Now that Madison and I are back in the rut of school, that means more work for us, and less time to write reviews. We won't let you guys down, but please be patient.
4.1 stars out of 5
We all know the classic animated story of Peter Pan. Sweeping Wendy off her feet into Neverland. But what was Peter's story before meeting Wendy? Pan the camera to Tiger Lily, the Shaman's daughter of the Sky Eater clan.
This story takes a unique twist out of a classic tale, and it takes a slight turn to the dark side.
Stubborn, obstinate, and reserved, Tiger Lily is the pariah to the clan. She acts nothing like the girl she should be, so naturally that'd spark some bullying from the other children. One dunk into a pot of meat broth and they learned their lesson. Whenever something bad happens to Tiger Lily, particularly involving people, bad things happen in return. I don't quite recall what some of the things were, but I think one person caught on fire and died. And always when something of this sort happens, there are always crows. Sitting there and cawing at the villagers. Tiger Lily feels a connection to them, and wears two crow feathers in her crazed hair to symbolize these events. Creepy enough for you?
Tiger Lily, instead of being a princess as depicted in the animated film, is the Shaman's adopted daughter. Which is still a big deal. Tik Tok, the Shaman, is really the only person who encourages Tiger Lily to be different. She silently follows his examples, as he often wears women's garb and has hair down to his waist. Now I'm not saying that Tik Tok does drag, he's too awesome, but he likes dresses - ones that look like they can appeal to either gender.
In this interpretation, people do stop aging, but it's unknown how they do or at what age they will cease to grow old. There is folklore that the body stops growing at the most important time in your life. Tiger Lily stays fifteen for over eighty years at the end of the story. (Not a spoiler, that's given in the beginning). Another seemingly immortal, is the infamous Peter Pan. He and his gang of Lost Boys traverse through the forests, bringing fear to those of the Native villages. Honestly, I didn't see them to be too bad, and you never hear any specific tales of things that they've done. Peter and his Boys act more like confused dogs than savage wolves.
On the very first page, there is a blatant disclaimer that this story ends in tragedy or some vague thing of the sort. Even despite that, you're imploring for everything to work out in the end. And some things do, but others most definitely do not.
In the beginning, Tiger Lily saves an English man from drowning. He didn't just randomly wind up there, he was originally on one of many ships. What's that, you say? How are so many English ships able to find Neverland? Neverland is not simply some far off magical land, but a hard-to-locate island far to the depths of undiscovered land in the colonial era. From the point they let the English man stay in the village, things go wrong. It's like a slap in the face from history, because you slowly see as the English spread their language and religion through the village, making them turn against each other and their own culture. Sound familiar?
While this is all going on, Tiger Lily has met Peter Pan. (Because generally in a romance story the boy and girl need to actually meet at some point.) She finds her home with the Lost Boys to be better than the village, where she can be her rough and rowdy self. I did enjoy the romance between her and Peter, but man does that boy have some severe A.D.D. It's hard to describe without giving things away, but trust me on that.
Oh, and one of the best things about this is the narrator is "unseen". Unseen to the characters, but not to us. Only someone particularly small can pull that off. Tinkerbell! The faerie tells the tale through her point of view, and the fae here have emotional abilities in which they can tell what the characters are feeling or even thinking at times. I found it amusing to detect Tink's jealously at Tiger Lily when the faerie becomes smitten with Peter. She travels back and forth between the Lost Boys' hideout and the Sky Eater village to try and satisfy her curiosity, giving us a good look at everyone's point of view.
Overall, this is a story of love, loss, jealousy, tough choices, growing up, and revenge. If you're in the mood for something light-hearted to read, I don't recommend this. But if you want something that will leave an impression on your childhood memories, go for it.
Ta ta for now!
- Julia ;)
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