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Published: April 26th 2016 by St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN13: 9781250085474
Series: The Star-Touched Queen #1
Synopsis from Goodreads
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.
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: 3.75 Stars
This book had a huge amount of hype surrounding it, and there are so many people who just love this book. I can't say that this a bad thing this book is full of diverse characters and was definitely unique. I got drawn to this book back before it was released when I was reading ARC reviews and the teaser quotes. I picked the book up months after it's release still full of anticipation. To start with I could understand the hype the first half of the book was magical, Chokshi's writing was so poetic and beautiful. I loved the mysteriousness of Akaran, and his palace with it's hidden and dangerous doors and magical tapestries. It was wonderful to read the growth of Maya and Akaran's relationship as we progressed though this first half, as they spend more time together and Maya settled into the palace. I also enjoyed the friendship that develops between Maya and Gupta, and their interactions as two scholars.
Unfortunately, the saying goes 'all good things must come to an end' and that was the case here as I started to read the second half of the book. To be honest it just got a bit ... weird. Now I know it is a fantasy book and I have read some pretty wacky fantasy books, but this one just wasn't my cup of tea. Also because of a certain plot 'twist' I found that the Maya at the end of the book wasn't the Maya that I loved so much in the first half - I don't want to go into this too much. I understand that Maya would and should change as a result of her journey in this book but I felt it was more the 'remembering' that changed her so much.
I have mixed opinions for this popular book. I loved the first half but didn't enjoy the second half. So, I think I would recommend reading it yourself and seeing if it is your cup of tea.
Have you read The Star-Touched Queen? I would love to know what you thought in the comments below.
