The Star-Touched Queen

Author: Roshani Chokshi
Series: The Star-Touched Queen, #1
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: April 26, 2016

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.

Stars, soulmates, and supernatural cities hit hard on my aesthetic. Just add the promise of diversity, and you're practically guaranteed to have me on-board for the ride. The Star-Touched Queen is a fantastical retelling of Hades and Persephone—although I believe the more accurate comparison would be Cupid and Psyche—set in a world that has additional roots in Indian folklore.

"You do not trust me, do you?"

"No," I said. "I had no reason to lie. "I told you [...] that trust is won in actions and time. Not words."

"I wish you trusted me."

"I don't place my faith in wishes."

Maya is the princess of Bharata, but she is only one of the many daughters sired by the Raja. Her father's walls hold a strict hierarchy, and she lies at the bottom rung. Bharata, you see, places its faith in the stars. Entire lives have been designed by horoscopes, and Maya has been given the worst one, promising her a marriage of death and destruction.

"Come with me and you shall be an empress with the moon for your throne and constellations to wear in your hair. Come with me and I promise you that we will always be equals."

In order to pacify Bharata's enemies, the Raja arranges a match between her and a neighboring prince. Enter Amar of Akaran, who vows to lay the world at her feet. However, her handsome prince might not be entirely what he seems.

Straight off the bat, I thought the prose was beautiful. The author has woven a beautiful setting that drips with culture and magic on every page. There were times, though, when her descriptions were nonsensical. Shatter Me easily comes to mind as a comparison.

The romance was swoon-worthy, at first. I loved the emphasis on Amar's desire for them to be equals. As he says time and time again, he treasures her opinion and perspective. My only complaint would be that they fall in love with each other much too easily, even as I consider the conflict that presents itself later on.

The middle surprised me. Even if a story manages to suck me in, I usually get bored by the halfway point, but the author had snuck in an intriguing surprise. 

I was conflicted about Maya's choice to stab the heart of Akaran. The villain could have easily been seen from a mile away, and stupidity can make me drop a book in a flash. I do appreciate the bold move on the author's part, and the growth Maya received as a result.

Another relationship I would like to touch on is Maya's interactions with other women. She may have her half-sister Gauri and a flesh-eating horse, but The Star-Touched Queen suffers from a lack of positive female relationships. At the same time, the allegations of slut-shaming aren't really well-founded. Gauri's relationship with the harem women is evident of that, and the novella Death and Night explores Maya's bond with two of her best friends.

There was one line, I admit, that toed the line, but I believe it had stemmed more so in the heat of the moment and Maya's history with how she's been treated by those in the palace.

On a somewhat related note, I was disappointed that there was no redemption arc for Nritti. She had done some terrible things and yet, I still felt sorry for her.

Despite how well The Star-Touched Queen handled itself, the ending fell flat. Ultimately, it had been the deciding factor in whether to put it on my list of favorites or not. There were a number of unanswered questions. 

​What was that about Maya's stories coming true? Is it because she was a goddess? Because she was tapping on some hidden knowledge she once kept? What exactly curtails a goddess in this world?

At the very least, I liked The Star-Touched Queen enough to read the novella and give its sequel a chance.

Switched

Author: Amanda Hocking
Series: Trylle Trilogy, #1
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: January 3, 2012

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She's not the person she's always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes.

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken, though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she'd ever admit. But it isn't long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he's come to take her home.

Now Wendy's about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that's both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she's meant to become...,

Don't be fooled. Behind this beautiful cover is yet another typical young adult, half-baked novel. I should have put this back on the shelf the moment I read "mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her." To be honest, Switched had so much wonderful potential, but that potential comes crashing down after the one-third mark.

A couple things made that day stand out more than any other: it was my sixth birthday, and my mother was wielding a knife.

It starts out the same way almost every magic-themed Disney Channel movie does, with a mysterious event that occurs in the protagonist's childhood leading to them going to a new school in the present day. Wendy sits on the lowest of the popularity chain.

Everywhere I went, kids never seemed to like me. Even before I said or did anything. I felt like I had something wrong with me and everyone knew it. I tried getting along with the other kids, but I'd only take getting pushed for so long before I pushed back. Principals and deans were quick to expel me, probably sensing the same things the kids did.

I just didn't belong.

Her parents are dead. The only reason she cares about graduating at all is because of her loving and overly protective brother Matt and aunt Maggie. To top it off, the other new kid is her own personal stalker, with handsome looks and mysterious airs to go with.

I was about to lose hope, until Wendy actually starts to interact with Finn and doesn't fall for him right off the bat. Had the author intended to subvert the nauseating, unrealistic tropes that run rampant in urban fantasy?

The idea of Finn being a romantic prospect hadn't crossed Matt's mind before, and he suddenly tensed up, looking at me with a new scrutiny. Fortunately for him, that idea hadn't crossed my mind either.

She confronts Finn for acting like a stalker.

"You're always staring at me," I persisted. "It's weird. You're weird."

When he continues with his behavior and begins to spout some silly troll nonsense, she tells him to high-tail it out of here.

"...after what I went through with my mother, I'm not read to let another crazy person into my life. So you have to go."

She feels reasonably scared, refusing to let any attraction between them blind her. Finally!

"You have lost your mind," I trembled in shock and fear, not knowing what to think. I should have thrown him out of my room, but then again, I never should've let him in.

Alright!

"I look at you because I can't look away," Finn answered finally.

"That's kind of creepy," I said at last, but my words came out weak instead of accusatory.

Yes—Wait, what.

I couldn't get a read on the way I felt about Finn. Most of the time he seemed weird and bordering on creepy. But then we had that glorious moment when we danced together, before he completely shattered it.

Even now, after the way he'd treated me, I couldn't shake how wonderful it had felt being in his arms like that. 

No, stop.

A very small part of me felt excited about the prospect of going to his room with him. That sounded like the start of a fantasy I might have. But the way he was looking at me now, I was afraid he might kill me once we were in private.

*sigh*

In the two meetings between himself and Wendy, Finn had done nothing but insult her. For the rest, he continued to act condescending toward her, showing disapproval over any action she makes, Sometimes he struck me as more of a father than a love interest, just like my feelings for a certain YA character *cough*Dimitri*cough*. When he genuinely returned Wendy's feelings, that was probably one of the biggest shocks of my life. When, where and how did this happen?

There is certainly no appeal in Wendy herself. Like I said, she was awesome in the beginning, but then insta-love happened, and she was taken to the Troll sanctuary. She had morphed soon into a whiny stereotypical princess that needed rescuing. Everyone kept raving all about her great abilities, but we only see a small, weak glimpse of it in the first couple of chapters. I doubted that she was as powerful as everyone thought she was. And to me, while it might be realistic for any teenage girl in her situation, what she did in the end was too cowardly for me to stomach. I lost all respect for Wendy right there and then.

I did love the complexity of the side-characters, such as Tove and both of Wendy's mothers. Loki, a new character featured in the short story The Vitra Attacks, promises to be a lovely addition. Sorry, guys. I have a thing for fictional bad boys with a way with words.

But it wasn't enough. Just as I feared, Switched had ended up to be too clichéd and uneventful for me to enjoy, with nothing to make it stand out from others from its kind. Girl goes to new school, has a hard time making friends, falls in love with mysterious guy, gets stalked by mysterious guy, and discovers that he is more than meets the eye. Even discovers that she is different too. Together, they must fight against lame, non-threatening villains and their love being torn apart by a triangle. Lather, rinse, repeat. Yawn.