Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts

Not Another Book Review: Tiger's Curse Series

Friday, January 2, 2015


The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spell-binding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever. Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.


Back in Oregon, Kelsey tries to pick up the pieces of her life and push aside her feelings for Ren. But danger lurks around the corner, forcing her to return to India where she embarks on a second quest--this time with Ren's dark, bad-boy brother Kishan, who has also fallen prey to the Tiger's Curse. Fraught with danger, spellbinding dreams, and choices of the heart, TIGER'S QUEST brings the trio one step closer to breaking the spell that binds them. 


With the head-to-head battle against the villainous Lokesh behind her, Kelsey confronts a new heartbreak: in the wake of his traumatic experience, her beloved Ren no longer remembers who she is. As the trio continues their quest by challenging five cunning and duplicitous dragons, Ren and Kishan once more vie for her affections--leaving Kelsey more confused than ever. 


With three of the goddess Durga's quests behind them, only one prophecy now stands in the way of Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan breaking the tiger's curse. But the trio's greatest challenge awaits them: A life-endangering pursuit in search of Durga's final gift, the Rope of Fire, on the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.   It's a race against time--and the evil sorcerer Lokesh--in this eagerly anticipated fourth volume in the bestselling Tiger's Curse series, which pits good against evil, tests the bonds of love and loyalty, and finally reveals the tigers' true destinies once and for all. 

Now, I'm what you would call a "hard pleaser" when it comes to books. More so than not, I read books that are average. It's getting harder to find books that go beyond my initial expectations. However, these beauties do exactly that. When I go into the book store, I usually look at the books on the shelf, then go straight to my iPhone to see if it is worthy of my purchase. I usually go to my trusty sidekick: Goodreads to answer all of my foreseen questions. 
For those of you who don't know what Goodreads is, let me explain. This website is a place where you can go to find books and reviews from other people that have read them. It's usually great when you are searching for your next reading project. This is my go to place when I am in desperate need to find a book under a certain genre. It has all sorts of categories to draw you in. I would certainly recommend using this site. 
Anyways, I usually tend to stay towards 3.5 and above stars when searching a book that has caught my eye. However, if I see a not so good review, and I have all the time in the world, I will ask other people that I know if they have read the book, and if they liked it, I might end up straying towards that book again. 
When I came across the Tiger's Curse series by Colleen Houck, I saw that the last book in the series had just come out. I, being the impulse buyer that I am, bought it without hesitating as soon as I saw that it had above a 4 star book rating, a magnificently beautiful cover, and a thicker than average length. 
I immediately went home and threw my face into the first book for the next five or six hours. By the time I finished the book, I had forgotten that night had descended, and was well into the morning. The first book had a ton of twists and turns that kept me at a wow factor. It is a great book to read when you're out on the beach, or just want something light. Colleen Houck did a splendid job with her research about the Indian culture, Hinduism, and mythology.  There was a ton of ancient stories that you could tell were researched, and put into one amazing sequence of books. 
It had the traditional love story/love triangle thing going on, but you know how at certain times, something happens or someone says something to make your stomach twist into a knot? Well Houck had me feeling like I was falling in love for the very first time, and there were butterflies fluttering everywhere. But it didn't stop there. Each book got better as the series went along. Granted, I couldn't finish those books as fast as the first, but they were worth reading. 
Usually when I don't binge read on a book, I lose a little bit of interest when I go back to it, but these just made me anticipate getting home from work, eating dinner, taking a shower, and finally sitting on my bed and reading for a couple of hours. 
I would definitely suggest this book for anyone that likes reading fiction books of mythical genres. This is a book that is considered "young adult," (YA genre) but people in their 20s could still get away with reading and enjoying this book, as well as older humans that like books like Twilight or Harry Potter. What makes this book even better is that it doesn't have ANYTHING to do with vampires, werewolves, witches, etc. It has to do with a magical curse, cultures, and tigers, and let's be honest, who doesn't like tigers? I just like the fact that this author had the talent to come up with something original.
Overall, I would give this series a 4 out of 5 stars. I really did like this book, but at some points, the sequence of events were a little too cliché and very predictable for my taste. I also did not like the point of view that it was written in. I, as a professional reader, like to see more than a journal-type book. Writing in a 3rd person point of view as opposed to a 1st person POV makes the storyline less limited, and also makes the author think about more than what is on the person's mind at every page of the book. I find it a ton more difficult to write in a 3rd person POV, because there is a lot more detail and thought that goes with each chapter. I also do not have to limit myself to one person's thoughts and feelings, and can still maintain a book that is clearly still about them. 

So, to sum up my thoughts, Tiger's Curse series = THUMBS UP! 

This concludes my book review, now I'm going to go back and reread the series (thanks to my own superb review)!

Questions:
What other books can I pick up to read and review?
If you've read these books, what are your thoughts on them?



~Alhana

If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.
-Oscar Wilde

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The Book Theory

Thursday, January 1, 2015

What is it about books that draw people in? It takes up so much time, and by the end, you don't really know what to do with it other than leave it on your bookshelf or return it to the library. Sure, it causes you pain and/or joy for a few hours, but then what? What makes someone pick up yet another bound set of pages to occupy yet another day in the already limited life one has?


Now if you are one of those people that get angry by questions such as mine, then you fully understand the hardship that someone of your stature has to deal with. If not, well then you must be one of the people asking these types of questions. Let me let you in on a little secret. The book lovers of my generation do not appreciate your negative questions. 

Ever since I was young I loved to read, and not just read books like Captain Underpants, but instead books that surpassed my third grade reading capabilities. At first, I didn't know what drew me to the pages that made up a story. Though as I have grown up, I have learned more and more about why the books are sacred and always in my life. Here is what I have learned:

  1. I absolutely hate when someone comes up to me and asks the above questions. Why, you ask? It is simply because I don't have to explain myself to someone as moronic as them. 
  2. I love the smell of books. Okay you caught me, I smell my books. I love opening the pages and getting a whiff of the clandestine story that awaits me. 
  3. I would rather have a productive afternoon with my nose in a book, rather than having my face plastered to the television. Let's get something straight, shows like "16 and Pregnant" are mind numbing and an unproductive way to spend your day anyways. When you read, your brain is actually working to analyze the words on the paper. It also helps your reading comprehension, vocabulary, etc. Don't get me wrong, movies and shows are great, but they pale in comparison to my beloved books. 
  4. I like looking at the books on my bookshelf. It reminds me of the worlds I have visited, and the stories that each left behind a memory that may or may not have made me into the person I am today.
  5. I HATE libraries. I hate the aspect of giving back my books. I would much rather buy them for myself. I love rereading my books, and I don't want to give the library something that I have already claimed is mine. I guess you could say I'm selfish that way.
  6. The "ebook" just doesn't cut it. I like having a solid book in my hand. Where I can smell the fresh paper, feel the course/smooth pages running across my fingertips, and look at the beautifully crafted material sitting in front of me. I don't like when my ebook does a "pretend" flip of the pages. I sometimes feel like I am cheating on the real thing when I open my nook.
  7. However, ebooks are cheaper a lot of the times, and they are a lot easier to carry. Thousands of books are at your fingertips wherever you go! BUT I don't care. Nothing can replace my precious stories. 
  8. Last but not least--I love living inside the pages of my books. I've really gotten out of "real world" type genres over the years, and instead have gotten into the fantasy books like Harry Potter. I mean who doesn't love that book?! I have read probably close to or even over 1000 books. I kid you not. When I was younger, I used to go into Barnes and Noble, (my favorite store) and come out with 10 books in my hand. I'm not even exaggerating; you can ask my mother. I have not once walked out of that amazing store with only one book in my hand. It's usually an all or nothing type of deal. 
I love the thrill each new book gives me. It lets me escape from my mundane life, and allows me cross over into a world that is unforeseen. I have this eternal thirst for stories that are not my own. It doesn't matter how hard I try, I have not and don't think I will ever be able to quench it. I mean, if you think about it, it could be worse. The only thing this addiction does is burn a hole in my wallet, but isn't the point of life to be happy anyways?


~Alhana 

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.
-Dr. Seuss

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