Tiger Lily

From Goodreads:    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 teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything--her family, her future--to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

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.

From the "New York Times" bestselling author of "Peaches" comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.

My Thoughts:

-    This is not your typical Peter Pan story!  No flying, no happy thoughts, no magic...just the life of a young girl.  

-    The story is told from Tinker Bell's viewpoint.  I wasn't expecting this at all, but it was cool to get the story from an observer's perspective.  I also liked getting to know Tink and being inside her head.

-    It was fun to see how Tink, Tiger Lily, Peter, and Wendy all meet each other for the first time.

-    The writing style was different, but it really worked for this book.

-    Sometimes I got so wrapped up in Tiger Lily's world that I forgot it was Tinker Bell speaking.

-    The cross dressing shaman was a little weird for me, especially for the time period.  I really liked Tik Tok's character though.  He was so compassionate and wise, and I loved his relationship with Tiger Lily.  He reminds me of my own father, minus the long hair and dresses of course.

-    I'm not sure if I liked this or not.  I kept going back and forth about how good it was.  I'm still a bit undecided.

-    The story is a slower and solemn one.  I wasn't expecting that at all!  In fact, the whole thing was just so different from what I thought it would be.  The story picks up speed a bit towards the end.

-    I am happy with the way things turned out, but I'm also a little sad by it.  This story is closer to real life than a lot of stuff I read.