TIGER'S CURSE by Colleen Houck

Fantasy YA books are treasure troves of romantic stories that often drive the readers into fits of daydreams of mortal-immortal/supernatural relationships.  More often than not, this is the main seed that grabs the reader's attention and grips at it until one is addicted enough to read through the sequels of these series of stories that if we really look at it are repeated themes of love between two unlikely "individuals".  Mortal to vampire, mortal to werewolf, mortal to angels, etc. these pairings have made a killing in book sales not to mention the almost countless movies and television shows that these works of literature spawned these past few years.  

Honestly, I am one of those who has gotten my interest hooked to these books and series.  The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices of Cassandra Clare, The Wolves of Mercy Falls and The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, The House of Night by the mother-daughter Cast tandem, (not to mention the infamous Twilight which is really crappy writing, even if the movie were good enough), these are just a few of my own personal favorites.  

These all have very good and attractive covers which is the very first thing I look for in books; nice, simple and intriguing. (hehehe, just shows you how weird I am)

While looking through the available books in a local bookstore (and National bookstores in Bacolod have really limited titles) , I chanced upon an unfamiliar author by the name of Colleen Houck.  While she may be unfamiliar to me, the cover really took my breath away.  On it is a close-up picture of blue-eyed white tiger.  If that did not prompt me to buy the book and start reading, then the summary did:

"The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more."

I read through the 402-page book in a breeze.  Though it started really slow and I kind of though about Twilight writing at first, it was a really fun read.  It introduced me to Indian myths and legends that made me want to experience India in a very good way.  In fact, the imagery and descriptions were very vivid that as soon as the pacing of the story became better (after about the first 5 chapters) the whole reading experience was fun.  

Its about falling in love and the insecurities that sometimes come with it.  It is also the about sibling rivalry, first love, magic and a whole lot of heartaches and romance.

Tiger's Curse is a already optioned to be a movie by Paramount with a screenplay to be written by the writter of the top rating Vampire Diaries series.

4 stars out of 5.

RAVEN BOYS

Raven boys grabs the readers into the story as soon as the prologue introduces the premise filled with mysterious spirits, ley lines, death and divination.  It introduces characters that leap out of the pages and become real; not only because of their roles in the excitement within the words but simply because they contain traits that the readers will feel a part of. It uses popular English folklore which may prove unfamiliar to readers from other parts of the world but accepted and embraced nonetheless simply because of the beautifully woven premise.

Some scenes in the books felt like something you saw in a movie…at times, I can visualize THE COVENANT with the presence of prep boys saturated with the mysticism of magic. Sometimes, the DEAD POET SOCIETY comes to mind, although the boys here are much more interesting than the scholarly teenagers of the classic intellectual drama.

And just when you least expect it, some character’s dialogue jump at you with brilliant wit and oftentimes cynicism that you can’t help but laugh yet continue to think about the line until several paragraphs after. Then in the next chapters you get immersed into the angst, pains and growing up obstacles of teens, both boys and girls as they search and discover their very selves.

Not once but often, you begin to wonder if this is a fantasy book hiding the realities of life or is this a slice life filled with the fantasies that drive everyone to dream to make life easier? The characters are separate individuals; learning, growing and coping with whatever realities they have in their hands and striving to make something out of themselves, but all of them created like they were flesh and blood and not a string of words seemingly pulled out of thin air and made corporeal.

It shouts of friendships wanting to be heard over the din of the frailty of truth, it touches of pride of one’s self and of individuality and more importantly it screams of what friendship really is, raw and pure; to trust who, what and when all these are most important.

5 stars out of 5…

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN

Synopsis:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. Fiction is based on real black and white photographs. The death of grandfather Abe sends sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and explores abandoned bedrooms and hallways. The children may still live.

My Review: 

There is something curiously nostalgic about old, sepia-colored photographs that most often than not show people that we never knew in our lifetimes but still somehow reminds us of days gone by; sometime they even take us to a brief trip within the thin strip of black and white peeling paper that recorded that instant for all eternity.  Peculiar are some of these pictures might be, they still carry within the grainy images that they show, a glimpse of a story that truly happened to someone way before we are creating our own. It is this touch of nostalgia that invited me to grab one of the copies of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children on display, a haunting cover with an eerily levitating girl looking towards me as if she knew I was looking at her.

          This first novel by Ransom Riggs, a collector of antique/vintage photographs speaks volume on the poignant quality of old pictures.  It is done in a unique interweaving of created premise and situations and the use of old pictures from his collection and those of others. Written as a YA story that promises a creepy thrill ride down the supernatural, the prose somehow does not agree with the cover.  What takes place instead is a “tour de force” of psychologically charged situations that if you only place yourself in the shoes of the main character then you will understand how the horror of the peculiarities of the fading shots can bring about the creeps.  It may not be something that a lot of horror YA fans would love but then the book never promised a Halloween worthy trip but something that softly whispers of what might happen beneath the shadows of twilight.

          Reminiscent of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys, Alice and the eccentricities of Wonderland, or even XMen if it happened in the 60s, the book delivers a wallop of visions both by the pictures and those of the words that surprisingly work hand in hand.

**** (4.5 stars)