Review: Tiger's Curse

(Tiger Saga #1)
By: Colleen Houck
Publisher: Splinter
Published: Jan 11, 2011
Genre: YA
Source: Library
Format: HardcoverPages: 402
Rating: I loved it!

The last thing 17-year old 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.

My thoughts
I thought that Colleen Houck did an amazing job with this story. The story line kept a steady pace and I was never bored with the book. I thought that she did a great job describing the scene without over explaining, leaving you skipping pages to get back to the story. What can I say, I just really loved this book.

Now the one piece of advise that I can give to anyone is, do NOT read reviews on this book prior to reading the book. You just have to dive in and read it. (My review is safe though because I left all spoilers out). The reason why I say this is because I read the reviews beforehand and it took all of the surprises of the book away from me. So with that being said, I am going to try to be as vague as possible so that I don't give anything away but still try to give you a good review.

The story starts off with Kelsey who is a foster child at an employment agency looking for a job and is given the job of working at the circus which is in town for a couple of weeks. She is told to pack a bag of her stuff because she will be staying with them for the two weeks span while she works there. The foster parents are, of course, okay with this. So off she goes to join the circus... for a couple of weeks. While there, Kelsey helps with sales and also with the Tiger, Ren. Which by the way is the sweetest big kitty ever. She reads to Ren and pets him and he just sits there and purrs. (yes I am a cat person HaHa) Then Mr. Kadam comes in and buys Ren so that he may take him to the Tiger reservation in India. He asks for Kelsey to accompany him since the tiger is already familiar with her and ultimately it will keep the big kitty calm during the stressful trip. She agrees, and for some strange reason her foster parents agree too. And this is where the real story begins.

Now let me start off my saying that I loved this book. So much so that I plan on buying it when I get to a book store (the closest one is over an hour away). However I did have a minor teensy issue... the foster parents. Maybe Colleen Houck made Kelsey a foster child so that it wouldn't seem off that her foster parents let her go. I guess, what do they care, she isn't theirs. However, I would think BECAUSE they are foster parents that they would be more cautious and strict and not be a-okay with this. Either way this part was unbelievable for me. When I was like 13 I once asked my mom if I could go on the road with my uncle (her brother) and tour with the Spice Girls. My uncle was part of the stage crew while they were in the US for their summer tour. My mom of course said no way in hell. I did everything, I begged, I cried, I threw a tantrum I promised that I would be fine and still she told me no. Now this was with my uncle and I was staying in the states. Kelsey on the other hand is going off with a strange man that not only does she not know but that her parents don't know and they are leaving to another country. That just didn't seem real to me. Maybe the whole Spice Girls thing is still a sore spot for me... who knows. HaHa

With that out of the way though, I thought the story was great. I couldn't seem to put it down. So much so that I brought the book to work with me and scarfed down my lunch as fast as I could so that I could read during my lunch break. The story keeps an even pace of adventure while Kelsey sets off to break this ancient Indian curse. You see Kelsey is the favored one, so only she can do it. She has to go into this crazy cave that sort of reminds me of Indiana Jones with all of the traps. And also into this hidden city with these creepy zombie monkeys and evil thorny Harry Potter trees. There is also some romance sprinkled throughout this story. I felt like I went on a vacation to the jungles of India and after a couple days woke up back in the states... without the jet lag.

Favorite quote
Well since I cannot give you my favorite quote because it will give stuff away. I will go with another good quote from the book.
"Sundari. I was standing here thinking nothing could be more beautiful than this sunset tonight, but I was mistaken. You standing here in the setting sun with your hair and skin aglow is more than a man can... fully appreciate."