Review: Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Author: Colleen Houck

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Page Count: 512 pages, Paperback

Date Published:  May 1st 2011 (first published January 11th 2011)

Find it on Goodreads: Tiger's Curse

Source: Purchased

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.

My Thoughts: Tiger's Curse was hard to get through at times, but has a lot of potential to be amazing.

I had very high expectations for this book. Not gonna lie. I had heard nothing but raving reviews on it and thus expected it to be a fantastic, irresistible book. And yes, it had a lot going for it. But there was something about it that made me have to put it down and wait a day to read it, even though I was almost done. I'm a bit ambivalent about the book, because on one hand, I loved the story and plot, and all that it had going good for it. But on the other, I couldn't stand the protagonist, Kelsey. I found her to be too sarcastic, which is tough, because I'm a pretty sarcastic person, at times facetious, and just plain annoying. I actually did like her at first, but after about 150-200 pages, I couldn't take it any longer. She was really likeable at first, very intelligent and curious about everything. But then at one point she went from totally leading Ren on, to completely shutting him down! WHAT!? I so didn't get it. YOU LIKE HIM. You've even admitted to it! And so, why Kelsey, are you insisting on ignoring him and being extremely rude? I know us girls have very confusing mind sets, but what I didn't get is that she insisted on not being with Ren so that she wouldn't hurt him, except for the fact that she was hurting him in the process of ignoring him and shutting him down! I was so, completely bewildered at that point. I felt so terrible for Ren, didn't like Kelsey, and my head was pounding.

The thing I did like about this book was the fact that the plot and story was fantastic. It's unfathomable to me, how Ms. Houck came up with so much detail and information to create such a wonderful adventure. She did that amazingly, adding so much element. There was plenty of Hindi myth and culture, as well as her own imagination added in there to make this book very unique. If anything, it was the story that kept me reading, simply to see what would happen. I hate to be rude, but I couldn't care less about what happened to Kelsey. I just wanted to know Ren would be okay, as well as Mr. Kadam. They were really the only two characters I cared about, but that was enough. I liked Ren, I thought he was really cool. There was a very confident vibe about him, but he wasn't cocky, (all the time). I do understand some of Kelsey's intentions with cutting off their relationship, but I think she could have done it in a better fashion. Then there was Mr. Kadam, the "boss", you could say. He was a really great parental figure in the book, so sweet and grand-fatherly. Then there was Kishan, Ren's brother. Kishan was... interesting. He was very charming, and though I could like him, I sensed he wasn't all that great. I wish Houck had set in the love triangle a little bit clearer, because I was really confused at one point. I don't want Kelsey to be with Ren, just because I don't particularly like her, but I don't want her to be with Kishan, either. Conflict...

In the end, I think that if this book had gone through a lot more editing, it would have been an incredible story. But for now, it was just ok. I felt the writing could have used more emotion, and perhaps then I would have enjoyed the protagonist, Kelsey, more. I just didn't enjoy her dialogue, because I could never figure out what she was trying to say, in the sense of tone of voice. Was she being sarcastic? Literal? Who knows! The writing just seemed awkward to me. There were many times where I almost quit reading, but I hate not finishing a book. I did love the idea of the story, and I will be reading the next book, but I am not currently dying to read it. If I come across it, I'll probably pick it up, but I'm not going to go hunt it down, right now.

Happy reading!
~Kristy