The Star-crossed Queen by Roshani Chokski

Goodreads

Publication Date: April 26th, 2016

Pages: 342

Genres: Fantasy, YA

Goodreads Blurb:

"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."

I enjoyed the fact that the world and general tone of the story wasn't a typical Western fantasy, as it was Hindi. The world building was well done and the purple writing was enjoyable. I felt like it walked the line of purple and too purple prose. Some people may find it too much, but I thought it was pretty and allowed me to get into the story more.

My complaint is the love story. It felt far too much like insta love, as soon as he walked in she was in love with him. Yes, I know right. When as that ever happened? There was also not a lot of them really getting to know each other. I think both characters on their own are interesting, but I wish we could've got more of them falling/getting to know each other.

My other complaint was the religion of the land being the horoscope. It felt a little lazy, but the idea of following the stars was cool. Maya is an interesting, headstrong protagonist that really cares about her sister. A lot of people complain that she is sexist and the book is sexist. It is this, but its a book based off of Hindu stories and that goes with the time that the book would've been written. For me, I can let it go as i felt like a product of the time and it wasn't over the top. There was just some undertones to it.

3.5 wine glasses out of 5.

I'd recommend this to someone who is looking for a YA that isn't inspired by Western traditions and wants to read some purple prose. The writing is beautiful. I wish I could write this well and didn't want this book to end. Its a fun YA fantasy and if your looking for a new YA fantasy this is a good one.

Cheers,

Jen