Tiger's Curse (The Tiger Saga #1) by Colleen Houck

SUMMARY (from Goodreads):  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, spellbinding 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.

MY OPINION:

Tiger's Curse has an intriguing premise, but the execution is mostly not to my liking.

What I liked:

• the premise of breaking the tiger's curse
• the adventure
• the exotic setting: the jungle, India – well described
• Ren: upstanding, gentle, loyal
• Kelsey, in the beginning, when she seems brave and smart

What I disliked:

• telling instead of showing, especially because of feelings, too, are mostly told not shown
• everything playing out so quickly and easily: Kelsey's and Ren's adventures require a lot of effort and involve plenty of danger, yet everything works out smoothly, there is always a convenient solution to a problem at hand, they seem to  overcome any danger or hardship effortlessly
• in relation to the previous two points: the discrepancy between what Houck shows and tells us: for example she tells us Kelsey feels scared and tired, or that she is hurt and beside herself, and yet she doesn't act like it – she just keeps going as if everything was a piece of cake
• the ease with which Kelsey accepts everything she learns – I think an average person would have much more trouble believing and dealing with all the strange, irrational things she finds out and experiences
• Kelsey: I liked her in the beginning, but then she became really annoying as she started showing or rather telling how low self esteem she has (do all these YA heroines have to have be self-deprecating?)
• consequently, the teenage thinking/drama: Kelsey's reasoning is rather immature for an 18-year-old at several spots, and her creating imaginary obstacles between herself and Ren made me want to scream at her
• the amount of thinking Kelsey does during a kiss: pages, literally. How can she think so much while kissing?

Overall, what kept me reading Tiger's Curse was wanting to know what happens to Ren and the curse. I am interested in finding out the final outcome (although I can probably predict it), but I am not particularly eager to read the sequel. I might if I happen to come across it.

RECOMMENDATION: If you like YA adventure set in exotic places, and don't mind teenage romance angst, you might enjoy Tiger's Curse.

Have you read Tiger's Curse? How did you feel about it? Perhaps I'm just too old for YA and silly angst to really enjoy this book.