Review: The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

Title: The Star-Touched Queen

Author:  Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Publishing Date: April 26th 2016
Pages: 342
Genre: YA Fantasy 
Series:  Stand Alone 

Source: Audio
 

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.

I was totally hyped on this book. The cover is so beautiful. Loved the title. The sysnopis was spot on for me.  I really had high hopes for this book. I enjoyed this story very much. It was a bit slow for me and I didn't connect as well as I wanted.. but in the end I did enjoy the book. 

Maya has know her horoscope ever since she was young. She was to be partnered with death. Everybody was scared of her, didn't want to be around her, blamed her for the deaths that happened in the kingdom. Maya was okay with this. She never wanted to marry. She wanted to be smart and discover things, explore. That is what she had planned for her life. That all changed the day her father came to her with a plan that involved her death. Ready to make the sacrifice for her people she was on the brink of killing herself when a man saved her. A man she finds reason to marry. A man with secrets. With this man, this marraige, these secrets, a new life unfolds around her and she needs to decide where she really belongs.

I enjoyed this read. I adored the story. The story was of strength and loyalty, trust and betrayal. It was myth and fantasy. So many myths and retellings all wrapped into the goodness of a new story. It  had hints fo Hades and Persephone, Bluebeard, and the three sisters of fate, and a few others too. It had a ton of culture and beauty from India. It was beautifully written and beautifully pulled together for imagery. I loved this part of the book. I had no problems getting into the story, the setting, and the tone. It really was gorgeous. 

What I did have a little bit of an issue with was character connection and pacing. Now when I say a little bit of issue there really was just a tiny issue with it. I listened to this on audio and at times I found I was distracted from the story and it took me a bit longer to get through than audio usually takes me. There were times I had to start a chapter over or found myself just not fully vested. This could have been a multiple of things that played into this issue but I really have this issue when the pacing is off or I don't connect real well. 

I did like the main characters. I adored the strength and bravery that Maya had. At times I did think she was a bit naive when it came to trust and secrets and betrayal. I really wanted her to to trust Amar more than she did. I think I would of had the same issue with all the secrets but he was so super sweet. I wanted her to trust him like I did. 

I loved loved loved Amar. I did just love him. He was sweet and mysterious and charming. I would have fallen for him in the first five minutes. Even if it had ended me in some trouble. I do think he would have made things a bit easier for Maya. Somehow found  a way to earn her trust faster, before things hit the fan.

I did adore both the characters. I think I didn't quite connect because the romance was lacking. It was there in parts but never fully so I lacked the connection with either character. There wasn't enough time with character interaction and I felt there was too much inside Maya's head on solving the puzzles instead of her feelings and true thoughts. There wasn't enough Amar either. I would have loved more of him. 

This same issue caused the problems with pacing for me. I just didn't feel it was enough on the characters getting to know each other, or time spent together. A ton of the book was focused on Maya and her journey. Which was good but I tend to lose focus on these kind of stories. 

These issues were not enough to deter me away from the read or finishing it. I was invested in the story and was really interested in all the facts and what happened and who done it and so forth and so on. SO I did enjoy it. It did keep me reading. I was satisfied in the end. 

It left me wanting more in some aspects.. I needed more of Mayas past... There was so much unresolved there. It felt that there was another story there that I never did get. If I had more maybe I would have connected better. Then on another path... I had just enough. The ending was satisfied. I did get some of what I had been waiting... searching for. So it was worth the read but I could have had more. 

I wanted a bit more than I got but it was still a pretty darn good read.  I had a hard time with the rating. Its actually between a 3 and a 4.... I don't do halves though. 

Roshani Chokshi comes from a small town in Georgia where she collected a Southern accent, but does not use it unless under duress. She grew up in a blue house with a perpetually napping bear-dog. At Emory University, she dabbled with journalism, attended some classes in pajamas, forgot to buy winter boots and majored in 14th century British literature. She spent a year after graduation working and traveling and writing. After that, she started law school at the University of Georgia where she's learning a new kind of storytelling.​ The Star-Touched Queen is her first novel.

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