The Star-Touched Queen by: Roshani Chokshi

Summary:

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.

Review:

This was a book in which the premise really intrigued me, mainly because I am always trying to diversify my reads, and I always like books that are set in other countries around the world, especially this setting which is India.

Maya, is a pretty engaging character. She is someone who was basically forced into her situation in which she has to marry someone for political gains rather than for love. But I did like her relationship with Amar. They were actually an engaging couple and you actually felt a connection with them. It did feel a little bit like insta-love but their relationship and the characters were well-developed.

I felt that the world building could have been better. I really did love the inclusion  of Indian mythology in the book, but it was a little confusing. I didn’t get a lot of information about the kingdom and the world it is set in, and I kinda wanted to see the book dive deeper into the lore.

The book almost reminded me of ACOTAR, which was a lot more romance focused in terms of the relationships, while I did like the relationship it did lack a lot of action that I wanted to see, and it wasn’t as plot heavy as I wanted it to be.

I also wish that the book explored a lot more of the setting. While India was a great setting for the book to be set in, it should have been explored more and see more of India and its culture.

In the end, The Star-Touched Queen was a good book, but it lacked the action or plot that I would have wanted to see. I think Roshani Chokshi is a good author and I would want like to see more of what the author has to offer.

Grade: 3/5