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It all starts as a summer job. Kelsey Hayes is working at the local circus when she meets white tiger Ren and forms an inexplicable bond. One night Kelsey utters a wish that Ren be freed, setting the events of a hundreds year old curse into motion. For Ren is not just a tiger, he is a cursed ancient Indian prince, and he and his brother Kishan need Kelsey’s help to be returned to their human forms. Kelsey must battle ancient magic as she enters mystical worlds, but with her heart in the balance, how will the tiger’s curse be defeated?

Tiger’s Curse weaves a tale that combines the present day with ancient Indian legends. The goddess Durga plays a large part in defeating the tiger’s curse, along with many others. The curse that the tigers face is very imaginative, and in this first book the brothers can transform to their human forms for only 24 minutes a day. Kelsey forms a bond with Ren in both his tiger and human form, as she spends most of her time with him when he is a tiger.

I liked when Kelsey and Ren explored mythical kingdoms on their quest to find the golden fruit, such as Kishkindha. Colleen Houck creates worlds with towering golden palaces and creatures such as the Kappa. These places of legend amaze both Kelsey and Ren as they are unlike anything they have ever seen before.

Something that I didn’t like about Tiger’s Curse was how clueless Kelsey was about the world. Although everything ends well for her, she enters many dangerous situations unprepared. Kelsey travels to India with a man she hasn’t known very long. Then, when she is in India, Kelsey follows a tiger into a jungle, walking for hours without turning back, eventually sleeping on the jungle floor. Kelsey could have been hurt when she did both of these things, but she treats her decisions as having no consequences.

There are many important relationships in Tiger’s Curse. Kadam and Kelsey form a father-daughter relationship, giving Kelsey the father figure she hadn’t had since her dad passed away. Kelsey and Ren have strong feelings for each other, but the obstacles of Ren spending most of his time as a tiger and Kelsey being afraid of romantic relationships cause problems for both of them. Kelsey and Kishan have a playful friendship, although Kishan wishes it could be something more. The relationships in this story add excitement to every situation.

This book is the first I have read that includes the mythology of ancient India. I would give it a rating of seven out of ten stars. It is an exciting book that pulls you in, but some of Kelsey’s decisions and the things she says make it hard to read. Before you learn Ren is a human trapped in a tiger form, Kelsey is just a girl wandering around a jungle following a tiger in a country she has never visited where she doesn’t speak the language. However, I would still recommend this book to others because the overall plot overcomes these problems.