The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

Pages: 352
Publish date: December 1st, 2016
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
ISBN: 1489219552
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

The Star-Touched Queen:

I received an ARC of The Star-Touched Queen Roshani Chokshi from Harlequin Teen Australia in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I have been wanting to read The Star-Touched Queen for quite some time, but up until recently, it hadn’t been published here in Australia. Then I received a review copy and I was hanging out to read it. However, I did put it off as I was waiting for the release date to be a little closer. And after reading The Star-Touched Queen, I am a little disappointed.

The Star-Touched Queen follows protagonist Maya, daughter of the Raja and holder of a terrible horoscope. It is said that her marriage will follow with death and destruction. The kingdom not only feared her but hold a hatred that is cemented deep into her life. Her life changes when her father arranges a marriage of political convinces, that will hopefully bring some peace to the kingdom.

I have a love/hate relationship with Maya. For the most part, I truly enjoy her as a protagonist. She had this strength about her, that was somewhat empowering. Nearly everyone in her kingdom hated her or feared her, yet she didn’t let it get to her. It was great to see her stand up for herself. As the novel goes on, we get to find out who Maya truly is and she becomes even stronger. However, at times I felt like Maya’s voice shifted and she started acting and thinking, younger than she seemed to be. It was like she was a child all of a sudden.

I didn’t seem to care for the other characters in The Star-Touched Queen. There wasn’t the connection that I love to have with side characters, especially if they have interactions with the protagonist.

The romance was lacklustre for me. I didn’t feel much of a connection and I felt that it was totally insta-love.  Amar is, I don’t know how to explain him. I am not totally sure that I liked him as a character per say, but I did, however, enjoy finding out his story. As The Star-Touched Queen went on, I was able to see the chemistry and tried to get over the ‘insta-love’ vibe that it was giving me.

Now to talk about the plot – the first half of the book I was good, everything seemed to flow and make sense. And then part two happen and I had no idea what was going on. It was like the whole novel changed and I was totally confused. The reader is thrown into this whole different world and we aren’t really given an explanation until the end. Even then things weren’t really explained.

In saying all this Roshani Chokshi writing in The Star-Touched Queen is absolutely stunning. I was swept away in the words and sentences that are beautifully weaved together.  It’s such a different atmosphere in YA, but it was perfectly done. The world of The Star-Touched Queen is variant and colourful and that is how I felt the writing was as well. They bonded together so well.

In terms of world-building, like the plot, I was a little confused. At the start, I was able to understand what was happen, where we were and how the world worked. But when I got into part two, I was again confused.

The Star-Touched Queen is one of the first, if not the first book that I have read on Indian mythology and I enjoyed it. I love history and the concepts of mythology so it was great to dive into this diverse world that not many people talk about.

Overall, I liked The Star-Touched Queen. It’s not my favourite book out there, but it’s defiantly not my most hated. The concept was interesting, Maya was intriguing and the writing was exquisite. I was swept up into a world of magic and finding out who you really are. And although I was slightly confused, I would want to read more into this world and books from Roshani Chokshi.

Have you read The Star-Touched Queen? Did you like it? Did you have the same problems as me? Are you planning to read it? Let’s Chat!