Tiger's Destiny, by Colleen Houck

- The Tiger Saga #4
Release date: September 4th 2012
Published by: Splinter
Genre: Young Adult
Find it on: Goodreads, Amazon


With three of the goddess Durga's quests behind them, only one prophecy now stands in the way of Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan breaking the tiger's curse. But the trio's greatest challenge awaits them: A life-endangering pursuit in search of Durga's final gift, the Rope of Fire, on the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.  It's a race against time--and the evil sorcerer Lokesh--in this eagerly anticipated fourth volume in the bestselling Tiger's Curse series, which pits good against evil, tests the bonds of love and loyalty, and finally reveals the tigers' true destinies once and for all. 





Oh, my. This is was a hell of a ride, that's for sure. Tiger's Destiny took long months to get published, and when it finally happened, I read it as fast as one can possibly read a book. It took me 5 hours to get through this 400-page monster, but it was worth it. It was so worth it. One of the things I like most in a series is when it has a sense of finality, or even a sense of purpose, when you know that what're you reading will make sense in the future. In Tiger's Destiny, I got exactly that. It all got wrapped up so perfectly in the ending - answering questions so long overdue - that it was easy to forget all the negative aspects and give it a 5-star rating. Now, however, I'll try to explain both the good parts, and the bad parts. 

Kelsey herself, the main character, was an interrogation point for me. She was a very likable and relatable character through the story, but when it came to the love triangle between her, Ren and Kishan, I disliked her a lot. She was immature, and her lack of good sense put both boys in a lot of trouble. I'm not saying I would behave much better, had I been in a situation like this, but Kelsey could've thought some things over before saying them. There's an specific scene in my mind right now, but I won't spoil it for you. Let it just be said that I wasn't completely satisfied with Kelsey. 

The Big Bad Love Triangle that Colleen Houck created in book 2, Tiger's Quest, still amazed me - when it came to the boys, of course. It's incredibly easy to like both Ren and Kishan, even with the obvious differencies between them - Ren being the more provocative and protective type, and Kishan being a little more sweet and understanding when it came to Kells. The author did an excellent job at making us feel torn between these two, and feel everything - every decision, every blow in the heart - that Kelsey had to go through. Maybe it's because of this that I didn't quite like Kelsey - I didn't always agree with what she chose. 

When it came to the plot and storyline, Tiger's Desting was just as complex and confusying as the previous installments. The Indian culture and history background play and enourmous role in setting the stage for Kelsey, Ren and KIshan, and while I failed to understand much of it when it came to time periods, I was still blown away by it. Here in Brazil we have a very famous saying: "Reading is culture". I always say that this series has the power to prove this sentence true. The amount of culture that you absorve when you're reading The Tiger Saga is frightening!

The Tiger's Destiny was everything I thought it would be, and much, much more. It had just the right dose of action, a little too much of romance (not that mind!), a lot, a lot of heartbreak, that left me sobbing sometimes, but most important of all, it offers this series a conclusion that I didn't see  coming. Colleen Houck is a genius... she's answered every single question that has haunted us since Tiger's Curse, and honestly, the ending couldn't have been better. It just felt right. I'm really satisfied with the way this book has turned out, and I'm excited for the next book, Tiger's Dream. I have no idea what it'll be about, and I'm afraid of how Colleen is going to continue with the storyline, but I'm anxious nonetheless! 

 4.5 stars

PS: I'm really sorry about my absence lately. School is crazy, but my tests have just ended, so now I can finally catch my breath! It feels so good to be posting on my blog again :D