Tiger Lily in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Aug 15, 2012 Lydia Presley rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2012, fiction, fantasy, young-adult

I think I'm in the minority here with my opinion on Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson. I'm disappointed, because I wanted to join in the gushing praise - I've been fascinated by Tiger Lily ever since, as a little girl, I saw her brief appearance in Disney's Peter Pan. I used to look for her when we'd go to Disneyland/world. I credit Tiger Lily for my current interest in Native American literature and culture (of which I am finally diving into this fall with a class!).

So when I say that I was dis I think I'm in the minority here with my opinion on Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson. I'm disappointed, because I wanted to join in the gushing praise - I've been fascinated by Tiger Lily ever since, as a little girl, I saw her brief appearance in Disney's Peter Pan. I used to look for her when we'd go to Disneyland/world. I credit Tiger Lily for my current interest in Native American literature and culture (of which I am finally diving into this fall with a class!).

So when I say that I was disappointed by Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson, understand that I do it with a heavy heart. Here is why this book didn't work for me.

Narration. The narrator in this book is Tinkerbell - and there were times I knew it was Tink, and times I forgot and then was suddenly jarred back to that realization with her profession of love (first I thought that I was in Tiger Lily's head which was totally weird given the context) or some other thing that just didn't fit into the flow of the story. This could have been a much more powerful novel if told from Tiger Lily's point of view, or even that of her adoptive parent, the marvelously transgender-ed Tik-Tok. It was just too strange, hearing a story told about another woman from a another womanish (even a fairy woman's) point of view.

Inconsistency in the story. Anderson did a fairly decent job explaining the whole aging thing in Neverland. I was willing to buy it - I mean, it made sense kind of. But it was too broad, and there were certain things that confused me. I mean - the random appearance of strangers from other islands. The ease of the pirates in slipping from this fantastic place to "the real world" - it definitely gave off a bit of a LOST vibe. But I had a hard time understanding how the aging process worked with the Lost Boys - and if it even affected the pirates. Does it affect others when they leave and come back? I don't know. It was just not a consistent idea - but it did have merit.

Simplicity. I know this is a young adult book - but this was simple even for being one. Generally speaking, the storylines are easier to follow, the character development a little more obvious - I get all of that. But Tiger Lily sported some fairly juvenile writing that started to get on my nerves about 1/4th of the way into the book. I simply didn't want to pick it up anymore because I felt as if rather than being allowed to envision the story in my imagination, everything was being laid out and explained to me with very simple words.

So in short - disappointed. I give Anderson full credit though for coming up with a reason for the aging/non-aging of individuals in a classic story .. but the rest of the book fell short for me. ...more

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Oct 15, 2019 Debbie rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I enjoyed reading this book, since I love the book Peter Pan. But there were some things that were confusing to me.

To be clear, this is a prequel/off-stage view of Peter Pan, mostly focused on Tiger Lily. The woman is clearly a strong one, but does not get much attention in the source material. Anderson does right by her, for the most part. Up until she meets Peter Pan, she is strong, confident, and fearless. First love makes her gelatin, and we've all been there. I don't mind the fact that Tige ...more

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Nov 08, 2022 Julie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

In this clever retelling of Peter Pan from Tinker Bell’s perspective, we learn about Tiger Lily’s background, life, and her role in the story of the Lost Boys. In this version, she and Peter are teenagers, trying to figure out love and loss and I thought it was well done. Good in #audio though I found the narrator’s voice a little annoying at first.

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