Friday, May 6, 2016

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi





Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you’re only seventeen?

Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father’s kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran’s queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar’s wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire…

But Akaran has its own secrets—thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most…including herself.







From the first page of this book, I was hooked. The elegant and magical writing almost took my breath away. Chokishi really has a way with words. It's hard for me to actually put into words how beautiful the writing in this book was, because my writing pales in comparison. 

“The stars, filled with cold light and secrets, held no emotion in their fixed language of fate. Emotion belonged to life, a thing the stars could never experience. I, not the starlight, shaped my decisions.” 

The main character, Maya, was fantastic. Maya was strong, independent, loyal, and thoughtful. Maya was in a world where women got married off and that seemed to be their main purpose. Maya wanted more than a meaningless life and marriage. Maya wanted to be respected and free to make her own choices. If she got married, she wanted it to be for love. I really admired her and respected everything she stood for. I loved her from the first page of this book.

“I wanted a love thick with time, as inscrutable as if a lathe had carved it from night and as familiar as the marrow in my bones. I wanted the impossible, which made it that much easier to push out of my mind.” 

As soon as Amar was introduced, I knew I was going to adore his character. Amar was intense and so swoon worthy. I can see why some people might be turned off by his intensity, but his character worked really well for me. I loved how I didn't know if I could trust him or not. He was dark, mysterious, and I couldn't help but want to know more about him. I think he could have used a little more character development, so hopefully there is a book two! I NEED MORE AMAR. I NEED ANSWERS. ALSO, I AM IN LOVE WITH HIM.




I know that some people would say that this romance is an insta-love type romance. I totally get where that is coming from, because I thought the same thing. However, the romance actually worked for me. I really liked the romance in this book, which surprised me! I thought Maya and Amar made a great couple, and they had a ton of chemistry. I was rooting for them to get together from their first interaction. Some of the things Amar said to Maya literally made my heart stop. *feels*

‘‘My star-touched queen,’’ he said softly, as if he was remembering something long ago. ‘‘I would break the world to give you what you want.’’ 


SWOON. 

The world in this book was breathtaking. I haven't read anything quite like this book before. I loved mix of mythology, Indian culture, and fantasy. I would have like there to have been a little more world building because I was left with some questions after finishing this book. I am glad that Chokshi didn't resort to info dumping, but some things did confuse me. I am crossing my fingers that there will be a book two with more explanations. 

Overall, this was a fantastic book. There were so many wonderful elements to this book that created a captivating story. I would recommend this book to everyone!


4.5 / 5 Fangs




2 comments:

  1. Yey! I'm glad you loved this one. I just finished it myself and I am still swooning. Eventually I'll be able to write a coherent review. You summed everything up quite nicely! Excellent review. :)

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    1. Thank you so much! I am looking forward to seeing your review, because I know it will be great! YES I AM STILL SWOONING AS WELL. It killed me lol

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