Author: Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: April 26th, 2016
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: ALA Midwinter
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Cursed with a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, sixteen-year-old Maya has only earned the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her world is upheaved when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. But when her wedding takes a fatal turn, Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Yet neither roles are what she expected. As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds friendship and warmth.But Akaran has its own secrets - thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Beneath Akaran's magic, Maya begins to suspect her life is in danger. When she ignores Amar's plea for patience, her discoveries put more than new love at risk - it threatens the balance of all realms, human and Otherworldly.Now, Maya must confront a secret that spans reincarnated lives and fight her way through the dangerous underbelly of the Otherworld if she wants to protect the people she loves.
I got to meet Roshani Chokshi at ALA Midwinter and now that
I think of it, she was the first author I met at the conference, her book was
the first item I received at the conference, and she is by far one of the sweetest
authors who I have had the chance to meet. Come on just look at her and how awesome she looks!
When seeing her book it was an
instant love. The cover is so intricate and so appealing to the eye that I felt
emotions started to form…
The story follows sixteen year old Maya as she is about to
be married off as a political deal and put a hold on the rebellious happenings.
However, things don’t go as plan and now Maya finds herself married to Amar and
is now Queen of Akaran, a place of beauty and wonders. However, under
everything beautiful there are secrets that have the power to change all realms
and now Maya must make decisions that could change her life forever.
Maya was a wonderful character but one thing that really
stood out to me was her trust issues. However, I do not blame her for this.
With the way she grew up with people either hating her or being afraid of her
really kept her on the outside of things and had her view the world in a
different way. I feel that her struggles helped her become the strong heroine
that we as readers could hope for in the story.
Amar really stuck me though the most in the story. I felt
that there was times I did not want to like him but then he would do something
or say something and my heart would flutter and I would love him all over
again. He had so many secrets that I was dying to find out and wanting for him to
just open.
There were so many scenes that had you on your toes, made
you laugh, made you cry, and for me do a fist bump on a plane because that was
where I read this book. Let me just say that I did get some looks from the
other passengers but it was well worth it. The romance was up and down for me
but it worked for me. I was pleasantly satisfied with it.
Overall this a beautiful and intricate woven book of pure imagination.
Roshani Chokshi is hitting the mark with her debut novel. The Star-Touched
Queen weaves together the magic of another culture and will keep the reader
wanting more.
I give this book 5 souls!
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