The Cephalopod Coffeehouse - The Star-Touched Queen

Welcome to another edition of the Cephalopod Coffeehouse. The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you've finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same.  In this way, we'll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts and our books with other enthusiastic readers. Please join us:

Since we last spoke I've read two books:

Did You Ever Have a Family? by Bill Clegg
The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi.

and started a few more:
The Immortality Game By Ted Cross
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Today I'm going to tell you about The Star-Touched Queen, which I was lucky enough to win at Literary Rambles :)



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. Believing she'll be content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience and Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar.

But Akaran has its secrets, as does Amar, and soon Maya is afraid that her life may be in danger. But who can she trust except her husband? 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.

My thoughts: I loved Chokshi's descriptions of the places in her story, from the strange and beautiful night bazaar, to the glass garden, and the great tapestry, to name a few. I also loved how long it took me (and Maya!) to figure out exactly what was going and who to trust. And I especially loved (LOVED) the otherworldly horse, Kamala.

This bit from the back cover describes a portion of her journey to her new kingdom and gives a glimpse of the gorgeous language:

"The night bazaar had ensnared me. I could smell its perfume on my skin--of stories and secrets, flashing teeth and slow smiles. In this land I was no stronger than a calf in a lion's jaws. But I liked it. Even though I couldn't admit it aloud, even though I comforted myself that I had no choice but to go with him, the truth was I wanted this. I yearned to draw breath beneath a split sky leaking with magic. And not just live within one of the other realms' strange kingdoms, but to rule it."

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Indian folklore and mythology.