Book Review: Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Book: Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck

Genre: Teen fiction, action, adventure, romance, Indian mythology

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Times I have read this: 1st time

General Set-up: Kelsey has just graduated from high school. Eager to earn some money to help pay for college she hires on as a temporary worker for a travelling circus stopping by. Among her duties at the circus, she assists the animal handler in taking care of the star of the show; a white Bengal tiger. Kelsey becomes fascinated with the tiger and spends her free time in his presence, often reading to him. When her time at the circus is almost up a man approaches the circus master about buying the tiger and returning him to a reserve in India. He finds out that Kelsey has become accustomed to the tiger and invites her to travel with them to India to ensure that the tiger has a good transition. Kelsey has become attached to the tiger and wants to spend some more time with him before leaving, plus being paid to travel to a foreign country for a few weeks is a deal she can’t pass up.

Characters: Kelsey may have just graduated from high school, but she has also been orphaned recently. Her parents were killed in a car accident a few years previous. Because of this she pushes her emotions deep inside and hasn’t had the chance to truly grieve for her parents’ death. Currently, she lives with a foster family who cares for her. Ren (short for Dhiren) is a centuries old Indian prince who suffers from a curse (think Beauty and the Beast with a twist). To be honest, I didn’t connect with the main characters that well.  

Plot: The plot for Tiger’s Curse takes a little while to get going. This is both a good and a bad thing. The bad thing is that the reader has to progress 80+ pages into the book before getting introduced to the main conflict. The good thing is that this allows for a smooth transition from ‘student looking for a summer job’ to something I would expect to find in an Indian version of the Percy Jackson series. Once things got going, the action and tension continue to build until the end. I would say that the author leans too heavily on romantic tension in the last ⅓ of the book, but maybe that’s just me getting disillusioned by teen fiction.

Ending: To be honest I was somewhat frustrated with the ending of the book. Part of this was due to the romantic tension going on and wanting to hit the main character over the head with the book. However, aside from this, the ending is well done. The pacing slows to an acceptable halt at an appropriate place. Even if I did not completely agree with the main character’s decisions, resolution is given and some potential threads are hinted at to set up for the sequel.

Things to Watch For: This book deals with Indian mythology and presents a different religion with various deities. Also, some of the scenes between Kelsey and Ren get a little steamy.

Other media: Tiger’s Curse is the first in a currently on-going series. The author, Colleen Houck, has also published several other books of similar genres.

Length: 400 pages (about)