REVIEW: Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

 Synopsis (by Sterling):

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:

2/5 Stars

Tiger's Curse had a lot of promising elements- a setting in a foreign country not often seen in Young Adult literature, an Indian curse, and a gorgeous cover- but, of course, this book only further proved to me that just because a book has a high rating on Goodreads, doesn't mean that it's actually well written.

The Bad:

1. Writing style: Right off the bat the dialogue irked me. It was written in short staccato sentences that didn't flow well or seem natural. The writing style reminded me of the way young children speak or really bad fanfiction written by a 15-year-old.

2. Unrealistic situations: For example, Kelsey's foster parents allowed her to travel with no parental supervision to India with a strange man they had just met. If I had asked my mother for permission to do the same thing she would have called me crazy.

3. Low self-esteem: Kelsey has to constantly remind the reader that Ren is gorgeous and she is so hideous in comparison that she doesn't deserve to be with him. She even goes as far as to compare herself to a radish while all the supermodel girls who Ren could be dating are compared to a buffet. Really Kelsey?

4. Bad decisions: Kelsey throws a temper tantrum when Ren understandably get frustrated after she is rude to him. Then after she resolves to break up with him, she ends up kissing him, and is shocked when he keeps pursuing her. This girl is the personification of mixed signals.

5. She's the chosen one but doesn't act like it: I don't get why Kelsey is Durga's favored one. She isn't Indian. She clearly does not have the 'heart of a warrior' because if she did she wouldn't break up with someone for such shallow reasons.

6. Excessive details: I get that Colleen Houck is fascinated by Indian culture but some of the stuff she felt the need to include in her book seemed unnecessary to the plot.

The Good:

1. Completed it: I actually bothered to finish the book and it wasn't boring enough for me to have taken exceptionally long to finish reading it.

In Conclusion

The main character is terrible. I won't be continuing with this series but at least I can admire the beautiful covers.