Tiger’s Quest by Colleen Houck | Book Review

(Tiger’s Saga #2)

Published: June 7th 2011

Synopsis:

Back in Oregon, Kelsey tries to pick up the pieces of her life and push aside her feelings for Ren. Kelsey Hayes’s eighteenth summer was crazy. The kind of crazy nobody would ever believe. 

Aside From battling immortal sea monkeys and trekking the jungles of India, she fell in love with Ren, a 300-year-old prince.

When danger suddenly forces Kelsey on another Indian quest, with Ren’s bad-boy brother, Kishan,the unlikely duo begins to question their true destiny. Ren’s life hangs in the balance–so does the truth within Kelsey’s heart.

Tiger’s Quest, the thrilling second volume in the Tiger’s Curse series, brings the trio one step closer to breaking the ancient prophecy that binds them.

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My Rating: 4.5/5 (Amazing)

Book Information

Publisher: Sterling Publishing

Genre(s): Young-adult Fantasy, Romance

Page Count: 479

Format: Hardcover

ISBN: 140278404X

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I had been planning to do a review on this book soon after I did the one for Tiger’s Curse, but I ended up doing other reviews instead. As I recently finished Tiger’s Destiny, I finally decided to do reviews for the second and third book so I could post a review on that one (since it was amazing! I’ve cooled down emotionally to provide a reasonable and honest review, so it’s perfect timing. ;)).

If you’ve read the first book, you’ll know that our lovely Kelsey Hayes has chosen to go back to Oregon (without Ren), after helping Mr. Kadam and Ren to complete the first task to break the tiger’s curse, to protect herself from future heartbreak (by continuing things with Ren), and resume any sense of normalcy in her life. In the first part of the book Kelsey spends time with school stuff and dating other guys, all the while pining for Ren. *SPOILER ALERT!!!* Ren comes back, and obviously Kelsey goes back to him. Everything was nice and easy, and Ren’s brother Kishan comes to Oregon as well to provide extra protection. However, danger is just around the corner, and as a result, Kelsey is forced to return to India along with Kishan, but not Ren–Ren gets captured by Lokesh. Kelsey goes on another quest–this time with Ren’s brother Kishan–to complete the next task, and to save Ren. Filled with danger, choices of the heart, and thrilling moments, Tiger’s Quest brings our characters one step closer to breaking the tiger’s curse.

This book was amazing! Like the first book, what really drew me to this book was the idea, the mythology, the fantasy aspect of the story, and it definitely wasn’t lacking in Tiger’s Quest! The whole plot was done really well, and while I wasn’t exactly hooked from the start (it starts of kind of slow, what with Kelsey returning to regular life and all) I definitely went on an emotional and fast-paced roller coaster! The adventurous aspect of the plot was captivating and intriguing. I loved learning more about the Indian mythology we started with in the first book, visiting these exotic and mythical places; these parts were critical to the story and really got me into the novel. There were cliffhangers, excitement and tension, not to mention plot twists (especially at the end! You can’t believe how glad I was I didn’t have to wait to read the next book!).

As for the characters, I have to say unfortunately Kelsey hadn’t developed as much as I wished she would since the first book, however she did many moments. She’s not that confident, but she’s getting there, and is already becoming stronger, braver and her loyalty to Ren is heartwarming. I’m hopeful she will continue to learn and grow into a strong, independent woman, which she’s already giving a few signs of becoming. In addition, I like how she’s not overly surprised that Kishan likes her (in a more than friend way, obviously). Most YA romance novels we see have a protagonist who’s super shocked that two guys liked her, and it was refreshing to see Kelsey wasn’t like that.

Moving on to the love interests; Ren and Kishan. In the first book we only caught Kishan later on in the story, and he wasn’t a big part of it. However in this one he definitely has a bigger part, which I loved! Anyway, let’s start with Ren. Ren’s complete, utter devotion to Kelsey is just so heart-warming! Whenever he talks to her, smiles at her, looks at her, everything that Kelsey feels is what I feel, and it’s just so warm and fuzzy and awesome! ❤ What I’m upset about is how we fall in love with this awesome person alongside Kelsey, only to have him yanked out of the picture (sorry about the minor spoiler there). Teenage angst is written all over this, however the other stuff makes it worth it.

Next, Kishan. He has a much bigger part in this book, and he definitely holds a place in my heart. I like how we get to see his more vulnerable side in this book, and how we get the time to have him grow on us, not just be forced into the picture since his brother’s gone. I feel sorry for him though, because of his feelings for Kelsey, especially since Kelsey’s already taken. 😦 But he’s a really good guy, and I want him to be happy. Thing is, if Ren was completely out of the picture, I could actually kind of see him and Kelsey together. However, since Ren ISN’T out of the picture, I’m definitely Team Ren. It’s obvious that Kelsey likes Ren more, although she cares about Kishan. Either way, Kishan has an important role in this book, and all I can say is that I really enjoyed him in the story, and that I’m rooting for him! 🙂

Since the romance has a notable part in this book, I have to make a seperate paragraph in my review for it. I’m not going to lie, the romance kind of reminded me of Twilight by Stephanie Meye. HOWEVER, the romance was not the ONLY thing that drove the story. I mean, I like Twilight and all, don’t get me wrong, but without the romance in it, there’s not much of a huge problem in the plot. In Tiger’s Quest, yes, Kelsey’s insecurities about Ren, her moping around (though I really appreciate how she didn’t go into a huge funk like Bella), etc. did remind me of Twilight’s Bella Swan. The thing is though Tiger’s Quest had so much other complicated ideas and parts to it that if we were to tweak Kelsey’s romance crisis a bit, we’d still have an amazing story. All in all, I just wanted to let readers know what they might be facing. But don’t misunderstand me, this book is still fabulous, and I definitely still recommend it.

Lastly, we have the writing style, which, like the previous book, was descriptive and created a clear image in my head. Houck wrote it so nicely that I was swallowing every word, and didn’t even realize it was done until I reached the last page.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out the book trailer for some extra bling of this awesome book! 🙂

Overall, the romance might be a bit much for some readers, however the action and adventure mostly make up for it (in my opinion, anyway). The characters are given even more depth, and the writing style is descriptive and flows nicely. I recommend this to people who read and enjoyed the first book of the series, who like YA fantasy romance, and who simply want to be whisked off to mythical and exotic places in India (at least, if you skip the first quarter of the book, I think). Tiger’s Quest is thrilling, exciting and makes your heart bounce up and down, a captivating sequel to the Tiger’s Curse series.

I’m sure you’re hungry! Let’s go eat together! What are we eating, you ask? Why, it’s Tiger’s Quest, of course!

-A