Tiger Lily

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Age: Young Adult
Category: Fantasy; romance
Rating: 4 stars

“Bad things happen whether you're scared or not, so you might as well not bother being scared. It's a waste of time.”

Melissa Thinks: “Tiger Lily” follows the famous character of the same name from the classic children’s book Peter Pan. As the adoptive daughter of the Shaman Tik Tok, there is a lot of pressure put on Tiger Lily from the tribe. It is her wild nature that makes her endearing as a character, yet condemns her amongst her people. Although the novel is about Tiger Lily, it is told through the perspective of the most lovable character of the franchise, the faerie Tinker Bell.

The book primarily shifts between two settings: Tiger Lily’s village and the Lost Boy’s underground burrow. It is through these shifts that we see the major conflict of the book – Tiger Lily must make a choice between the two. On one hand, the village is where her family and friends are, despite the fact that she’s being forced into a marriage with the vilest man she’s ever met. But on the other hand, with the Lost Boys and Peter, she can be free – she’s a savagely beautiful girl with a fiery spirit. More importantly, with the Lost Boys she can be with her newfound love: the infamous Peter Pan.


In this novel, the author works on expanding our knowledge of these well-known characters. She transforms the fantasy of Neverland into a far more plausible, yet still farfetched, idea. Here we see minor characters bloom into three-dimensional people; we see the world that J. M. Barrie created in a whole new light; and more importantly we see incredibly written character relationships. The most stunning relationship, of course, happens between Tiger Lily and Peter Pan. As their relationship unfolds, the character development deepens and soon we learn about Peter’s false bravado, Tiger Lily’s loneliness, and Tinker Bell’s unyielding loyalty.

If you’re a fan of the classic Disney interpretation of Peter Pan, I highly recommend this book to you. Just be aware that this book differs from the cartoon considerably – it’s dark, dangerous, and tragic. You may not ever look at the film the same way again; I know I won’t.