My New Favorite Book! and 3 Favorite Characters from The Star-Touched Queen {Review}

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: St Martin's Griffin (2016)
Paperback ARC (339 pages)
Via: Publisher
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2016 Retelling Challenge, 2016 Royal Challenge, Read 2016

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.
A lush and vivid story that is steeped in Indian folklore and mythology. The Star-Touched Queen is a novel that no reader will soon forget.

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My Review

This book is perfection! How do I find words for a coherent review when I say that? The best course of action might be a list of the three characters I loved most from The Star-Touched Queen.

1. Maya

Maya isn’t the typical damsel-in-distress-princess but neither is she the warrior princess. She is an educated young woman who wants more from life than to be a harem wife of a raja.

Maya has a rather unfortunate horoscope that isolates her from her half-siblings and the harem wives. Everyone thinks her cursed and yet she dares to dream of a world where she would be accepted.

When her father’s plans turn rather sinister, Maya doesn’t just do as she is told. She takes her life into her own hands and makes her own choice about her future. She chooses life and Amar over death and her father.

2. Amar

Amar wants to make Maya happy. He wants to tell her everything. He wants to keep her safe. But some things need to come in their own time. He might not be the best character in the book and his intentions can be rather questionable at times but he is, at least, doing something.

Amar has some of my favorite lines in the novel. Here are four of my absolute favorites:

“I want your perspective and honesty,”
he said, before adding in a softer voice,
“I want to be humbled by you.“

I know your soul. Everything else is an ornament.

I would rip the stars from the sky if you wished it. Anything for you.

I would break the world to give you what you want.

3. Kamala

Kamala doesn’t make an appearance until the second half of the novel. I love her snark! It managed to make me smile even when things were looking rather terrible for Maya. Here is one of my favorite Kamala quotes:

Oh, I hope you are a queen. You are funny. Funny, funny.
What does funny taste like? Maybe I hope you are not a queen.
I would like to taste funny.

I hope you all decide to read The Star-Touched Queen. It was utterly amazing! Words cannot adequately explain how much I love this book!

I received this book for free from the publisher for review consideration.
This in no way affects my opinion of the title nor the content of this review.

What is your favorite non-Western fairytale retelling?