So, things have kinda come to a stand still here, mainly because I haven't been reading as much as I would like because I've been busy. And then with the books I have read I haven't felt like reviewing or the reviews have been completely awful and I haven't felt like actually posting them. So, I decided to post a couple of my old reviews from Goodreads that I've never put on the blog, and so here they are. Keep in mind that I did this when I wasn't really reviewing allot and its extremely possible that they suck and are extremely lame.
So, I'm gonna post the ones I did for Tiger's Quest and Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck, I did these reviews at the beginning of the year when I first read the books, I did not review the first one but I'll tell you a bit about what I thought of it first and then put in the other real ones, OK? OK.
About the Series- So, basically you have Kelsey, who is a whiny very annoying main character, who gets a job at a curious and winds up taking care of a white tiger. She then winds up going to India with said tiger who turns out to be an immortal (I think he's immortal, right?) Indian prince named Ren, who of course is "extremely hot' and totally in 'Love' with her. So, they go off on a quest to end the tiger's curse which makes Ren only be able to be human for a specific amount of time a day. So, the quest has four parts and every time they accomplish something the tiger(s) have more time as humans and whatnot. Then of course there has to be some type of 'love' triangle and that's where Kishan comes in. Kishan is Ren's brother who is a black tiger and also cursed and also in 'love' with Kelsey. Now, usually I don't pick sides but I made an exception with these books because Kishan is way better than Ren, mainly because Ren is Uber creepy and acts like Kelsey is a piece of property that he owns and so I completely hate him. =)
So, I had been debating about reading Tiger's Curse since it first came out and had been putting it off because I was worried that it would have to much romance for my liking, but finally I put it on my x-mas list and got it and so I read it. And it did have a bit too much romance, for me, but overall I thought it was pretty good, good enough for me to buy the others. Unfortunately, I did grow to regret buying them. In the first the action and plot and mythology and everything barely out weighed the romance and at least made the romance tolerable. And I really did like these books...at first. Now on to the real thing.
About Tiger's Quest- So, Ren gets captured and so Kelsey and Kishan must do the next quest without him, and they have to Find Shangri-La and other stuff happens, and it's actually my favorite, of the ones I actually read. And of course Kelsey is just MISERABLE without Ren, and does allot of whining and crying and generally pisses me off.
Review: Tiger's Quest by Colleen Houck -
Original- This book was amazing, I loved everything after Ren got caught. Honestly everything leading up to that I found boring, and while a lot of people loved the way Ren was so devoted to Kelsey and all the romantic junk, I found it kinda gross and creepy. I like Kelsey as a character, but I hate how she seems to think and act like shes nothing without him and she cant do anything without him, I hate those types of girls with a passion. I did start to like her again when she actually started doing stuff and learning how to fight and everything, but I still found myself constantly rolling my eyes whenever she started "weeping" again. The main thing that redeemed this book for me was Kishan, I love that he's not your typical bad boy, that he's actually sweet and cares about Kelsey possibly even more than Ren, plus while he loves Kelsey he's not as clingy as Ren and he's willing to suffer and help Ren be with Kelsey as long as it makes her happy. There was a significant amount of action however I would've been happier with a little less romance, but that's just me. also, I loved how more mythical creatures like Pan and fairies came into it and personally I love any thing with Shangri-La. overall its a really good book, I would recommend it and I will read the next two, but be warned it starts out slower than the first.
Thoughts Now- I kinda have mixed feelings about this one, back then I was really trying hard to like these books and now that I know I hate them it's hard to remember what I liked about this one. The main reason I liked this one was the Shangri-La stuff and Kishan, plus because Ren wasn't in it very much which made me very very happy. In the next review you will see where this series really failed to me and when I realized how much these books suck and how lame they are not to mention how much I really really dislike them.
About Tiger's Voyage - So, unfortunately they rescued Ren, but now he cant remember Kelsey. So, they go on a big boat in search of some dragons and not much else happens besides me wanting to murder all of the characters.
Review: Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck -
Original- -This Review may contain spoilers from Books 1,2,and 3-
My first thought after finishing this book and reading a bunch of reviews for it is "are you sure we read the same book?" Because all these reviews are saying how amazing it was and I'm like its OK. And then everyone is saying how much they love Ren (in reviews from every book in the series)and I’m like really he's so needy and controlling and just rude, I'm mean he seriously gets pissed when Kelsey cuts her hair and then wont let her get it cut how she wants again, seriously? How is that OKAY in this century. And he goes on and on about how she belongs to him, what the heck? How could you like a guy like that, seriously I don’t get it. Honestly I liked Ren a lot better when he couldn't remember anything, at least then he was nice to Kishan and not all possessive of Kelsey. And what was with the golden light with Kelsey’s power when Ren's "touching" her? And hello, this is the 21st century you don’t need a guy, but she just bounces from one to another because heaven forbid she be by herself for more than a minute. Also, Kelsey is a jerk, I hate how she's just using Kishan and how she somehow believes that she's doing it for him, how is pretending you love someone the way they love you when you actually love someone else helping him? Honestly after this book the only character I like anymore is Kishan and I barely like him now, He's always been my favorite character but I hate how stupid he is in this one, I mean how can he not see that Kelsey is just using him to make herself feel better. Now as for Kelsey, what is with every guy she meets immediately falling in love with her? And like at least once in every chapter shes crying over just about anything. And I swear at some parts she's a complete moron. And even though she apparently never had a boyfriend before Ren she suddenly cant live without one. I could go on and on about what I don’t like about her but I'll stop at she's a weak character. Also, what is the point of Nilima? I mean she's barely in any of the books, and then suddenly her and Kelsey are close enough to think of each other as sisters? And she's starving herself for Kelsey to be happy? When did that happen?
And the bad guy is really lame. He's not even in the books for the most part, even when he captures Ren in book 2 and everything, after that he's hardly mentioned. And now he wants Kelsey so that she can give him a heir? Gross. Not to mention every time she sees him in a vision or for real she's terrified of him, but not enough is said about him and everything to make him actually seem scary and EVIL. He seems more of just an Annoyance or pest than a truly terrifying and evil bad guy, if you get what I mean. I think the character development is way off and just sucks.
Don’t get me wrong I love the story, the plot, and the action, the whole dragon thing is awesome but the characters need major work. Also, there is too much pointless stuff, like you don’t need to know every meal they eat and the clothes they're wearing at every part in the book. And we don't need to be reminded every other chapter of how confused and hurt Kelsey is feeling, we get it, she's depressed.
Now in all honesty the series isn't as bad as I make it out to be, but I have a thing against to much romance and I prefer books with strong independent female characters not little wimps who cry constantly and cant be single to save their life.
Plus I had thought that these books would be a bit different and better than they are. I would recommend this book, but only to people who don’t take books as seriously as I do. I will probably finish the series eventually but only because I already own the last one. Lastly, I think the perfect ending for this series would be for Ren and Kishan to kill each other and then Kelsey can off herself, everybody wins, well at least I win.
Thoughts Now- I still agree with most everything I said before.
Overall I really did not like these books, and I still haven't read the fourth yet and don't really plan to. Also, as far as least favorite love interests go Ren takes first place, and as far as least favorite main characters go Kelsey takes first place, because I really really really really really hate them. But on the upside I really did love Kishan.
I'll try to do an actual new review soon, but we'll see. I'll also continue to put my old ones up here. =)
Song Of The Book-Ment - This is Hell by Elvis Costello*
*Let me explain about this song. So, it's in an episode of the show Gilmore Girls (One of my all time favorite shows) where they only play the chorus and so every time I really dislike a book (Or anything else) I always hear the chorus of this song in my head and so that's why I use it for reviews of books I hate.
The Chorus-
"This is hell, This is hell, I am sorry to tell you'
Ok, so there is more to it than that, but that's the only part I really care about. =)
