Latest Read: Tiger Lily

Here are the basics ...
Book: Tiger Lily
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Site: http://www.facebook.com/jodilynnandersonbooks
Category: Young Adult

Summary: 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 Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell. 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. (Adapted from amazon.com) 

My thoughts…

The good:  This book was so beautifully written.  It's heartbreaking, bittersweet and exceeded all my expectations.  I got to the last page with a lump in my throat and immediately went back to reread the passages I highlighted.  I think the author accomplished something really amazing with Tiger Lily.  The story of Peter Pan (and Wendy) is so well-known but she was able to take all the elements we're familiar with and completely make it hers.  In the Disney version, Tiger Lily is less than a secondary character.  Here, she comes alive and we get to see her through a very interesting point-of-view -- Tinker Bell's.

Everyone in this book became something more than what we usually associate these characters with. Tiger Lily is more than just the chief's daughter. She's a strong, introverted character falling in love for the first time and not knowing what to do or how to act.  Tinker Bell is more than a jealous fairy.  She's someone who loves and feels loyalty. And Peter Pan.  He's more than a boy who chases after Hook and doesn't want to grow up.  He's also lonely, vulnerable, restless and looking for someone to believe in him.  I've always loved Peter Pan and Wendy but while reading this book, I did not want Wendy to show up and give us the ending we all know.  I just wanted Peter Pan and Tiger Lily's story to go on and on and on.

The bad:  None whatsoever.

Do I recommend?:  Yes yes yes, I can't say it enough! Right after finishing it, I was talking to one of my book buddies and I must've mentioned Tiger Lily like five times to her.  She said she could tell that I was just in love with this book and I really, really am.

Happy reading!