Blog Tour Omnibus Review: Star-Touched Stories (The Star-Touched Queen #2.5)

Release Date: August 7, 2018
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books
Length: 304 pages
Source: NetGalley eGalley

Three lush and adventurous stories in the Star-Touched world.

Death and Night

He was Lord of Death, cursed never to love. She was Night incarnate, destined to stay alone. After a chance meeting, they wonder if, perhaps, they could be meant for more. But danger crouches in their paths, and the choices they make will set them on a journey that will span lifetimes.

Poison and Gold

Now that her wish for a choice has come true, Aasha struggles to control her powers. But when an opportunity to help Queen Gauri and King Vikram's new reign presents itself, she is thrown into the path of the fearsome yet enchanting Spy Mistress. To help her friends, Aasha will have to battle her insecurities and perhaps, along the way, find love.

Rose and Sword

There is a tale whispered in the dark of the Empire of Bharat-Jain. A tale of a bride who loses her bridegroom on the eve of her wedding. But is it a tale or a truth?

    

Reviews:

Death and Night

Recommend Reading AFTER The Star-Touched Queen

In a time long before the events of The Star-Touched Queen, Death needs to find himself a consort, but a curse cast on him causes him to seek companionship without love. Then he meets Night, a girl who would never marry without love. At first, I wasn't sure why this story would be necessary, given that most of it is at the very least alluded to in The Star-Touched Queen, however, other than seeing this world expanded even more and learning more about how this world functions, I found myself really invested in the stories of Death and Night. Even though I knew their story, I never really saw them fall in love, at least not the first time, and it was interesting to see how they originally came together. We also get to see more of their personal lives, Death's friendship with Gupta and Night's with Nritti and as much as I hate who Nritti becomes, I have to say that I really enjoyed her here which really only turns my rage for her into sadness, at the loss of what could have been. Still, even if I wasn't surprised by the events of this story, I was surprised by how much I was sucked into it and by how much I ended up enjoying it.

Rating:

Even with how much I love The Star-Touched Queen, I never really expected to love Death and Night as much as I do, going in I felt it was going to be a fluff piece, which in some ways it is, but I didn't expect to get so thoroughly invested in a story that I thought I already knew the ending of.

Poison and Gold:

Recommend Reading AFTER A Crown of Wishes

Aasha, the vishakanya who was given a choice to live two lives in A Crown of Wishes, is back and sets out on her own adventure when Gauri and Vikram need her to train for a new position in the palace. Her training is grueling and her new mistress is fierce, plus she needs to hide her true nature for the protection of her friends as well as herself, and lately, her power to shift between her human and vishakanya forms hasn't been cooperating. At first, I was a bit bummed by how tropey this story can be, I mean, I feel as though I've read stories of characters who suddenly lose control of a new power, and of an apprentice training under a seemingly cruel master or mistress. Then, almost suddenly I didn't care, I mean, that's one of the things this author does so well is to take classic tropes and show them her way, infused with her culture and it totally works on me. I love Aasha so much and her journey in this story is a great one and carries a powerful message. I will say though that I felt the ending was rushed a little bit and I wish that it could have had an ending that didn't feel so sudden.

Rating:

I love this story so much and was happy to see a little more of this world after A Crown of Wishes as I was completely over the moon when it came to that story and I love seeing Gauri and Vikram again as well as learning more about Aasha.

Rose and Sword:

Recommend Reading after A Crown of Wishes

This is a tale told in the past, just before Gauri and Vikram are to be wed, and the present, decades later on the eve of another wedding, though it isn't our main character getting married, it's her sister. Hira is sad that, after her sister's wedding, Meghara will leave to go live with her new husband and his family, so after a fight between the sisters Hira goes to see her grandmother and there her grandmother tells her a story. The story is about before Gauri and Vikram's wedding and the tragedy that shakes the palace. I cannot tell you how much I love this story, it's a story of love, both familial and romantic and how, even in anger love can still burn bright. I love seeing this world open up so much more, yet still, have a focus and a home base in Bharata or now it's called Bharat-Jain. As always the author's writing is lyrical and poetic and every moment feels necessary and full of life, even amongst death. Then there's the end, an end that leaves a small window open for more stories, stories that pray will someday be written, and an end to parts of the story that I never want to say goodbye to, but I know must inevitably come!

Rating:

I didn't have to think twice about this rating, I barely had to think once. I practically melted into this story while reading it and by the end, I was shedding tears, though whether they were tears of happiness or joy, well, you'll have to read this story for yourself to find out.

Overall Rating:

I loved this small collection of stories so much and it really helped to fill in the hole of not having more novels in this series, though the window left open for more gives me hope, my only drawback for this collection, and as you can see it didn't affect my rating is that this collection isn't in hardcover, but c'est la vie!

About the Author:

Roshani Chokshi is the New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen and A CROWN OF WISHES. Her middle grade debut, ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME, released April 3, 2018 from Disney/Rick Riordan Presents. Her next young adult novel, THE GILDED WOLVES, is slated for Winter 2019. Chokshi's work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Shimmer, and Book Smugglers. She was a finalist in the 2016 Andre Norton Award and the Locus Top Ten for Best First Novel. Her short story, "The Star Maiden," was longlisted for the British Fantasy Science Award.