Tiger's Curse (Tiger's Curse, #1)

by Colleen Houck

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

This review is also posted at Pages Unbound Book Reviews.

Source: ARC

Review:Tiger’s Curse sets itself up with an interesting premise and setting, but the book fails to live up to its promise. From the start, the writing is noticeably bad. The dialogue sounds fake and any sort of “showing” is completely lacking; readers must rely solely on Kelsey’s statements about whether things are frightening, intriguing, attractive, etc. because the descriptions and pacing that would bring those senses to readers do not exist.

Because of the poor writing, and also poor characterization, it is clear early on that if the novel is to succeed, it must do so on the merits of its plot alone. Unfortunately, it does not. Kelsey and Ren go on some standard quests that they complete too easily and which are not particularly fascinating. I skimmed what were probably intended to be some of the most intense scenes of the book because there is no real urgency and the obstacles the two face are not particularly unique or well-described.

Kelsey, however, is the novel’s greatest problem. Although she is eighteen and preparing to enter her first year of college, she sounds absurdly unintelligent and immature. Furthermore, she is incredibly passive, and often sits around tanning or drinking lemonade while other people do the real work—making camp, solving the mysterious prophecy, etc. Basically, her presence is necessary for the tiger’s curse to be defeated, but she is otherwise of no real value. Frustratingly, the other characters, even those who are not the love interests, tend to praise Kelsey for her most annoying actions. She’ll make a particularly obvious observation, and someone will beamingly praise her for her unparalleled intelligence. The novel puts a lot of effort telling readers how clever and brave and heroic Kelsey is, but she always exhibits the exact opposite qualities.

The one place Tiger’s Curse shines is the romance—but only on Ren’s end. He is fairly swoon-worthy, a handsome cursed prince always interested in Kelsey’s comfort and safety. I could imagine some readers finding him “over-protective,” but I never did, perhaps because Kelsey’s foolishness merits people needing to constantly watch over her. He also has some beautifully romantic lines and scenes.

Kelsey, however, is another matter, as she immaturely decides Ren cannot possibly love plain little her and decides to push him away. Instead of perhaps discussing it with him or believing he has the intelligence necessary to make up his own mind about such things. Such forced “drama” is always annoying in books, as it is an obvious ploy to build false suspense by dragging the romance out over a series. This time, however, it really backfires because Ren’s romantic gestures are the only things I like, and apparently they will be missing from the second book. I won’t be reading it.

There are a lot of good ratings for this book, and it certainly has its share of fans. If you are looking for a bit of romance, you will find it here, and it’s pretty good. If you want anything else from the book, you’ll have a bit of trouble.