The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani ChokshiThe Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
Series: The Star-Touched Queen #1
Also in this series: A Crown of Wishes
Also by this author: A Crown of Wishes, The Gilded Wolves
Published by Macmillan on April 26th 2016
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, General, Epic
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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five-stars

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.
A lush and vivid story that is steeped in Indian folklore and mythology. The Star-touched Queen is a novel that no reader will soon forget.

I have wanted to read The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi from the minute I heard about it. In fact, it made my list of Top Ten 2016 Debuts That I Am HYPED About. After reading The Star-Touched Queen, I can totally vouch that it was 100 percent worthy of being on my hype list. I read this book while on vacation in Arkansas and also a little bit after my vacation and goodness, it was SO good. I am really glad I read it, as it had me all jazzed up to read more fantasy and reminded me of how a great book pulls you in so that you forget the entire world around you.

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi is a book that rails against fate and is all about defying the stars to forge your own path in life. It is about a girl named Maya who lives in her father’s court. She is very intelligent. Yet, she has only one friend and that is her little sister. Her mother is long dead. Maya has a tendency to scare off her tutors. She’s somewhat content with her life. That is, until her father decides she needs to be married off in order to save the kingdom. However, Maya’s marriage is destined to bring about death and destruction. The stars have given her a horrific fate.

Yet, when it becomes time to make her choice among the suitors, she picks a handsome mysterious stranger who offers her hope. He takes Maya to his kingdom which is essentially between worlds, a place where the Night Market thrives. There, Maya will see many wonders and will rule as an equal besides Amar. All he asks is that she trust him until a certain amount of time passes and then he will reveal all to her. What happens next is a gorgeously written exploration of myth and fantasy and of the choices made – good and bad – and how one goes about rectifying mistakes.

YOU GUYS! I am 100% team Maya. She is SO FASCINATING. AND OKAY I AM HERE FOR HER CHOICES. Even when she makes what is definitely the wrong choice. I don’t even care.  I don’t even have it in me to argue. The reason being that Maya is so compelling and she’s a person I would totally root for. We see her become brave and we see her decide to stop being a plaything of fate. We see her love for her little sister. We see her grant mercy and absolution. I love how complicated Maya is. I love that she’s in this difficult situation that hell yes gets her down from moment to moment, but then when push comes to shove, she fights for love.

SPEAKING OF FIGHTING FOR LOVE! The romance. Okay, so if you enjoyed the romance in Cruel Beauty, I think you’re going to find yourself very pleased with The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi. It’s like, Maya goes back and forth with her feelings for Amar. She has such a tough time trusting him, but if I was in her shoes, I would be the same. I mean, it isn’t like he tells her a whole lot and he just says hang on and you’ll find out. He also tests her — what with life tapestries and tough decisions. Yet, their romance is one of equals and in the end, it is on Maya’s shoulders to save Amar, not the other way around. Plus, the way that Chokshi describes their relationship is highlighter worthy and actually kind of beautiful.

The world of The Star-Touched Queen may come across as a little confusing if you don’t read a lot of adult fantasy and especially if you’re not reading adult fantasy with diverse characters and worlds. There is a very heavy Indian influence and a lot of new words. Chokshi has a way of writing where the imagery is powerful, where the magic practically is living and breathing. This book is very, very well written and absolutely does not condescend to the readers. Chokshi’s writing is one where it seems as though it trusts your imagination, so yeah there’s a lot of imagery, and maybe it gets confusing, but you should just power through because the payoff is immense.

I cannot say enough glowing things about The Star-Touched Queen. It is surprising that Roshani Chokshi is a debut author because this reads like a book from a seasoned author. In fact, I am a bit surprised to check goodreads and see that this is the first of a series, as I felt the book wrapped up perfectly and didn’t seem to have very many loose ends. I found myself completely satisfied upon turning the last page on my kindle.

Other reviews of The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi:

Eater of Books – “a beautiful and heartbreaking and lovely story

Pinkindle – “I got pulled into Maya’s journey only to be left hanging

My Friends Are Fiction – “There wasn’t a single element about this novel that I found weak

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April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.
About April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

Comments

  1. I’m so happy you reviewed this, April, because I’m finalizing a book order for my classroom and this has been on my list. I was hesitant to order it since I haven’t read it yet, but I know I have fantasy fans in my class that will love it as much as you do. And I’ll have to read it as well since it sounds so good.

  2. Yeaaaaah! I’m so excited for this one!!! I got a copy right after it came out and haven’t been able to pick it up yet, but I AM GOING TO! Soon 🙂 Great review, you have me even more excited now!