The Star-Touched Queen

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

This story reminded me a lot of A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston and also Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher. The plot and characters have nothing to do with those books, or anything with that myth, but there's a certain cadence to those books. Something that's particularly mesmerizing about them that makes them unforgettable.

I think this book all captured that.

An amazon summary, "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." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Maya lives in Bherta, where she is under constant ridicule by all of the women in the harem. Her father, the king, has a tutor come see her once a week, but for the most part, she loves to become lost in the scrolls of the library. Something I can easily relate to.

She's gotten to the age of 17 without being married off to due the horoscope of her birth. Every child in the kingdom has their horoscope foretold at birth, and hers is particularly cursed.

The kingdom is also at war. As a way to make peace, her father decides to hide her horoscope and marry her off to one of the warring forces. However, since she can only choose one, and she has 15 suitors, the war will continue with the remaining 14. Something her father cannot have.

So he asks her to sacrifice herself for the kingdom, by killing herself with poison. Not a great Father, but perhaps a wise ruler that truly puts the people of the country first? I'm still undecided.

In the moment she decides to drink the poison for the good of the country she loves, Amar appears and takes the poison away. He offers to take her to another land where she'll have the power of a thousand kings.

So begins the journey through the Night Bazaar, and ultimately to Akaran. Into a palace where there are no subjects, but plenty of magic, and whispers to drive you mad.

....that's enough of a summary.

So I kind of loved aspects of this book. I love Maya and how simultaneously wise and flawed she is. I love all of the rich descriptions of the land, the culture, and the world building. I loved how the magic of the book seemed to be it's own character, and that was wonderful in of itself. There were also a lot of elements of reincarnation, threads of fate, but ultimately, I didn't like how it kind of squashed the question of do we decide our own fates or are our fates predetermined?

I found Amar interesting at first, but also very odd. Like that one kid in the back of the class who really wants to raise their hand, but is way too shy to, and he doesn't have a teacher willing to draw him out of his shell. He seemed to be playing a constant cat and mouse game with his own personality. Instead of endearing, it was really just annoying.

I do love how the mystery of the book revealed itself, but I would have loved to see more of the mythical creatures throughout the book. They were present for certain scenes, but based on who Amar is, who Maya becomes, it just seems like we should have seen more of them. There was a lot of concentration on the humans, which kind of makes sense because Maya's love for her country and people. But, but but but, because who Amar is, I was expecting much more interaction with the otherworldly. 

It is a good story, a mesmerizing story.

Happy reading!

The Cruel Prince

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Holly Black, is one of my favorite authors ever. I love the way she builds world, grows characters, and really shapes stories. I've previously reviewed other books by her, including (but I've read all of them, just before I was blogging time), THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST, THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLD TOWN, THE IRON TRIAL, and DOLL BONES. But again, I've read like everything Holly Black has ever written because I adore her writing so much. SHAMELESS FAN GIRL. HELLO.

So, imagine my shrieking delight when she wrote this, another adventure into fey stories. :D

An amazon summary, "Of course I want to be like them. They're beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him--and face the consequences.
In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Jude and her twin sister, Taryn, along with their older sister, Vivi, were taken away by Madoc. Madoc is the general to the High King, and their mortal mother birthed their older sister Vivi before eventually escaping to the mortal world. Madoc had gone to retrieve his heir, Vivi, and claimed the twin sisters at the same time. Jude and Taryn grew up in the fey lands alongside their sister Vivi, who is half fey and half mortal.

Jude aspires to be a knight in the High Court of Faerie. She wants to be strong, become someone who is respected, and she aspires to be something more than what her 'father', Madoc, thinks she will be. Jude and her sister Taryn, being mortals, are often teased and tricked by the fey. Their classmates are tremendously awful; the one distinct advantage they have is the power to lie. The fey cannot lie, but they are clever enough to speak around or avoid the truth as well. Madoc, Madoc also has his own ambitions.

Dain, one of the princes of the kingdom, sees something in Jude that may be mutually beneficial to them both. He aspires for the throne, and Jude aspires to be a knight, and he begins to weave her into his web. Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnn

That's enough summary.

I freaking LOVE this book! There's clearly going to be a sequel, I loved Jude and felt her frustrations or ways that she can overcome her weaknesses, and really admired her resilience, her persistence to overcome the odds. I loved all of the politics, how the fey world society was portrayed, and all the intricacies that came together in such a big way at the end.

Definitely. Waiting. For. The. SEQUEL.

Happy reading!

The Dreadful Tale of Proper Redding

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

I've previously read books by Alexandra Bracken... I'm not going to link the blog posts because I don't want to think about the previous books she wrote. ...because reasons.

I was pretty excited about this book after reading the amazon summary, "Prosper is the only unexceptional Redding in his old and storied family history-that is, until he discovers the demon living inside him. Turns out Prosper's great-great-great-great-great-something grandfather made-and then broke-a contract with a malefactor, a demon who exchanges fortune for eternal servitude. And, weirdly enough, eight-hundred-year-old Alastor isn't exactly the forgiving type.

The fiend has reawakened with one purpose--to destroy the family whose success he ensured and who then betrayed him. With only days to break the curse and banish Alastor back to the demon realm, Prosper is playing unwilling host to the fiend, who delights in tormenting him with nasty insults and constant attempts to trick him into a contract. Yeah, Prosper will take his afterlife without a side of eternal servitude, thanks. But with the help of his long-lost uncle, Barnabas, and his daughter, Nell, a witch-in-training, it seems like Prosper has at least a fighting chance of ridding himself of Alastor before the demon escapes and wreaks havoc on his family.
Little does Prosper know, the malefactor's control over his body grows stronger with each passing night and there's a lot Alastor isn't telling his dim-witted (but admittedly strong-willed) human host?" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Prosper Redding has grown up with his twin sister in a town where his family has always done well... but maybe because his ancestor made a deal with a malefactor to give prosperity to his family. Which they didn't know about until they are taken to their grandma's cottage where they go through a ritual which reveals that the malefactor Alastor has taken residence in Prosper. Fearing for his life from the ritual, Prosper escapes. He meets up with his uncle Barnabas, who has been lost from the family kind of, and works to help Prosper. Uncle Barnabas has his daughter Nell, a witch, help with Proper's situation while living in a haunted house.

Prosper now has Alastor hanging out inside of him, and with that, there comes a few oddities. Alastor delivers commentary on Prosper's activities, in ridiculing fashion while also also trying to convince Prosper to make his own deal with Alastor. Prosper, Nell, and Uncle Barnabas continue to search for a way to get rid of Alastor before Alastor becomes too powerful.

That's enough summary.

So something pretty delightful about this book is that it alternates between Alastor and Prosper for who tells the story at what part. For the most part, it is Prosper, but there's also a lot of Alastor in there. There's also tons of humor, and a very thoughtfully constructed world in terms of magic, fiends, and well just everything.

I did like the character growth of Prosper, I liked how the town's attitude and kind of thought process was shaped, and I very much look forward to the sequel, which I truly hope packs the same punch of humor, and kind of grossness as this first book.

Happy reading! 

One Dark Throne

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake

This is the sequel to Three Dark Crowns which I reviewed HERE. This blog post will undoubtedly contain spoilers for Three Dark Crowns, so if you don't want that spoiled, then I would suggest NOT reading this review.

An amazon summary, "The battle for the crown has begun, but which of the three sisters will prevail?

With the unforgettable events of the Quickening behind them and the Ascension Year underway, all bets are off.

Katharine, once the weak and feeble sister, is stronger than ever before. Arsinoe, after discovering the truth about her powers, must figure out how to make her secret talent work in her favor without anyone finding out. And Mirabella, once thought to be the strongest sister of all and the certain Queen Crowned, faces attacks like never before—ones that put those around her in danger she can’t seem to prevent.

In this enthralling sequel to Kendare Blake’s New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns, Fennbirn’s deadliest queens must face the one thing standing in their way of the crown: each other." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

The end of Three Dark Crowns showed us a whirlwind of kind of madness. My main takeaways were Katherine went a little crazy after being pushed into the pit of the island by Pietyr but returned fiercer than before, Arsinoe discovered she's actually the poisoner queen which means Katherine is actually the naturalist queen, and Mirabella is kind of going full tilt crazy. The quickening revealed a lot about how the suitors play into this and also the strategies and alliances forming around the queens killing each other.

...that being said, the first chunk of this book centered strongly on the romances...and I kind of didn't care. I was kind of mad that Katherine went from being a wrathful queen hell bent on winning the crown to kind of a simpering nitwit. Instead of concentrating on the crown she was like, NOPE, LET'S GET THE SUITORS LINED UP. I feel like Arsinoe found herself more...but I'm perplexed that she's able to use the small magics easier than before when it went so horribly in the last book? Mirabella just seems lost to me overall. Which really means, in an effort to avoid spoilers, that's all the summary you're getting out of me.

This feels a little weird, but I do feel like I'm rooting for Arsinoe overall (even though her name is the one I'm least sure on how it's pronounced, haha). Mirabella seems too twisted up in herself and internal struggles to really be any sort of effective queen plus her elemental house is a little all over the place off-kilter, especially with some of the practices the priestesses do. Katherine can't really seem to decide what she wants to be and is twisted up in her own poisoner house. I would really like to see the poisoner house be kicked out of the capital. Despite her use of small magic and dabbling in the 'dark arts' if you will (which is what the small magic seems to equate too) I think Arsinoe is the most grounded for the throne. I think her house would also bring the most compassion to how the island is governed and disputes handled. ...really, I'm mostly just down with kicking the poisoners off the throne.

I want to know more about the island and how it interacts with the outside world. I feel like we saw some of that in this book, but not nearly enough. I want more of the side characters, but I REALLY want to see when the queens legitimately go at it. I am getting this sneaking suspicion/dread that these triplets are going to break the cycle or something, and all three will rule the island? But.... I don't see the point to that really. I feel like they would have to go deeper into the lore surrounding the goddess.... but to what end? Not sure if this series is losing it's way, or coyly keeping the path to the final conclusion under careful wraps. All speculation at this point.

I think there's going to be two more books in this series? At this point, I'm ready to pick up book 3. I would like to see some plot threads resolve in book 3 though.

Happy reading!

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Are you up for a historical romp full of humor, wit, adventure, and some roguish behavior?

I'm also pretty sure this book has gotten a ton of well deserved press. So if you haven't heard of it, I'm happy to make your day!

This book does contain themes of feminism, LGBTQIA, race, and serious illnesses. It does have a good sense of humor through out all of these topics without belittling the subject matter.

There's ton of other stuff in the amazon review telling you to read this book, so I only copied the summary bit, "A young bisexual British lord embarks on an unforgettable Grand Tour of Europe with his best friend/secret crush. An 18th-century romantic adventure for the modern age written by This Monstrous Thing author Mackenzi Lee—Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets the 1700s.

Henry “Monty” Montague doesn’t care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quests for pleasure and vice are in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

So Monty vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Witty, dazzling, and intriguing at every turn, The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue is an irresistible romp that explores the undeniably fine lines between friendship and love." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Monty is about to embark on his grand tour before he takes over the family estate upon his return. His best friend Percy is going on tour with him, but much to Monty's despise, so is a chaperon. And his younger sister, Felicity. Monty has long enjoyed a life of debauchery; this grand tour is supposed to be his last 'hurrah' before settling down. Well, in Monty's eyes. His father, who is financing the trip, is expecting it to be very educational thanks to their chaperon and with the company of Felicity to keep things a little calmer.

As you can imagine, Monty is bound to have an adventure, regardless of chaperon, and they find themselves in one predicament into another. 

Throughout the entire adventure, the story definitely finds it's heart in Monty's and Percy's struggles, as they really begin to understand the life of the one who has been beside them the entire time. It's also a ton of fun to read about high society getting a little mucked up by this fierce friendship.

I don't want to say much more just in case I ruin any aspect of the book, but I found all of the character development, the world building, the pacing of the book, all of it was just wonderful. One of my most recommended books.

Happy reading!