Tiger's Curse - Book Review

Tiger’s Curse – Book Review

 (Book #1 of the Tiger Saga)

Written by Colleen Houck

YA Fantasy

Synopsis:

Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.

Review:

I had heard a lot of hype about this book on the blogsphere and although it’s taken me awhile – I finally got around to checking it out. All I can say is, I wish I’d done it sooner. It really was a great read and quite different to other fantasy’s that I’ve read, plus the cover is simply divine and looks fantastic on my shelf J 

The story starts with eighteen year old Kelsey who, fresh out of high school is on the hunt for employment. She expects to get a normal job in either an office or shop but instead, finds herself the newest employee of the local circus. Charged with looking after the animals, it is here she meets Ren, the beautiful white Indian Tiger and star act of the show.

Instantly Kelsey finds herself captivated by the Tiger but when Ren is suddenly sold to an animal reservation in India, she knows she’s not yet ready to say goodbye and seizes upon the opportunity to travel to India with him. But as Kelsey is to discover, there is much more to Ren than meets the eye. And so begins an epic journey that brings to life the myths and histories of India, taking the reader of a whirlwind adventure as Kelsey fights to break a 300 year old curse that keeps a noble Prince a hunted Tiger…

I have to be honest; I didn’t click with this book right away and thought the beginning rather slow with too much back story. It wasn’t until a third of the way through, when Kelsey reaches India that I truly found myself engrossed in the book but from that point on I was completely captivated. So if anyone else finds the same problem, I promise your perseverance will be worth it.

I thought the concept of the story was very original and the plot was full of Indian culture and mythology which I loved. You can tell the author has done her research and it really helped make the book a memorable read. However, I know from other reviews that some people had problems with the plot and felt that everything worked out a little too easy. I admit I did notice that some parts (such as Kelsey’s foster parents allowing her to go to India) did seem rather convenient but ultimately none of these things took away my enjoyment of the story.

As for the characters, they were brilliant. Kelsey is very much a typical teenage girl and with the story told from her narrative, her emotions and raging hormones made her very fun to read. Ren is very well written and like most male leads, he sounds very suave and swoon-worthy, if a little bit arrogant but hey, he is a prince. However my favourite character has to be Mr Kadam who is just so polite and adorable - a real fatherly figure.

Naturally romance also plays a huge part in this book and I really enjoyed how the relationship between Kelsey and Ren developed. It was slow paced, humorous and full of those ‘almost moments’ where you wanted them to just kiss and get together.

So overall a really great read and recommend to lovers of romantic fantasies. Intriguing, mystical and adventurous, Tigers Curse is definitely one to check out. 4Stars!