Book Review: The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokhi

Book: The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen #1)
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Published: April 26, 2016
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Number of Pages: 342
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Rating: 4 Stars
Tags: Romance, YA, #COYER, 4 Stars, Folklore

Goodreads/Amazon

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.

-MY REVIEW-

 "According to the royal physician, childbirth had killed Padmavathi, but no one believed him. In the eyes of the court, there was only one killer-Me."

I love Indian folklore. It's one of the coolest things that you can incorporate into a book in my opinion. That's why I got even more excited for this book when I learned that it was "steeped in Indian folklore." Let me tell you, this book didn't disappoint. 

In this book we follow Maya, and (and I say thing in every review) a lot of stuff happens! She gets married, becomes queen, falls in love (again), saves a kingdom, and meets a talking horse that likes to eat people. Oh yes, this all happens in 342 pages.

I really liked Maya at the beginning of the book. She was strong and independent. I didn't like how she became soft around the middle of the book. Then at the end of the book she seemed like a completely different person (which I get, but still who are you?). I liked Amar throughout the entire book. I didn't trust him, but I liked him. He was a gentlemen. I absolutely loved Kamala. Honestly, who wouldn't love a man eating horse? She was sassy, and the best friend a person could have. It was good to have a little bit of sass in a serious situation.

The world building is absolutely gorgeous. I wanted to live there. I wanted to be there. I wanted to explore everything there. World building can be hard in standalone high fantasy books, and this is a marvelous example of how it can be done amazingly. The writing was also amazing. It had a really nice flow, and I would picture everything in my head as I read the story unfold.

I loved the theme of fate and death in this story (even if there wasn't a lot of it). I thought that the tapestry; having to decide people's fate. I really enjoyed that part of the story, and I wish that there was more of it!

So overall, I loved this book! With fabulous storytelling, writing, and world building; lovers of folklore and high fantasy should give this book a try.