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.
Review: Tiger's Quest is the second book in Colleen Houck's urban fantasy young adult series. I'm realizing that this series definitely could have been a favorite if I read it in high school. There are some elements that frustrate me, mostly with character interactions, but there are other elements that I thought were handled well. Kelsey was extra annoying in this second book because of course she's the girl who thinks so little of herself, but she also has scheduled dates with 3 different guys towards the start of the book. Okay. Sure. Clearly you are attractive and guys like you at least a little. There could be some good discussions about self-perception, but none of that has been discussed so far. I think that would have helped me get through those scenes a bit more. Then it got worse when Li and Ren did their weird "let's both date Kelsey and she can chose her boyfriend" competition. Sure, that might have been funny once upon a time, but I found that particularly tiresome. Though, I did like that Li and Ren both took the time to compliment the other guy to Kelsey. While they were both fighting for Kelsey, they took the time to really look at each other and appreciate them. I wasn't nearly as interested in the adventure element to Tiger's Quest which was a pity. There are so many moments where we could dive into survival elements, but the author glazes over it and uses this "Golden Fruit" to fulfill any of Kelsey's food needs. I understand the relevance of the Golden Fruit feeding all of India, just like the Divine Scarf could clothe all of India. I like these ideas, I just with that Kelsey didn't rely on them as much as she does. I will say that I related to Kishan a shocking amount, but it still wasn't enough to really carry my interest in the story. Though I wouldn't mind if some guy fell in love with me and bought me a house and paid off my student loans. Just throwing that out into the universe...
One element of the story I like is how breaking this curse isn't something that's fixed by finishing one quest. There are different quests that seem to build off of themselves and I like seeing that. I liked that Kelsey started to learn martial arts, and it seemed like a genuine aspect of her character, but then it got pushed to the side because she had powers. I get it. Magic makes things more interesting. I just wish they hadn't bothered trying to teach Kelsey martial arts if it wasn't going to lead to anything. I'm hoping something happens and her powers get taken away, but who knows? As an aside, every time Colleen writes that characters are speaking in "their native tongue" feels lazy to me. It makes the cultural elements feel very one-dimensional.
I was interested in seeing how the story plays out for these characters, but I don't think I can force myself to read any more books in this series.
2 howls
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