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A review by jscarpa14
Tiger's Quest by Colleen Houck
4.0
***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***
Kelsey Hayes, the chosen daughter of the Indian goddess Durga has returned home to Oregon both heart broken and with a stubborn will to move past her relationship with Ren, the Indian Tiger Prince, and the time they spent together. She begins dating, but her heart just isn't in it and everything she sees reminds her of him. Ren isn't doing much better and six months later follows her to Oregon determined to prove she's the one he loves and he's the one she's meant to be with. Though the two rekindle their relationship, when Ren's old enemy Lokesh hunts down Kelsey in hopes of taking her section of the amulet Ren sacrifices himself as a captive to save her from Lokesh's men. Together with Kishan she must journey to the spirit world in search of a mystical scarf that will not only help to break the brothers' tiger curse and benefit all of India, but which is the key to saving the man she loves. If her life weren't desperate enough, her companion falls in love with her, a feeling that she can't quite reciprocate because of her love for Ren. However Kishan presents a temptation that even Kelsey isn't sure she can resist.
Tiger's Quest is a well woven tale of adventure, love and loss that shouldn't be missed. If I was a different type of reader this book would easily have been five stars, however, I prefer a faster pacing than Houck's writing style and I have to admit the ending made me a little angry so that might have influenced my rating just a tad.
You can tell this writer is the type who likes to savor the books she reads, mulling each story over in her mind the way a wine connoisseur might a fine wine. This transfers to the page in her writing, as despite the adventurous plot lines, the story moves along like a gentle stream winding it's way around you as it slowly tempts you in. Readers of equal reading tastes will enjoy the tour into the world she has built for them. I, however like to devour books, riding them like a roller coaster - fast, exciting and over before you know it. Houck meticulously constructs each detail to make a world so real you can almost touch or taste it, well done, but at the detriment of the pacing. The detail and the way it's woven into the story, prevent you from speeding through this book as you would an average novel of adventure. Don't get me wrong she has scenes where the action speeds through in the fast in your face way I like to read, but those scenes are few and far between.
If you're the type of reader who's comfortable with reading your books over the course of a week or even a few days, easily pausing and coming back, the book was made for you. It's intriguing enough that once you set it down you won't hesitate to come back to it, but it doesn't have the type of pacing the completely prevents you from setting it down and walking away to do the other things you need to get done. If you're the type of reader who gets a book in the mail, picks it up to read then a few short hours later sets it down completed stating how great a journey it was, you might chafe just a little with the slow pacing that really makes it so you can't speed through this book. It's not so much a bad thing about the book, more a difference in tastes.
Another thing that bothered me about this book is with some of the plot twists it's like she's forced a love triangle that wasn't really there before. I mean yeah you could tell Kishan was interested in Tiger's Curse, but since the feelings weren't really reciprocated in any way it wasn't really a love triangle, more that you hoped another character might come along in later books to fit with Kishan. Through this journey and some of the plot twists, especially toward the end of the novel, Houck pretty much forces new feelings for Kishan on Kelsey then ruthless yanks away what she previously had with Ren. I don't really know what to think of it and I'll be honest in a way it upsets me. Both of these poor characters have been through enough and I don't see how Houck will ever be able to end this series now without readers hating her because one of the characters we've become emotionally involved with ends up broken. I can't really completely explain what I mean here without entirely spoiling the book for people who haven't read it. Read the book and I think you'll completely understand what I'm trying to say.
However in Houck's defense, it says something about her talent as a writer that she's created characters that I actually care about. Not in an oh that sucks that such and such happened to them sort of way. But as in an emotionally involved, yelling at a book that can't actually hear me sort of way. Yes, my family now thinks I'm crazy. The characters in her novels are multifaceted and created with a depth that makes them feel so beyond real that you can't help but care about them and what happens to them.
Overall the book is a wonderful blend of various mythologies, adventure, love, sacrifice and loss. It's a story that may move slowly, but doesn't leave a reader any less involved and it's definitely not one to pass over on a shelf. I'm preordering Tiger's Voyage tonight because after the way this one ended, there's no way I would miss the next installment of Ren, Kelsey and Kishan's adventure.
Kelsey Hayes, the chosen daughter of the Indian goddess Durga has returned home to Oregon both heart broken and with a stubborn will to move past her relationship with Ren, the Indian Tiger Prince, and the time they spent together. She begins dating, but her heart just isn't in it and everything she sees reminds her of him. Ren isn't doing much better and six months later follows her to Oregon determined to prove she's the one he loves and he's the one she's meant to be with. Though the two rekindle their relationship, when Ren's old enemy Lokesh hunts down Kelsey in hopes of taking her section of the amulet Ren sacrifices himself as a captive to save her from Lokesh's men. Together with Kishan she must journey to the spirit world in search of a mystical scarf that will not only help to break the brothers' tiger curse and benefit all of India, but which is the key to saving the man she loves. If her life weren't desperate enough, her companion falls in love with her, a feeling that she can't quite reciprocate because of her love for Ren. However Kishan presents a temptation that even Kelsey isn't sure she can resist.
Tiger's Quest is a well woven tale of adventure, love and loss that shouldn't be missed. If I was a different type of reader this book would easily have been five stars, however, I prefer a faster pacing than Houck's writing style and I have to admit the ending made me a little angry so that might have influenced my rating just a tad.
You can tell this writer is the type who likes to savor the books she reads, mulling each story over in her mind the way a wine connoisseur might a fine wine. This transfers to the page in her writing, as despite the adventurous plot lines, the story moves along like a gentle stream winding it's way around you as it slowly tempts you in. Readers of equal reading tastes will enjoy the tour into the world she has built for them. I, however like to devour books, riding them like a roller coaster - fast, exciting and over before you know it. Houck meticulously constructs each detail to make a world so real you can almost touch or taste it, well done, but at the detriment of the pacing. The detail and the way it's woven into the story, prevent you from speeding through this book as you would an average novel of adventure. Don't get me wrong she has scenes where the action speeds through in the fast in your face way I like to read, but those scenes are few and far between.
If you're the type of reader who's comfortable with reading your books over the course of a week or even a few days, easily pausing and coming back, the book was made for you. It's intriguing enough that once you set it down you won't hesitate to come back to it, but it doesn't have the type of pacing the completely prevents you from setting it down and walking away to do the other things you need to get done. If you're the type of reader who gets a book in the mail, picks it up to read then a few short hours later sets it down completed stating how great a journey it was, you might chafe just a little with the slow pacing that really makes it so you can't speed through this book. It's not so much a bad thing about the book, more a difference in tastes.
Another thing that bothered me about this book is with some of the plot twists it's like she's forced a love triangle that wasn't really there before. I mean yeah you could tell Kishan was interested in Tiger's Curse, but since the feelings weren't really reciprocated in any way it wasn't really a love triangle, more that you hoped another character might come along in later books to fit with Kishan. Through this journey and some of the plot twists, especially toward the end of the novel, Houck pretty much forces new feelings for Kishan on Kelsey then ruthless yanks away what she previously had with Ren. I don't really know what to think of it and I'll be honest in a way it upsets me. Both of these poor characters have been through enough and I don't see how Houck will ever be able to end this series now without readers hating her because one of the characters we've become emotionally involved with ends up broken. I can't really completely explain what I mean here without entirely spoiling the book for people who haven't read it. Read the book and I think you'll completely understand what I'm trying to say.
However in Houck's defense, it says something about her talent as a writer that she's created characters that I actually care about. Not in an oh that sucks that such and such happened to them sort of way. But as in an emotionally involved, yelling at a book that can't actually hear me sort of way. Yes, my family now thinks I'm crazy. The characters in her novels are multifaceted and created with a depth that makes them feel so beyond real that you can't help but care about them and what happens to them.
Overall the book is a wonderful blend of various mythologies, adventure, love, sacrifice and loss. It's a story that may move slowly, but doesn't leave a reader any less involved and it's definitely not one to pass over on a shelf. I'm preordering Tiger's Voyage tonight because after the way this one ended, there's no way I would miss the next installment of Ren, Kelsey and Kishan's adventure.