Angel Leya

Suzie is awakened one night by tigers, chasing through the streets, though her twin brother, Jack, dismisses the notion. Still, she can't seem to get them out of her mind, and when a school assignment promises the winner tickets to the circus - a circus with tigers - Suzie sets to creating. But she's pulled into another world instead. Along with her brother Jack, they must figure out where they are and why in order to return home.

The story started out so promising. The writing is great, the story interesting, pulling you into the mystery. I know it is part one in a series, but I found the ending to be a bit abrupt, and the story not as full as I would have liked. It seemed to me that only one question was answered, and it wasn't any of the ones asked by the characters (or the reader).

In addition, the real world leading up to the transition lacked solidity. I got very little sense of the house, family, or life they came from.

Each chapter is prefaced by a poem. The poems are pretty, but I found it a little confusing, as sometimes they appeared to be referred to in the story (the song stopped...) but most of the time they were not. And the change in voice was a little jarring. I wonder if the author's poetry would make for an interesting epic poem, as a companion piece to the original story...

But the chapters are short, and the Tiger Kingdom is vivid. Really a beautiful story and I just wish it had continued a bit further before dropping us on the edge of the cliff.