Tiger’s Destiny by Colleen Houck

Buh buh bummmmmmm! It’s finally here! The final book! The one we’ve all been waiting for. The one that answers the questions: Will Kelsey be rescued before the unthinkable happens? Where are Mr. Kadam and Nalima? What will Durga’s next gift be? Will the dynamic trio be able to defeat Lokesh once and for all? And most intriguingly… 

Will it be Ren or Kishan in the end?

Phew…

I can hardly decide which flavor of chips I feel like eating. It’s amazing that Kelsey can ever sleep or eat!

In the (sadly) last installment of the Tiger’s Curse series, Tiger’s Destiny, Houck must wrap up the epic tale she created and I have rarely seen such a seamless execution. (If you’ve read the book Holes by Louis Sachar, you’ll know what I mean.) Everything comes full circle and all the loose threads are neatly tucked into place. I caught myself going Ohhhhhhhhhh….. a few times. Good job, Colleen, good job.

As well all know, each book has followed one of the four elements that the tiger’s amulet controlled. The first was earth, second was air, third was water, and that leaves only fire for Tiger’s Destiny. 

And I LOVED the depiction of the fire world. It had phoenixes, fire trees, demons, zombies, jewel people, and dragon horses. Pretty badass. Sometimes it’s difficult to imagine a landscape very elaborately, but Houck describes everything so clearly that is seems as if a movie is playing in your head.

Plus, since this is the closing book, she takes it to new emotional heights–there are actually some pretty gut-wrenching moments. (I may have actually shed a tear or two…) It’s now or never and Houck chose now.

I don’t want to give much of the story away, because the whole book is basically spoiler alert madness. I can’t mention much without ruining any surprises. What I will say, however, is that when it comes down to the final choice, Kelsey’s destiny falls exactly into place.

And you know what they say…. Everything happens for a reason.

5 cracks of the rope of 5

Tiger’s Voyage by Colleen Houck

Tigers and dragons and sea monsters, oh my! In the third installment of the Tiger’s Curse series, Tiger’s Voyage, we meet Kelsey and feline hotties Ren and Kishan in the middle of yet another adventure. Don’t these kids ever stay home and watch trashy television?? Sheesh. 

This time they are on the third part of Durga’s quest and are now seeking the legendary Black Pearl Necklace, which would unlock another 6 hours of human-time for the tigers. That’s 18 hours a day. I mean, A) What’s with black pearls, man? They seem like nothing but trouble no matter what story you read and B) Wouldn’t you kinda just want to forget about the questing after they got their 18 hours back? I see no problem with your boyfriend being a cuddly tiger for 6 hours a day. Probably be nicer to sleep next to than a dude. Less snoring and farting, anyway…

Oh yeah, and the love triangle is still going… *sigh* But this time there are boats and sea creatures and magical dragons. At least we have distraction from the teenage angst…

The trio must now face challenges that test them more than ever before. In an underwater world, mad tiger fighting skills aren’t very effective and who knows if Kelsey’s power will translate in a ultra-high conductivity environment? They must face six ancient Asian dragons, which is awesome, but they’re a far cry from the fluffy and cute Falkor from The Neverending Story. They’re actually kind of bastards, really.

More like this….

Of course, I really enjoyed this book. It was a real page turner. As not only a lady born in year of the dragon, but also a huge underwater/sea creatures fan–I loved the mental imagery within this story. Reading this series has honestly just made me want to visit India or Thailand terribly. It seems so neat. (And by the way, I tried Indian food for the first time at the Spice Lounge down the street and it was AMAZING. Like really. Nom).

BUT–there is a but–as I have stated before, I am SO sick of this love triangle business. Pick one hot, rich, awesome, sweet, nice, loving, romantic Indian brother and stick with him. God! (And give me the number of the spare while you’re at it!) Is it really that hard? Tiger’s Voyage reveals more goings-on as far as Ren’s amnesia goes, and I don’t know whether to be relieved or annoyed. He’s still acting like a dick for the first half of the book, and Kelsey’s being a stubborn brat for the second half. Thankfully, she is finally leaning in the direction that the story will ultimately take–although I can’t say I agree with her choice.

Oh, and the scuba instructor was ANNOYING.

But all in all, read it my dears, love it like I do. The fourth and–I imagine–final book Tiger’s Destiny was just released yesterday (but I am waiting for the Kindle version to follow on the 13th).

5 Architeuthis of 5

Tiger’s Quest by Colleen Houck

Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan are at it again in the second installment of the Tiger’s Curse series by Colleen Houck. This time, K&R FINALLY realize their extreme love for one another and all of us girls can breathe a sigh of relief and bask in a few chapters of hearts-aflutter feel good times. BUT after Ren’s heart-breaking capture by Lokesh’s goons, Kelsey and Kishan are forced to go on quest numero dos together. (You didn’t think they’d live happily ever after that easily, did you, nubcake?) After she experiences terrible visions of the torture Ren is enduring on her behalf, the time crunch is on to find him before it’s too late.

And this book kills me, it kills me. The same way the Vampire Diaries show kills me. Cliff hangers galore and WHYYYYYYYY??? moments are sure to have you reaching for the calm-down pills. Especially towards the end once you realize what’s really going on. Stupid idiot tigers and their stupid idiot curses. 

This book was just as nail-bitingly good as the first in the series. Believe me.

Oh yeah, and there are super powers now!

I was pissed with the whole Ren-capture thing. It’s highly reminiscent of the Twilight series where in New Moon Edward is removed from the situation and feelings are allowed to blossom between the girl and the other point on the love triangle.

It makes me yell “NO” loudly and startle my boyfriend.

That being said, Kishan is a really nice guy. In fact, Houck is skilled enough in her writing to make a reader consider changing sides. That rarely happens to me, but in this situation I could definitely see it.

I’m glad Kelsey is much less of a vadge in her current adventures, because it makes the whole thing more bearable. I can’t stand the Oh, why me? This is terrible! What am I to do? puts-a-hand-to-forehead-and-faints-backwards-gracefully kind of crap women are expected to indulge in. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, kick-ass heroines are where it’s at.

Now where matters of the heart are concerned… That’s a little more complicated…

5 lightning bolts of 5

Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck

I’m going to start by saying I LOVED this book. Meow. I mean, Rawr. GRR. Whatever. Loved it. My dear friend/ex-boss/covert concert alcohol partner in crime Monica recommended it to me on the very first day we met. I knew I loved that girl. 

Let’s just say Colleen Houck’s Tiger’s Curse is one part Aladdin, a healthy dose Twilight love triangle, two parts Indiana Jones, a dash of Indian mythology, and a pinch of fur.

Awesommme.

TC got off to a bit of a slow start building up to the action. Senior Kelsey Hayes lives in Oregon and has an average life with her vegan-food-eating foster family. After applying for a summer job as an assistant tiger caretaker at the local circus, Kelsey unknowingly becomes an integral part of unlocking an ancient Indian curse that traps two devastatingly handsome AND rich (*cough cough*)  Indian princes in tiger bodies for 23.5 hours of the day. So she’s swept off on a harrowing adventure to India to bargain with goddesses, battle demons, overcome obstacles, retrieve magical objects, and do all sorts of cool stuff.

Why can’t interesting things happen to me? (I’m still waiting for my superpowers to develop…)

I immensely enjoyed this book and I can’t believe so many publishers turned Houck down. (How do you say her name? I just do a back of the throat hawwrrrking sound…) I like it when love and adventure are thrown together along with some exotic settings.

Magnifico.

Kelsey did annoy me at times, because she is extremely naive in the beginning and also makes some very poor hot man choices along the way. We all do, but come on! Who wouldn’t want a hot rich boyfriend that turned into a cute tiger? Dhiren is the nicest guy ever! (My boyfriend’s hot, but his cuddling skills can’t compete with a 600 lb cat…)

This is a page-turner, my dears. Even for those of you who are allergic to cats. I’m reading the second of the series as we speak.

5 pink tiger noses of 5