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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Tiger Lily-Jodi Lynn Anderson

4/5
** spoiler alert ** This was simply amazing. First off a warning, this is a RETELLING, I have read reviews of people bitching because this book butchered the enchanting tale of Peter Pan. This is NOT Peter Pan, it is the story told in an entirely different way and should be read with the knowledge that it is literary ya fiction and not a magical children’s play.

1) I loved how beautifully simplistic this novel was, there was basically no magic and the plot, while basic, had such a great writing style that I just got sucked in. Like the movie Second Hand Lions No intense action, CGI, or Special effects. Just a good story, solid characters and a great back drop

2) Dialogue- there was very little dialogue, mainly the watching of things taking place.

3) Neverland- I love a retelling, it is my down fall and in this book the author manages to re create Neverland into something that could actually be. The inhabitants stop aging at different times and consider aging to be a disease. There are mermaids but they are kind of ugly, and harsh killers and the fairies cannot speak and are more like insects than the pretty sparkling things we are used to. It was a very interesting take on this story.

4) Tiger Lily- This novel is told mainly from the life of Tiger Lily. It shows her as a strong, independent tough heroine and actually one the first ones I could really get behind in a long time. She has faults but she is a 15 year old Indian girl just trying to find her way as the daughter of the cross dressing shaman. She makes mistakes and fixes them and while she falls in love with Peter, it does not consume her and when things falls apart she finds love elsewhere and lives as happily ever after as she can.


5) Tinker Bell- This story is from the point of view of Tink who loves and watches Tiger Lily and falls in love with Peter. She is more of a protective insect like creature than the spoiled irritating fairy that Disney turned her into. Fairies in this book cannot speak but can read minds and are empathic. Tink spends the story loyal to Tiger Lily and trying to help and protect both Tiger and Peter.

6) Peter Pan and the Lost Boys- In this Peter is a bit of a beast. He is 16, dirty, lost, and confused and does not fly. He loves Tiger Lily but still wants to be admired by her and better than her. Obviously his affection is stolen easily by Wendy. He tries to take care of the Lost Boys, all of whom washed up in Neverland or were kidnapped by pirates, from England. They are a rambling rowdy bunch of boys. The author writes them as real boys without the magic, and fun from the original story. They are not the cute adorable boys we are used to but real ones, much more Lord of the Flies and less ”We’re following the leader”.

7) Wendy- Here is something that I find the same in this book and the original. Wendy was annoying and I was glad when her character finally left the story.


8) Tik Tok and Englanders- Tik Tok is the Shaman of their village and he is a cross dresser, the people do not care and find it completely normal. He finds Tiger Lily as a baby and adopts her. He is well respected and there is never any mention of whether he is gay or not. Then the English come and one infiltrates their tribe with stories of how men and women have certain roles and of their male one true God. This causes a disturbance within the tribe which leads to Phillip (The Englander) cutting off Tik Toks’ braid, burning his dresses and Tik Tok taking to his bed due to, basically, heart break. This added just a touch of extra depth and meaning to the novel.

9) The reason for four stars instead of five- the ending was rushed and I HATE that. Also some other things happen I found unnecessary and it takes Tiger Lily forever to come to her senses and act the way the reader and Tink know she should. The book, while great, ended almost is a sad way, without being actually sad. If that makes any sense.

I recommend reading this. Unless of course Peter Pan is just the be all and end all of your existence, then you may not enjoy the tone and style of this book and where the author took it. But I loved it.

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