Review for Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson 
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release Date: 3rd July 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Fairytale Retelling
Rating: 5/5 stars
Source: Bought



Goodreads 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 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."

Review 
I’ve been on a huge Peter Pan kick recently and have enjoyed re-visiting Neverland. Neverland is the kind of fantasy world that is so detailed and rich with imagination that even now as an adult I can’t shake the feeling that this place must exist. Picking this book up I was really excited to revisit one of my favourite magical lands from a character I knew little about but was always intrigued by, Tiger Lily.

What surprised me about this novel is that it’s actually narrated by Tinker Bell a mute fairy who because she goes unnoticed is an observer of other people’s thoughts and feelings. At first I wasn’t sure how well that would work but it worked brilliantly as Tink flutters around Neverland spying on everybody. Tink was probably my favourite character, her little fairy heart holds so much love for Peter Pan but because she knows she can never be with him realistically, she wants Tiger Lily and Peter to be happy together. Tinker Bell was such a good friend and I fell in love with her character instantly I also felt really sorry for her at times as she loves these people she watches and becomes so invested in their lives yet nobody but Tiger Lily saw her as anything but a funny little bug.

After only a couple of chapters I was absorbed in this world and could tell that it would be a 5 star all-time favourite book of mine and a large part of that was down to Jodi Lynn Anderson’s writing. I’d never read this author before Tiger Lily and I only wish I’d discovered her sooner because Jodi’s writing is phenomenal. Jodi brings Neverland to life as the magical enchanting place I loved as a child but she also adds her own spin on it and makes it darker so it suits a Young Adult audience. Whilst I was reading I’d jot down so many quotes because there were so many sections of this book that moved me.

Whilst set in Neverland this book had a real contemporary feel to it. After all Tiger Lily is but a teenage girl whose fallen in love for the first time with a boy she shouldn’t have. I can’t imagine any girl hating this book. After all, we’ve all been young girls after a fairytale of our own at some point, right?

What I loved most about this book, gorgeous prose aside, were the characters. Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily, Tik Tok, Pine Sap there are so many to love. Surprisingly I couldn’t stand Peter or Wendy. Peter, whilst charming, was trouble from the start and I wanted to warn Tiger Lily to stay well clear. Then Wendy comes along and ruins everything for Tiger Lily and by this point you’ve come to love this messy haired girl with the brave and thirsty heart so much that you can’t help but feel animosity toward Little Miss Perfect Wendy. I was actually rooting for Tiger Lily’s best friend Pine Sap throughout whose obvious love for her made him so endearing.

Tiger Lily opened up both my imagination and my heart and left me totally spellbound. Jodi Lynn Andersons writing was so beautiful and poetic that I’ll definitely be looking out for her other novels. This book has a strong and imperfect heroine, a beautiful love story, and a dash of magic. It’s one of my favourite books of 2012 and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

November Round Up and Book of the Month!

November's Book of the Month is Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson 

This was my last book read last month and so I haven't had chance to post a review on why this book is so excellent yet but fear not it's coming soon! Tiger Lily was gorgeous, magical, and whimsical. What I loved about it is despite being set in a place as magical as Neverland, Tiger Lily read like your normal teenage girl hurting over her first love. It was like fantasy meets contemporary and I loved, loved, loved it! Definitely one of my favourites of 2012.

Books Read in November
80.) Meet Me Under The Mistletoe by Abby Clements (4*)
81.) Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone (4*)
82.) Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (4.5*)
83.) A Winter Flame by Milly Johnson (3.5*)
84.) How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr (4.5*)
85.) Easy by Tammara Webber (4*)
86.) Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson (5*)

Total Books Read = 7 
Thoughts: One book more read than last month, yeah! Still not up to my usual reading rate but with Christmas coming up I think this is a fair number. Will I be reaching 100 books at this rate? Probably not. But hey it still could be possible.

November's Book Awards 
Best Plot: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
Best Writing: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
Best Cover: Meet Me Under The Mistletoe by Abby Clements
Best Characters: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Best Ending: How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
Best Romance: Easy by Tammara Webber
Most un-put-down-able: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Most Memorable: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Best Moral: Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

Top 3 Most Recommended Books: Tiger Lily, Days of Blood and Starlight, How to Save a Life

Books I’m Looking Forward to Being Released in December
Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder
That's it! Not many releases in December unfortunately :(

Have you read any of the books I’ve read this month? What were your thoughts on them? Do you want to see a particular review for any of the books I’ve read this month sooner rather than later? Leave me a comment and let me know and I hope you’ve found some interesting books to add to your wishlist and don’t forget to treat yourselves to Tiger Lily (or even give it as a gift to the YA lover in your life this season or put it on your list to Santa ;)) – you won’t regret it! Here’s to another month of fab reading ahead - lets finish off 2012 in style! :D

Make a Book Bloggers Dream Come True?

Hey Guys,

So if you follow me on Twitter you may have heard the news that I got into the last 10 of the Mira INK competition which I was beyond thrilled about! There were so many amazing entries that I didn’t think for one moment I’d make the top 10 and go through to round two, but here I am.

So here’s the part where I need YOUR help. The competition is to win a year’s paid contract with Mira INK as their book blogger (don’t worry if I win I’ll still be blogging here too! No way am I giving up my baby) plus a laptop or ipad. This is a dream come true for me but for this next stage I can’t do it without your help.

We’ve had to make a 60 second vlog explaining why we think we should win and in this stage it’s all about getting love for your video, likes, comments, views, I need to reach out to as many people as I can. So I ask you this, if you’ve ever enjoyed a post on this blog, if I’ve ever helped you find a book, you could say the biggest thank you ever by simply going and watching this video, liking it and leaving a comment showing your support. You guys have the ability to make my dreams come true and I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I would be.

Here’s the link to my vlog 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4eS-lewifg

And for anyone who’s interested here is the post that got me into the top ten http://shecanflyfree.tumblr.com/post/35646604803/thisisourstory 

Thank you so much for your support now and always.

Love Jess x

Review for Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Warning
This is a review for the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Although there will be no spoilers about Days of Blood and Starlight there may be spoilers about the first book in this series. For my thoughts on the first book head on over here.

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor 
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 8th November 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Crossover, Paranormal
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review



Goodreads Summary:
"Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living – one without massacres and torn throats and bonfires of the fallen, without revenants or bastard armies or children ripped from their mothers’ arms to take their turn in the killing and dying.

Once, the lovers lay entwined in the moon’s secret temple and dreamed of a world that was a like a jewel-box without a jewel – a paradise waiting for them to find it and fill it with their happiness. This was not that world."

Review 
Daughter of Smoke and Bone was by far my favourite book of 2011 and so naturally Days of Blood and Starlight was my most anticipated release of 2012. So much so that I dropped everything when it arrived so that I could devote an entire weekend to reading it.

This sequel was very different to Daughter of Smoke and Bone for many reasons. Firstly it definitely has more of a Fantasy feel to it, now that the cat’s out of the bag and we know what Karou is the world of Eretz is ours to explore in this novel. Secondly, whereas Daughter of Smoke and Bone was veiled in mystery and magic Days of Blood and Starlight is very war orientated making it at times a bleak and heavy read. And lastly whilst the first book in the series had a gorgeous romance there is none of that in this book with Karou and Akiva apart doing their own separate duties on their opposing sides of the war. That’s not to say that I didn’t like these changes, this book was excellent, but in a completely different way than Daughter of Smoke and Bone was.

One of the things I loved about this novel was the return of some of the characters I got to know and love in book one plus the introduction to some new loveable faces. The book focuses on many different characters throughout Karou, Akiva, Zuzana and Mik along with new characters Ziri, Sveva, Sarazal and Rath to name but a few. This gives the reader not only an opportunity to catch up with everyone but also different vantage points to view the war from and the effect it’s having on different parts of Eretz and the people that live there, not to mention the effect this war is having in the human world. Because there are a wider range of characters keeping up with the different subplots and who everyone is proved tricky at times, it’s definitely a book that requires your full attention something you may want to take into consideration before reading.

As always Laini Taylor’s writing was absolutely sublime. She has a way with storytelling that makes every chapter feel like its own little story that fits in as a piece of a bigger picture. Her writing is very description heavy and whimsical which is perfect for setting the scene of Eretz. I loved how there was also witty light-hearted banter between our human characters to lighten the mood when needed. I especially loved Karou and Zuzana’s conversations as I just adore both girls and their friendship.

The ending to this book was absolutely incredible with plenty of twists, turns, and shock revelations. I wasn’t sure if this books ending could live up to the epicness that was Daughter of Smoke and Bones’ but Laini Taylor has done it yet again and managed to completely surprise me. Overall Days of Blood and Starlight was an incredible book, although I didn’t love it quite as much as Daughter of Smoke and Bone it was still a strong and worthy sequel that sets things up brilliantly for what I’m certain is going to be an explosive last book to this enchanting series.

Letterbox Love (15)

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey @ Narratively Speaking for UK based book bloggers to showcase the books that they’ve received each week.

So if you follow me on twitter you may have read my tweets about my postman holding out on me. And then this week a load of books arrived all at once! It was like Christmas come early :). These are the pretties I got this week...

 For Review (Finished Copies)

The House of Memories by Monica McInerney
Reached by Ally Condie
The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris
The Disappeared by C. J. Harper

 For Review (Proof Copies)

Hidden by Marianne Curley
The Day I Met Suzie by Chris Higgins
Siege by Sarah Mussi

 E-Books (Bought)

   

The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines
The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen

That’s it from me for another week! If any of these beauties have caught your eye and you’d like to find out more about them simply click on the title and the link will take you to goodreads for a full synopsis, reviews, and to add them to your wishlists. As always thank you to the lovely publishing folk for the review copies. If you’re looking forward to a certain book in particular and want to request a review feel free to in the comments and I’ll do my best to get around to the book sooner rather than later. And if you decided to do a Letterbox Love, Book Haul, IMM, Showcase Sunday, Mailbox Monday or whatever else featuring the books you got this week leave me a link as I’d love to check out your books too! ^_^

 Happy reading till next time!