read about. She is selfless, strong, and genuine. Most “strong” female characters just seem too hardcore in my eyes, to the point where it's unrealistic. Authors need to realize that no matter how powerful their character is, she still feel things and experiences moments of weakness.
"You looked strange climbing in the tree like that."
Tiger Lily pulled her braids between her fingers her sudden self-consciousness feeling foreign and strange to her. "I didn't do it to look nice."
Prepare yourself if you plan to read this. The ending of this book is completely heartbreaking. I cried about five times all for different reasons. Although there are so many upsetting things that happen, Anderson still provides you with the closure you need with her quotes and resolution.
With a perfect beginning, middle, and end, extraordinary characters, and emotional impact, this book without a doubt makes it onto my top five books of all time. I would recommend Tiger Lily to anyone; it changed my life in so many ways.
The setting of this book is absolutely magical. I could always put myself in the characters' shoes no matter where they were. Whether or not Tiger Lily was in the village that her and her tribe live in or hanging with the Lost Boys in their hideout, it was like a movie was flashing before my eyes. Although the characters appearances are never really deeply described, I still had very vivid faces that I associated with them because I grew attached to all of them. Well, maybe not Wendy Darling and Phillip, but other than that…
Not only are the characters amazing on their own, but the character dynamics are some of the best I’ve ever seen. We have Tik Tok, Tiger Lily’s non-biological father. Tik Tok likes to wear dresses and wear his hair in long braids. Tiger Lily doesn’t think anything of that until a white man comes—Phillip—and gets everyone to shun Tik Tok for his lifestyle. Instead of following in their footsteps, Tiger Lily stands by her father and has his back through everything. I loved every word that these two exchanged. The incredible relationships don’t end there. Pine Sap is Tiger Lily’s childhood friend.
“Many people in the village wanted her to be more of a girl, and Peter had wanted her to be large and brave but a little less large and brave than him. But Pine Sap was sure enough to want her to be exactly who she was.”
As much as I loved them, Peter still managed to capture my heart. I never thought it would happen since I never really thought he was all that great in the Disney movie. The things he said to Tiger Lily honestly made my stomach flip at times. I mean that in the best way possible. There were a couple times I almost happy cried because it seemed like they were soulmates.
Another thing that Anderson incorporated into this novel is this: the book is narrated by Tinker Bell. This was very effective because she could watch everyone because she was so small. I always had this opinion that Tinker Bell was stuck up and a bit annoying. This book changed my perspective completely. She valued Tiger Lily’s feelings more than her own. Even though she was in love with Peter Pan, she didn’t let her jealousy consume her when she saw Tiger Lily and Peter together.
Basically Tiger Lily herself is one of the best heroines I’ve ever had the pleasure to read about. She is selfless, strong, and genuine. Most “strong” female characters just seem too hardcore in my eyes, to the point where it's unrealistic. Authors need to realize that no matter how powerful their character is, she still feel things and experiences moments of weakness.
"You looked strange climbing in the tree like that."
Tiger Lily pulled her braids between her fingers her sudden self-consciousness feeling foreign and strange to her. "I didn't do it to look nice."
Prepare yourself if you plan to read this. The ending of this book is completely heartbreaking. I cried about five times all for different reasons. Although there are so many upsetting things that happen, Anderson still provides you with the closure you need with her quotes and resolution.
With a perfect beginning, middle, and end, extraordinary characters, and emotional impact, this book without a doubt makes it onto my top five books of all time. I would recommend Tiger Lily to anyone; it changed my life in so many ways.
My name is Megan Smida, and I fell in love with reading when I was around nine. I’ve been buying and reading books every chance I get since then. I just recently started writing reviews, and I really enjoy it, especially when it’s a book that I really love. I write reviews of every book I read on my Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/21656454-megan.
You can add me or follow my reviews there.
You can add me or follow my reviews there.