The Tigers in the Tower is a truly beautiful book interwoven with history and culture. Sahira is an amazingly clever and strong character and I loved reading about her journey and her schemes with her friends. With well-developed characters, a dark backstory, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, this book is an absolute joy to read. Julia Golding’s stunning writing pulls you from your world and drops you in the middle of 17th-18th century London and then takes you back to India through Sahira’s storytelling in this gorgeously atmospheric tale. This feminist historical fiction novel explores social issues from the time period as well as problems that still exist to this day. I always love learning something new from a good book and this one definitely taught me a bit of Indian history and culture as well! The plot of The Tigers in the Tower is intricate and darkly sophisticated. Sahira faces many obstacles that no child should ever have to and yet she perseveres. I must admit that the book did get a bit slow at some points but it is 100% worth pushing through that. The orphanage trope does seem a little bit overdone but in this context still managed to be mostly unique. Outside of those things, though, The Tigers in the Tower is a wonderfully elaborate and immersive story perfect for history nerds, fans of The Jungle Book (the original, there are no talking bears in this one) alike, or anyone looking for something beautiful and unique.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish this book. I was unaware of the content - very Christianity heavy - and I don't typically agree with that content. Despite this, I did try it, but the writing style wasn't grabbing me. I think in the end it was just a matter of the synopsis and content not matching and me being unaware of the religious content prior to picking it up. I did not read enough of this to decide if it was a good or a bad book. From what little I had read, the writing style seemed to be good, but again, just not for me.

5 stars

This is a book which many people need to talk about. I don’t know why there is not much hype about it. This is one of the great books with stunning illustrations which kids would enjoy more for the middle grade students.

This is about a girl who grew up a mixed race in the 1820s. She was an orphan who had to stay at horrible places which i myself felt emotional about!

I don’t want to spoil too much! Highly recommend to pick this up :)

Thank you for the lovely advance copy Netgallery !

This wasn't really what I had expected it to be. It was a sweet little book but I thought there would be more adventure and was just expecting something a little more unique I guess. This book does have some talk of God in the story, but I didn't feel like it was overly preachy with it's religious tone but that might be an issue for some readers. Overall, it was a decent read - beautiful cover.

Sahira was a very 'real' character to me. Like others have mentioned, this book draws similarities in my mind with 'The Little Princess' and I think 'The Secret Garden' somewhat. These were just the kind of books I loved as a child. Overcoming real adversity, division and racism, Sahira (and the tigers) are a great addition to children's literature. Recalling the time when the Tower of London's menagerie was still present at the Tower. This fascinated me. I would recommend this book heartily to my class, as I think the fact that Sahira is so strong, motivated and real as a character works well within this book. She has spirit, a real embodiment of the kind of constant problem solving and resilience needed for the time, despite everything that she experiences. Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley!

Well, this one was not what I was expecting and not in a good way. There were so many issues that I had with this book. Let's start a list
1) There was so much hate throughout the whole entire book. I understand that that was the attitude of the British back (I am NOT supporting it) then but it was completely unnecessary and over the top to have racism on every other page. There was no point in including that much and it added nothing to the story.
2) This is advertised as a Christian middle-grade book and she prays a number of times throughout. Alright, I have no issues with that. However, I did not like what was included after the prayers. It was something along the lines of, "But God didn't answer her prayers, ___ did." Just no.
3) And finally, as I mentioned before, this is advertised as a Christian middle-grade book. Keep that in mind. A random person appeared for a scene of the book by the name of Charles Darwin. Yes, The Charles Darwin and he have a lecture on evolution and Darwinism and the likes of that. Please don't advertise this as a Christian book if the contents are completely against doctrine.
Note: In the physical copy of the book, the font is extremely small -- smaller or on par with adult fiction. I found myself not able to actually read the font and ended up reading an e-copy of the book. Just keep that in mind if you do decide to pick this one up.
That's all I have to say for this review and I will not be reading anything else by the author.

Rating: 1.5/5
Romance: n/a
Language: n/a
Spiritual: MC raised as Christian and Muslim, Darwinism
Violence: Her parents died, racism, bullying

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

Review will be published on Nov. 24 on the blog and a spotlight will be posted on Nov. 16 to the blog and insta.

I loved this story! It reminded me of the Little Princess and the Secret Garden, with characters and misfortunes worthy of a Charles Dickens novel.

Sahira is brave and determined to care for her tigers, even after losing both her parents on the voyage to England and being forced into a harsh orphanage where criminals have the upper hand and the proprietor is greedy and cares nothing for his charges.

She makes friends and braves many challenges on her quest to help her tigers. And she helps many other people along the way, never once backing down or giving in to bullies, no matter how much trouble she lands herself in.

I was rooting for Sahira the whole time, and thoroughly enjoyed reading about her adventures and exploits and especially her love for the animals. Middle grade readers of all ages will love this adventure that's full of heart.

*I am participating in an upcoming blog tour for this book. I will post my reviews on my blog and tumblr blog on November 19.

The Tigers in the Tower, a retelling of A Little Princess, may have done away with some of its source material’s Victorian racism, but it’s also lost its magic. Where the Burnett original glimmers and gleams like a hidden gem, The Tigers in the Tower is more like dull brass. It just falls flat, from the stilted, dry prose, to the insipid characterization. Somehow, this rendition of the tale keeps most of the unfairness and brutality of its young heroine’s treatment, while losing everything that made her shine despite it. Sara Crewe has her faults - arrogance and a short temper chief among them - and, as any good middle grade story’s protagonist ought, learns and grows past them. Sahira Clive, on the other hand, somehow is essentially faultless and therefore fairly boring (yes, she loses her temper, but it’s always presented as a reasonable reaction - her response to being mistreated or seeing others, usually animals, abused). Captain Crewe has plenty of faults, too, and part of Sara’s growth is in realizing the ways he messed up - but none of Sahira’s plight seems the result of her father’s spoiling of her or of his spendthrift ways, as in the original, so he, dead before the story begins along with Sahira’s mother, is simply a non-entity. Even the villains of the piece have less personality, either good or bad but ultimately just human traits, than Miss Minchin, one of my favorite antagonists in children’s literature. Miss Minchin has very real, human reasons to be jealous and cruel and hateful toward Sara, and her shift from fawning over the little rich girl to abusing her as a drudge is critical to her character and to the story; in comparison, the Pences, who keep the orphanage in which Sahira finds herself, are simply Bad People. It’s just uninteresting.

The story suffers, too, from the decision to start with Sahira already orphaned and essentially penniless, a supposed burden on the English people around her, so that all the contrast to her earlier life has to be made through her own comparisons. A Little Princess is iconically a riches to rags (then back to more deserved riches) story, while The Tigers in the Tower loses that angle and thereby loses a lot of the appeal. It’s all just....flat. A little colorless. Insipid. And considering how fun "A Little Princess, but with tigers" sounds, that's a shame.


Content warnings: parent death, child abuse, corporal punishment, animal neglect, animal death.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lion Fiction for the advance review copy!

This book really took me by surprise. A beautifully written story about Sahira Clive and her tigers, Rama and Sits.
Sahira has been orphaned on the journey to England and is separated from her beloved tigers.
The story is about love, friendship and understanding and is written beautifully. I was gripped from the beginning.

Well this was a truly delightful tale. My heart broke for Sahira during her days at the orphanage. I can’t imagine feeling like you have no one to love you or even care for you. It made me think of all the children who are either without a home or without a loving home. I loved her and Ned’s friendship and how it developed through the story. Not to mention the one family member who sought to include her even though as a child himself, there was not much he could do. I love how Sahira cared and demonstrated her feelings for the tigers. Oh that we all had something or someone we would fight for and fiercely defend.

This was such a fun imaginative story. I can’t wait to share this with my own children.

I really enjoyed this book! I used to love “A Little Princess”, so I was excited to read a new book based on that classic. I really liked Sahira, though I felt sad for her for all she went through. Just like a “A Little Princess”, this books packs an emotional wallop!

I loved the contrast of cultures. Sahira lived in India before going to England and it was interesting to see the differences between the cultures. I felt bad for Sahira because many characters in the book didn’t accept her culture and tried to change her and suppress who she was.

I liked how Sahira relates to people by comparing them to animals. For example, when some people gang up against Sahira, she thinks of what happens when ducks gang up against a solitary one and how vicious they can be. Her father worked with animals and taught her many things, so that is how she understands people’s actions, through a lens of how different animals act.

I really enjoyed this book! It is beautifully written, and I loved Sahira!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was such a refreshing book to read. The main character, Sahira has to make her way alone in the world after tragedy strikes her parents.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher Lion Fiction for this ARC in exchange for a true honest review.

I have to say that this was my first book by Julia Golding and after reading this beautiful book and story, she is now one of my favorite writers that I'm going to follow.
This is one of the best stories I've read this year, it made cry, resent the human beings, then smile and feeling hopeful.
What an amazing story. My heart broke for this little girl facing all these insufferable situations with all those horrible people. She faced death, discrimination in all its high colors and violence. A little girl of two different cultures one Indian Muslim and the other British Christian, facing the lost of her parents in their travel to England with a cargo of two tigers to deliver to the menagerie in the tower of London. Sahira Clive discover the ugly truth about how people see her because of her complexion and not as just the daughter of Captain Clive. She is seen and judged as a savage unwanted orphan and thrown into a horrible orphanage where she will learn how to face bullies and injustice the bad way. But she made good friends that will help her in her little odyssey to get back to her true home and family. You can not not get attached to this little girl and feel for her. She is amazing, smart, kind, beautiful and emotionlly spiritual. I loved everything about her.

I loved Sahira's story and character, it reminded me of all these books: "Anne and the Green Gables" with "Little Princess" and "The book of the Jungle". It was a page turner that I could not stop reading when I got the time to start it.

Free ARC provided by NetGalley, thank you so much.

Sahira’s family are travelling to England to deliver two Indian tigers to the menagerie in the tower of London.
But tragedy strikes and Sahira’s parents die on the journey. Upon arrival in a England Sahira finds herself confined to a miserable and dangerous orphanage as the English side of her family refuse to have anything to do with her all because of her mixed heritage. Sahira is determined to carry out her father’s last request and protect her tigers despite threats she's facing every day.

What a marvelous little story of a young girls love for the animal kingdom. Sahira is facing all sorts of challenges but she stops at nothing to ensure the tigers well being and even though it is absolutely heart breaking to read parts of it you know that all things will end well when someone this passionate and determined has taken upon themselves to protect you

I'm going to get my daughter to read this because I know she's going to love it

The tigers in the tower is quick, middle-grade story. The story starts with Sahira, a girl who, at the start of the story, lost her parents while they were on a ship from India to England. The only thing she has left, are her two tigers, but as soon as she ends up in England, a man named mr. Cop takes them. He is another animal collector, just like Sahira’s dad was. It is there where the story picks up, because now with nothing, Sahira gets placed into an orphanage. She meets some new girls there, ones that she sees as her friends. At the same setting, she meets her so called enemies, 2 brothers who wants only her boots at first.

It is also where a lot of characters are introduced that my brain couldn’t remember that well. Normally, I don’t mind big casts but in this case, I felt like most of the background characters weren’t fleshed out enough, so they all got mushed together. Throughout the book, it keeps happening, causing me to in the end forget a lot of them and how important they are. What might had helped that case, is to have a list of names somewhere in the book. Many of the characters are big families, which I guess was normal for that time. Keeping in mind it is middle grade, it could have helped to have a smaller cast.

Sahira, on the other hand, is a strong main character. It is clear she is grieving and she does overcome her obstacles throughout the book. She loves animals, even gives some facts throughout the book about them, and her intelligence is also what shines throughout the book. It is nice to see that she is a strong lead, but I guess that is also why many other characters just felt flat, even for a middle grade. It is tricky when you put such strong main characters with all their emotions and feelings next to people who are clearly there to do one things and that is either be on the side of the main character or be against them. I still liked reading from her point of view, though, mostly because of those emotions that felt so real and fair.

All by all was it nice quick read that I again needed, featuring a strong main character and an very interesting setting, London in the 1930s.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is an excellent historical fiction middle grade set in 1830s London. Our main character, Sahira, is the daughter of an English lord's son and an Indian noblewoman, who are travelling from India to England to deliver two tigers to the Tower of London. We learn that a tragedy has occurred as Sahira's parents have died on the voyage. Instead of exploring England with her parents and meeting her father's family, Sahira finds herself alone and unwanted and is placed in a grim orphanage. Well alone that is except for her two tigers. As the only link to her parents and her previous life, Sahira is determined to make sure they are taken care of. However, as you might expect, two tigers are not easy to look after and Sahira goes through many adventures, making new friends along the way.

Sahira's wonderful personality shines out of this book and she is just a joy to follow as a main character. Her intelligence, her love for animals, her sense of justice and her determination make for a very compelling character. You really want her to succeed and you feel each unfairness and disappointment along with Sahira. The animals she meets and the friends she makes all add to the charming feel of this story.

For those who like to learn new information while being entertained by the story, the author has clearly done a lot of research and there are many historical details. As well as learning about the history of the Tower's menagerie, the story shows people's attitudes to exotic animals at the time and the ways in which they were treated. The time period is portrayed very well and we glimpses into the power of the government, the establishment of the police force and the methods of transport being used at this time.

The atmosphere created by the author is spot on. Sahira's experiences at the orphanage have an Oliver Twist/Jane Eyre feel to them and the villains are truly Dickensian. When Sahira tells tales of her life in India, she brings wonder and colour to the story and you can picture her running free with her animals.

Throughout the story, the author addresses themes of belonging, understanding and prejudice (against race, sex and religion). Sahira's appearance leads many people to make assumptions about her before they even get to know her. While the setting is historical, the issues covered are still so relevant today.

I would recommend this book to readers aged 8+ who like historical settings or stories with animals. Be aware the book does include parental death, a scene of corporal punishment and other violence to children.

Synposis:

Sahira Clive arrives in England with two Royal Bengal tigers that she must deliver to the Tower of London Menagerie. They are her last link to her home in India, and to her parents, who died on the voyage to England. Friendless and alone, she is forced to live in a grim orphanage; her one joy is being able to go and see the tigers at the Menagerie. But then, when the Menagerie is in financial troubles the tigers are to be sold. Can Sahira rescue them, and will her father’s family rescue her from the cruelty of the orphanage?

Review:

It was the gorgeous cover that first caught my eye; the girl with the brown skin and swirling red hair, flanked by those tigers, just ooze power and mystery. I soon found that The Tigers In The Tower is an absorbing tale full of adventure, adversity, friendship and beautiful animals. Sahira is exactly the type of bright, outspoken heroine to appeal to fair-minded and compassionate young animal-lovers. The book has a wonderful cast of likeable friends and boo-hiss-worthy villains. I loved the fact that it featured a protagonist with an intercultural and interfaith family, and the passages that evoked the beauty of India’s natural world. The gentle humour offsets the hints of darkness in the novel, and a brisk pace with plenty of conflict and setbacks keep the tension building towards a satisfying conclusion.

There were one or two aspects that perhaps could have been thought through a little more. For instance, although I thought Sahira was a wonderful heroine, I found myself wishing she had a name other than 'Clive' as I couldn't help thinking of the troubled history associated with Robert 'Clive of India' (probably not something most children would notice!). I also felt that, while Golding took pains to show the particular influences of both parents on Sahira’s upbringing, the focus on her special relationship with her father somewhat overshadows her relationship with her mother. Richard’s words are often quoted whereas Noor-un-Nissa's are not; she has no voice in Sahira’s memories, and so we get less of a sense of her personality.

None of this takes away, however, from the many positive things in the novel. Golding deftly portrays the different characters' motivations for their actions - even those that aren’t morally right: there were many times I felt indignant for Sahira’s treatment by others, yet I couldn’t help but feel for the dilemmas facing Emily, Anne and even Sahira’s aunt. Sahira makes a positive role-model in being assertive and resilient, but also compassionate and generous. Golding also sensitively examines the attitudes of sections of English society towards mixed-race Anglo-Indian children, which would make a great starting point for conversations with children about racism, prejudice, and British colonialism.

I thought the cameo appearance by Charles Darwin was a brilliant touch, and the history of the London Zoo and the Tower of London Menagerie was fascinating. Regarding the latter, I’m in full agreement with one of the characters who declares, ‘His Majesty’s Keeper of the Lions – that sounds like the best job in the world.’

One of my biggest problems with NetGalley is that it doesn’t detail the genres. MG fiction can cover a lot of things. To me, based on the cover and description, this book seemed like an interesting adventure novel in Victorian England. I was even hoping for some magic. I became disappointed because of this. If it had been categorized as historical, I wouldn’t have started it.
So, about the book: Sahira travelled with her parents from India to England to start a new life. Her parents died on the way, leaving only the two tigers left for her, which were bought by the Tower Menagerie. Meanwhile, Sahira is taken to an orphanage.
50% of the book was about Sahira's stories and nothing happens ... He just tells about how she lived, how much everyone hates her, or maybe about India ... For me, that’s not enough for a book. I was bored... In the end, I just started to enjoy it, I started to like its atmosphere. That's why I rated 3 stars in the end.
What I most hate about a book is meaningless bullying and violence. This theme is something that I can't understand and it is simply irritating that people treat each other this way. If it hadn’t been a book from NetGalley, I would have DNF it. This year I already DNFed a book for this reason. It’s just awful to read that someone treats others this way just because they can do it. It is so bad for my mental health, I can't read about it. That’s why I don’t like reading books that take place in high school because it common topic there.
Racism was a topic also, but I don’t think that was the main thing.
Sahira would have been hurt anyway because her character is so strong, so it was weird that the writer was built the book on racism. I was annoyed by Sahira, sometimes acted very childish, and was too stubborn.
This book wasn’t my style, and I’m a little sorry that since I didn’t know exactly its genre, I requested it and now I had to rate it down.

The Hungarian version of the review:
Az egyik legnagyobb gondom a NetGalley-vel, hogy nem részletezi a kategóriákat. Az, hogy MG fikció sok mindent fedhet. Számomra ez a könyv a borító és fülszöveg alapján egy érdekes kalandregénynek tűnt a viktoriánus Angliában (végül kiderült, hogy kicsit korábbi). Reménykedtem még egy mágikus szálban is. Aztán csalódnom kellett. Ha írta volna, hogy sima történelmi könyv, biztos bele sem kezdek.
Szóval a könyvről: Sahira szüleivel elindult Indiából Angliába, hogy új életet kezdjen. Szülei útközben meghaltak, így csak a két tigris marad neki belőlük, amit a Towerben levő állatkertbe vettek meg. Közben Sahira árvaházba kerül.
A könyv 50%-a arról szólt, hogy Sahira mesél. Semmi sem történik... Csak mesél, hogy hogyan élt, mennyire utálja mindenki, mennyire rossz neki, vagy lehet valamilyen indiai dolgot mesélt... Nekem ez nem elég egy könyvhöz. Untam... A végén kezdtem csak élvezni, kezdett megtetszeni a hangulata. Ezért lett 3 csillag a vége.
Amit legjobban utálok egy könyvben az értelmetlen bully-ing. Ez a téma az, amit nem tudok sosem megérteni, és egyszerűen irritál, hogy emberek így bánnak egymással. Ha nem NetGalley-ről kapott könyv lett volna, félbehagytam volna. Idén már hagytam abba ez okból könyvet. Egyszerűen szörnyű olvasnom arról, hogy valaki így bánik másokkal csak mert kedve van hozzá. Ezért sem szeretek olyan könyveket olvasni, amik középiskolában játszódnak, mert ott is mindig megjelenik ez.
Amúgy rasszizmus is téma volt, de szerintem nem ez volt a fő dolog.
Sahirát így is, úgy is bántották volna, mert nem egy meghunyászkodó természet, ezért ez nem valahogy fura volt, hogy erre építkezett az írónő. Engem idegesített Sahira, néha nagyon gyerekesen viselkedett, és túl önfejű volt.
Ez a könyv nem az én stílusom volt, és kicsit sajnálom, hogy mivel nem tudtam pontosan a műfaját, bevállaltam, és most le kellett pontoznom.

On her journey from India to 1830 London Sahira becomes an orphan. Being mixed race (daughter of a British Captain and a Persian noble woman) she doesn’t fit in anywhere, and we follow her as she tries to find a home for herself and her tigers.

This is a great story about the prejudices (both regarding race and sex) Sahira faces as a ‘savage’. It is about mourning for the loss of her parents. And it is about fighting for what is right and never giving up on your dreams. It was heartbreaking to read about the life Sahira found herself in the orphanage. It was so unfair. And yet she never gave up, and never gave in to the bullies. She really was an admirable main character to follow.

And then there were the animals. It was sad to see the way they were treated then, but also great to read they were in the process to understand them better, and to try and make them actually happy. I also loved the small role Darwin had to play in the story.

I cannot comment on the cultural accuracy Julia (a white woman) portrayed in this book, but to me she seemed knowledgeable enough. Sahira is raised with both Christian and Muslim customs, and speaks English and Farsi, as well as Hindustani. She gets annoyed when being mistaken for Hindoo, and does speak all three languages throughout the book.

For all the sad and unfair moments that make your heart ache, this book has a very happy ending, which also nicely wraps everything up. I am very happy I read this book, and would like to thank Netgalley to provide me with a copy for review.

I will not be reading this book, as it is a book heavily influenced and centering Desi culture but written by a White author. At the time of requesting, I was unaware of this.