Tiger's Curse by Colleen HouckMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I don't know how many of you are out there but raise your hand if you most beloved toy when you were little was a soft toy tiger *raises hand*. Yep, his name is Rajah and he was my beloved golden brown tiger soft toy who was as big as I was when I first got him when I was 8.I took him everywhere & slept with him at night. I still have him now, lying across the foot of my bed. If you like tigers as much as I do and wished you had a tiger companion just like Jasmine in Aladdin you will no doubt enjoy this book.
Anyway, back to Tiger's Curse, this story is well & truly EPIC. So much happens in this book I really couldn't get into it all without ruining the story for you, which I seriously do not want to do. If I had to condense it to maybe one sentence: Beauty & 2 x Beasts (long forgotten Indian princes/Tigers)go on a quest to search for magical treasures mentioned in myths that will help them break an ancient curse that dooms the princes to their tiger forms for all but 24 minutes of the day, every single day...
Summary: We find 17 year old Kelsey Hayes in Oregon/America looking for a summer job to fill in the time/earn some money before she heads off to college only to end up as an assistant at a circus... There she feels drawn to the gorgeous yet lonely white tiger Dhiren a.k.a Ren and strikes an odd friendship with the strange animal who seems to have also taking a liking to her as well.
As her period of employment comes to a close she is offered the once in a lifetime, all expenses paid opportunity to escort Ren to a tiger sanctuary in India. There Kelsey finds not all is what it seems with her furry friend and learns of the Tigers' Curse. Kelsey, though a little frazzled by her companion's transformation, vows to help the strange (Cough*Totally HOT*Cough) prince Ren earn his freedom. Oh, did I forget to mention that Ren has an equally handsome younger brother called Kishan? Yes, he of the white coat & cobalt blues eyes has a rascally sibling with the black coat & golden eyes. My OH My, what is a girl to do?
I love the beauty & the beast spin on ancient Indian myth & legend, as well as interesting facts about Indian culture, not to mention the lovely Indian words of endearment you can pick up just by reading the story. It really is a treasure of a book.
The only downside is how much of an idiot Kelsey becomes towards the end with her self sacrificing attitude. Think Edward in New Moon. I felt like slapping her. I finished the book & said to myself "Kelsey, you Bl**dy Idiot!!" in true Aussie style.
Didn't stop me for picking up the second book and delving right back. H*ll no!!! If you like action, adventure, mythology & tigers you cannot miss this book. Are you Team Ren or Team Kishan?
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