Tiger's Promise by Colleen HouckSeries: The Tiger Saga #0.5
Published by: Self Published on June 1, 2014
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 60
Source: NetGalley
Book Details
Rating: ★★★★
Before the curse, there was a promise. A prequel to the bestselling Tiger’s Curse series, this much anticipated novella recalls the beginning of Ren and Kishan’s story. Before Kelsey there was a girl, raised by a villain, whose love for a hero changed the course of history.
Trapped under the thumb of her abusive and powerful father Lokesh, Yesubai struggles to keep her own magical abilities secret while evading his dark powers. When Lokesh promises Yesubai to the prince of a neighboring kingdom, she becomes the central pawn in his plot to destroy the ruling family and take power for himself. Yesubai is trapped by her father’s threats and desperate to protect the man she comes to love, but she knows that any decision she makes will have dire consequences. As dark forces gather around her, Yesubai must decide if she’s willing to reveal that somewhere deep within her she has the power to change everything.
I’m bummed that Tiger’s Promise was only a novella; I could have read a whole book about Yesubai! I adored Yesubai’s story. It was inspiring, but tragic. There was a constant feeling of dread as I was reading the book (like “I think something bad is going to happen”) and that really kept me hooked! It also made me sad though because I loved Yesubai and Kishan together and I so desperately wanted things to work out for them.
I will admit, Yesubai and Kishan’s relationship was a bit insta-lovey. I guess that comes with the territory of a novella though. It’s a short book and there’s not a whole lot of time to develop a romance. But despite the insta-love nature, Yesubai and Kishan were adorable together. I like how Yesubai could have chosen anyone—she could have been a queen! But she actually felt a strong connection to Kishan and she was prepared to give up everything to be with him. View Spoiler »
This novella also gave me a whole new perspective on Lokesh. I mean, I always knew he was an asshole, but this brought things to a whole other level. Seeing him mistreat Yesubai was heartbreaking! But it was interesting to get a lot more backstory on him as a person and his motivations.
Also, I have to say, this book really made me feel bad for Ren. 😛 View Spoiler »
If you enjoy The Tiger Saga, I definitely recommend this novella. And fear not: there’s no love triangle! Yes there are two guys in the picture, but there’s no love triangle in the sense that Yesubai is not sitting around trying to decide which guy she likes more. She decides basically immediately that she wants Kishan. Thank heavens!
The Verdict
