Happy Friday, everyone! The weekend is here🎉 and so is my flashback Friday book review!💻 This Friday, I will be reviewing…
… Tiger’s Curse 🐯 by Colleen Houck! I have a special connection with these books because a lot of the story takes place in India and my father was born in India! And Dhiren is an Indian prince😍 I’ve always loved reading about the stories and myths of the culture there… So when I saw Tiger’s Curse, I pounced. Rawr.🐾
I love the cover, especially the blue eyes! They are so, incredibly blue and the tiger is exactly how I imagined Ren! 😍😍😍😍 The bag and hairpin are both from India… My dad visited his parents, my grandparents, earlier in the year and he always brings back some really neat stuff!
Synopsis:
Kelsey Hayes never thought that working at a circus would change her life dramatically. But it did. At the circus, Kelsey meets a white tiger (I love white tigers😍), named Dhiren, and a bond is formed between the two instantly. When a mysterious man buys Ren, Kelsey is asked to escort the white tiger to his new home on an Indian reserve even though she lacks experience with that sort of thing. Soon, Kelsey finds herself risking everything to break a 300 year old Indian curse with Ren, who is also a man. Together, the two of them face dark forces and magic, and work to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse… Forever.
Did I mention that I love white tigers?😍🐯
It was such a bombsauce ride, reading this book/series… Lots of adventure (I love adventure)! Each book in this series has a different adventure waiting for the reader. You certainly won’t be bored with Tiger’s Curse or its companion installments.
I felt very connected to the characters and I think that, even if I didn’t have already have a connection to this book (the Indian thing), I would’ve felt connected to the characters (and the story) anyway! When they were happy, I was happy, when they were sad, I was sad… I was definitely on an emotional roller coaster while reading Tiger’s Curse and the subsequent books!🎢
The characters are well developed, relatable, and likable. Heheh… Especially Ren. Speaking of Ren! REN!!!! Ren is a nickname that Kelsey gave him when he was in tiger form. I totally ship him and Kelsey, or Kells, as he calls her. I love Ren – both the tiger and man version. I love when tiger Ren licks her face!😂 And her “popsicle,” which is similar kulfi in India. Not only is Dhiren super handsome, but he’s super sweet and just so lovable (and kissable… Oops, did I just write that?🙊). Ren is definitely swoon-worthy… and.. And ahhhh! Here’s how I imagined him:
Yes, it’s the guy from the movie, The Hundred Foot Journey! I love that movie! I am going to go slightly off track here, so just bear with me. I really related to this movie because I am part Indian. The food in Indian culture is very important… We love our food and it’s something that brings us together and reminds us of home and family. Not only that, but it was so cool to watch the Indian family members interact with each other exactly how my family interacts with one another. (Does that make sense?) I never realized how many times we say “Arrey” until I watched this movie, but then I thought about it and was like, “Yep, that’s pretty accurate!”😂 Lastly, I actually understood a few Hindi phrases in this movie (as well as Tiger’s Curse)! I don’t speak Hindi, although I wish I did, but it was neat that I understood a little bit☺️. My dad helped translate the rest. Anyway! I watched The Hundred Foot Journey at the theatre right after I finished the final book in the Tiger’s Curse series, called Tiger’s Destiny! Luckily, I saw pictures of “Hassan” (Manish Dayal) in THFJ beforehand so I could use the pictures above as a reference every so often. Once y’all read the book(s), or even before (although I think it would be more enjoyable to watch the movie after the books), go watch The Hundred Foot Journey. Not only will you get too see “Ren” in action, but you will get a couple good laughs out the movie – it’s a win win! I have watched this movie so many times!! Okay, okay… Most of the time it’s just because I want to see “Hassan” or “Ren.” And whenever I watched the movie, I got major feels! There have been a couple times when I have watched the movie because I miss my aunts, uncles, cousins… or because I miss Indian food (I love Indian food!) or my dad’s cooking. The movie really reminds me of home. ❤️ *Pictures are a courtesy of: adventuresofacouponista.com and www.tumblr.com , respectively.*
Okay, back to the book talk. Let’s talk about the humor in this novel. Tiger’s Curse has some pretty funny moments….And fights. The most amusing fight, I think, between Kells and Ren is when they are in Kishkinda, where they fought about monkeys. Yes, Kelsey and Ren had a fight about monkeys, although it was fueled by something less… childish/amusing/silly. I laughed myself silly at their banter!😂 It was then that I just really wanted to yell at them to just kiss and make up already! 😚
The romance element… Oh ho ho! Let’s just say it had me feeling some major feels. Major. Feels. (Please forgive me, I couldn’t find an emoji that could accurately describe the word ‘feels.’)
Oh! I totally almost forgot. I absolutely love the nicknames that Ren calls Kelsey, besides ‘Kells.’ They are in Hindi! I will put a list of them below so that, when you read Tiger’s Curse (not IF… WHEN), you’ll know what the mean so you can feel more feels on top of the feels you are already feeling… You’re welcome.😘
There are only a couple nicknames and phrases in the book that are translated so I’ve taken the liberty to translate as many as I can remember/find. You will also see that I have written out how to pronounce them…😘😘😘
Rajkumari (raj-koo-mah-ree) – Princess
Bilauta (Bil-law-tah) (Kishan often calls Kelsey this): Kitten
Anmol moti (an-mole moh-tee) – Precious pearl
Iadala (ai-uh-dul-ah) – Dear one
Priya (pree-ya) – Beloved
Priyatama (pree-ya-tum) – Sweetheart
Prema (preh-ma) – Love
Hridya patni ( hr-e-deh -yeh-puh-ta-nee) – Wife of my heart
Sundari (soon-duh-ari) – Most beautiful
Mein yaha hoon (may yah-ha hoo) – I’m here
Mere Jaan (mare-eh juh-n) – My life
Mein aapka raksha karunga (May ahp-ka ruk-sha kar-oon-guh) – I’ll take care of you
My favorite word is “rajkumari”👑 It just sounds so pretty to me! Anyway! I think I got most of them, but if you read Tiger’s Curse or the other books and come across a word or phrase you don’t know the meaning of, then let me know! I’d be happy to translate for you. ❤️
Hope y’all have a wonderful and relaxing weekend! Check back here soon!
-Maya🌹
Her Bookish Desires 