Tiger's Destiny

August 15, 2012
Ablaze with fiery passions--and sheets of actual fire, too--this conclusion to the Tiger's Curse quartet brings Oregon teenager Kelsey and the two Indian were-tiger princes who have divided her heart through a climactic battle to a final, bittersweet mate selection. Her chiseled suitors, Ren and Kishan, must first rescue her from a forced marriage to archenemy Lokesh ("I watched vile ecstasy overtake him as he kissed my palm and licked the red droplets from his lips"). Kelsey then accompanies the sultry siblings on an arduous quest beneath an active volcano for a Rope of Fire that will convey the trio to a decisive face-off with the demonic sorcerer thousands of years in the past. Having privately settled in a previous episode on Kishan as the more rational choice but still gobsmacked by Ren, her "dark Poseidon," her "warrior angel," Kelsey nevertheless still rattles between the brothers. They continue to ply her with verses from Shakespeare, Tennyson and other poets as part of a rival courtship impregnated (so to speak) with manly sensitivity. After battling her way past a teeming array of minor deities, vampiric Rakshasas and like creatures from Hindu and other mythologies, Kelsey at last fulfills her destiny as savior of India. Then, in fulfilling their own destinies, one brother dies (temporarily), and to clear the way for a wedding described in protracted, luxuriant detail, the other makes the ultimate sacrifice by going off with another woman (albeit a goddess in the making). The end is a long time coming, but readers sufficiently hardened by the preceding adventures' florid prose to survive lines like "After a few seconds of delicious fantasy, I mentally rebuffed myself," and "[t]ingling bubbles of power coursed lazily between us," are sure to be left throbbing and misty-eyed. (Paranormal romance. 13 & up)

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November 1, 2012
Grades 9-12 Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan return in this final volume in Houck's popular Tiger's Curse series. Also back is the evil sorcerer Lokesh, determined, as always, to foil the intrepid trio's attempt to break the tiger curse and discover their individual destinies. It's a tall order made taller for Kelsey, who must decide to which of the dreamy brothers she will give her heart. Houck's prose can lack nuance, but she tells a good story that will appeal to both action-adventure and romance fans. Expect demand, especially if a major motion picture is in the offing as the publisher asserts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2013
In their fourth adventure, Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan return to locate the goddess Durga's Rope of Fire. Facing an array of challenges, including being kidnapped by sorcerer Lokesh, Kelsey must break the Tiger's curse before the trio can fulfill their destinies. Even for fantasy, this series finale strains credulity, but Houck's mixture of mythology, adventure, and a juicy love triangle is entertaining.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)