The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi | Book Review

Title: The Star-Touched Queen
Series: The Star-Touched Queen,  #1
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Published: 04/26/16
Edition: hardcover
Pages: 342
My Rating: 3.5 / 5
Goodreads page

There are no spoilers in this review.

Synopsis

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.

(This synopsis is from Goodreads.)

Thoughts

The first thing I noticed about this book is how poetic the writing is. It’s almost lyrical, and I wasn’t used to that. The only other book I read with that type of writing was the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series by Laini Taylor.

I also noticed how I can’t pronounce any of the names in the story correctly. Because of that, I listened to the audiobook for the majority of the story.

From what I know, this story is based on Indian mythology. It was interesting to read a story based on a mythology other than the regular Greek, Roman, and Norse ones. Sure, I love the story of Hades and Persephone, but I really wanted to read a different mythology love story.

One thing that struck me funny was how much the horoscopes affects everyday life for everyone. It’s as though the horoscope determined the person’s life. I related it to Romeo and Juliet, and found several similarities between them. What are those similarities? I won’t say, only because I don’t want to spoil anything.

The story was hard to follow at times. There were some jumps that I didn’t understand, but they weren’t big enough that I couldn’t enjoy the story. They were more grumbles than storms.

Also, can I just say that Amar is possibly become a book boyfriend? Because he is so sweet.

Characters

Maya

What I like about Maya (and generally all of the characters in this story) is how human she is. She’s likable, but she’s also hate-able. She has redeeming qualities, but she isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. She makes mistakes. I know the genre is fantasy and it’s meant to be unrealistic, but it’s refreshing to see human characters act… well, human.

All the Mothers

I don’t like them. At. All. However, again, they’re just acting human.

 

Amar

Keeping secrets is never a good idea, even though he didn’t have a choice this time.

Gupta

He is probably the character I related to the most in this story. He’s so nerdy and eager for a challenge for his brain. He loves riddles, and so do I (although unlike him, it takes me forever to figure them out). He’s also slightly awkward, just like me.

Conclusion

I give this book a 3.5 / 5 BBC Sherlock heads.

Until next time….