Star Daughter

3.5 stars maybe?? I was extremely hyped to read Star Daughter and enjoyed it for the most part! Yet some aspects were a huge letdown, which is why I can\’t give this a 4 star rating. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!! The positives: – lush and poetic writing (Seriously, the celestial dance scene and Sheetal\’s first visit to the Night Market??? Spectacular, just spectacular. Also don\’t read the book when you\’re hungry because the food descriptions are divineeee) – the world building fused with Hindu mythology!!! More of this, please – here for brown girls saving the day, especially with their wit and resourcefulness – the references to Indian culture (like my mother language in the first chapter) and important festivals. I will have more on this in my HOV reflection, if anyone\’s interested The negatives: – the romance. I was neither impressed nor invested in it; it was awful and unnecessary. The star-crossed (hah) trope is usually my jam, but I couldn\’t buy the chemistry with Dev and Sheetal. Maybe it was his family\’s history of harming Sheetal and her family (twice!) or that he was barely in the story since the two were fighting 75% of the pagetime. So I couldn\’t root for them even when they DID make up; the relationship felt tainted. Honestly I would have loved if there was more emphasis on Sheetal and Minal\’s friendship and Sheetal\’s bond with her mother, that is relatable and actually ADDS to the story. – all of the palace politics/game of thrones nonsense. A little court intrigue is fine, yet there were times when the drama overshadowed the main plotline. Star Daughter is a standalone, so saving the politics for another book could work. – the culprit being gay (or bi/pan). I don\’t know, something about it didn\’t sit well with me. I was expecting Nani, Nana, or one of the Ruling Patriarchs to be behind all the sabotage. Whelp. Overall, I DO appreciate the fantasy element and unapologetic desi representation in Star Daughter. I really adore the author\’s writing style and look forward to more from her! I\’m just sorry this book didn\’t hit all the marks for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc! This review was written for the Star Daughter Blog Tour at Hear Our Voices. All opinions are my own.

Sheetal is a typical sixteen-almost-seventeen-year-old. She has a best friend, Minal, with whom she shares everything. She has a secret boyfriend, Dev – secret because her father tells her she\’s too young to date. And her mother is a star. Not a celebrity, a celestial being. Sheetal\’s mother left them when Sheetal was just seven. With her father in the hospital, she goes in search of and finds her mother. She meets the grandparents she\’d never known and is exposed to a whole new court with hidden intrigues and open charms. Thakrar blends Hindu mythology with her own imaginings and gives us a wondrous world with fabulous fabrics and yummy things to eat. It\’s very accessible – Sheetal and Minal are typical American girls, just Indo-American rather than white. (That\’s typical for my neighborhood anyway.) They deal with pushy relatives who compare them to their always-better cousins and worry about zits and make-up and boys. And the descriptions of all the wonders of the celestial realm are heavenly. Thakar has a lush and lavish imagination. I would dearly love to see the things she has dreamed up.

I tried this because it was very different from a lot of the stuff I usually read. The cover is gorgeous and the celestial world in here is so imaginative and creative. And I really liked the way Hindu mythology was woven throughout. That aside, the actual plot and characters bored me out of my mind. I\’m not sure what it was, but I just couldn\’t care about them. Something about Sheetal annoyed me so much. She seemed very hot and cold to me somehow in her reactions. Dev was just some good looking guy to ogle, he didn\’t feel like he had any depth to me. The plot was fairly predictable, which is not always a bad thing, but here, I was so bored. Except for the starry world, which was breathtaking in my imagination and why I\’m giving it at least 3 stars, I couldn\’t wait to put the book down.

Rankings Overall: 6/10 Characterization: 6/10 Language: 5/10 Relevance: 6/10 World-building: 7/10 Conflict: 6/10 Plot: 5/10 Readability: 6/10 Personal Enjoyment: 6/10 Charlie Bowater is a large part of the reason I read this book in the first place. As always, her cover art is incredible. For better or worse, I found Star Daughter very much resembling a fairytale, which I feel was Thakrar’s intention. Very cute, and with a satisfyingly happy ending. *Spoilers Below* There were moments I found boring/predictable, such as the drama surrounding the marionettes, Dev showing up to the Court, and Nani being entirely untrustworthy. More than once, I chaffed at Sheetal’s inability to stand up for herself, but I was hardly confident or secure as a seventeen-year-old, so that may be more of a personal problem. But I’ve tempered my ranking of the plot and characterization in this regard, because each of the events do have a fairytale quality that redeems the story overall.

The story was richly imaginative, with incredible imagery. Sheetal was a very human, very relatable character. I liked how Shveta left a few problems still to solve in the end, so that the story can continue in your own mind. The concept was very creative and original. I wish there had been a glossary of hindu terms/mythology because I had to stop and look a ton of things up while reading, and that kind of interrupted the narrative for me. There were a couple slow parts that were hard to push through, but overall a very good read.

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