Waiting on Wednesday (103)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
Genre: Middle Grade/Fantasy
Page Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Disney/Rick Riordan Presents
Publication Date: March 27, 2018

About Aru Shah and the End of Time (via Goodreads):

Twelve-year-old Aru Shah has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off to family vacations in exotic locales, she'll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from their latest archeological trip. Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur?

One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru's doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don't believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again.

But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it's up to Aru to save them.

The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that?

Waiting on Wednesday (49)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi
Series: The Star-Touched Queen #2 (companion novel)
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Mythology
Page Length: 352 pages
Publication Date: March 28, 2017
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

About A Crown of Wishes (via Entertainment Weekly):

Fans of Roshani Chokshi’s spell-binding bestseller The Star-Touched Queen are in for a treat with EW’s exclusive cover reveal and excerpt from the upcoming sequel A Crown of Wishes. The new novel follows Gauri, the younger sister of the titular Star-Touched Queen, on her harrowing quest for freedom.

When Gauri, the princess of Bharata, is captured by her kingdom’s rivals, she can only find help in Vikram, the cunning prince of an enemy kingdom. Unsatisfied with royal life, Vikram offers Gauri a chance to win back her kingdom in exchange for her battle prowess. They set aside their differences and team up to compete in the Tournament of Wishes, wherein the Lord of Wealth promises a wish to the victor. Every which way they turn new trials will test their wit and strength. But what Gauri and Vikram soon discover is that there’s nothing more dangerous than what they most desire.

If you know how much I adored The Star-Touched Queen (which is a lot, considering TSTQ is one of my absolute favorite books, if not my #1 favorite book of all time), you can only imagine my delight when I finished TSTQ many months ago and immediately found out a companion novel was in the works. AND YESTERDAY THEY RELEASED THE COVER AND A PROPER SYNOPSIS AND AN EXCERPT AND IT'S MORE THAN I EVER COULD HAVE DREAMED OF. The cover is perfect, the description is fantastic, and that excerpt. I just want to know what happens to Gauri and Vikram and everyone RIGHT NOW.

Fantastic Reads Event Recap

On Wednesday, I was lucky enough to go to the Fantastic Reads event at Books of Wonder with Roshani Chokshi, Renée Ahdieh, Marie Rutkoski, and Sarah McCarry. I'd been dying to meet Roshani Chokshi for months after I fell in love with The Star-Touched Queen (it's one of my absolute favorite books!) and she's such an amazing human, so I was so excited that there was an event close by so I could actually meet her!



Fortunately, I was able to catch an early train, so my friend Izzy and I arrived at Books of Wonder around 4:15, a few hours before the event. We bought our books and got our numbers (luckily I was 31st instead of 89th like the last event I went to!) before briefly meeting up with Mariam and Ashley (from Flying through Fiction) and then heading out to grab a quick bite to eat before finding seats for the Q&A session.

Once we got decent seats, we reconvened with Mariam to catch up (and I may have squealed excessively loud when Renee Ahdieh walked by us on her way to the back of the store). I also met Emma (from Emmmabooks) and she was lovely. I'd seen her at other events before, and for some reason I thought she was intimidating (honestly I feel like most BookTubers are), but she's actually so sweet. I have no idea why I was scared to talk to her.

While we were talking to Emma, Roshani Chokshi passed by, and she RECOGNIZED ME (only because I'd told her in advance what I was going to be wearing to the event, but still!) She had to go to the back before the event started, but she gave me a quick hug and then we headed back to our seats.

We waited around a little while longer before the Q&A started, and then my friends Brittany (from Brittany's Book Rambles) and Raisa (from Wonderland Novels) showed up and we exchanged hugs before all the authors came out to start the Q&A.


The authors were all such wonderful and engaging speakers. I loved learning about their writing processes and their inspiration—it was so interesting hearing how Marie came up with the idea for The Winner's Curse (a book I still have yet to read but am planning to do soon)! She said that "the winner's curse" is an economic term for when someone wins at an auction because they had to pay more than what everyone else thought the item was worth in order to win, and thus they lose the most money in doing so (or something along those lines) and how she started with that title and wanted to see what would happen if the thing won was a person instead of an item, and the thing lost wasn't necessarily money. I love that she came up with the title first because that's what I usually do when writing—it's weird for me, I either come up with the title before the story unfolds, or I struggle to find a title to fit my story—but I digress.

Fun fact: Marie was planning on making it a stand-alone (with that same ending and everything!) but she decided against it because of how her readers might feel. Although all of the authors at the event mutually enjoy paining their readers, apparently.

After the Q&A, I chatted more with my blog friends and Izzy, and then we got in line for the signing.

I met Roshani first, and it was just as amazing as I expected! I had so much fun hanging out with her, even though I already forgot what we talked about.  All I remember is that she was so so so sweet, humble, and friendly, and that I was so excited when I gave her my drawing of Maya. Anyway, there were other people waiting, so I had to leave to meet the other authors, but I wish I had more time to talk with her.

So next, I met Marie and awkwardly stood there in silence as she signed my books because I've actually only read her MG series and even though I remember loving those books, it was years ago so I had no idea what to say. Yeah, that didn't go as great as planned, but an awkward silence (in my opinion) is better than me stumbling through a conversation that goes nowhere.

Finally, I met Renée and we talked about race (something she mentioned briefly during the Q&A). It was really cool finding out having something in common with an author I look up to and whose work I love. I meant to gush about her books because the last time I met her (at BookCon last year), I hadn't read any of her books, but I kind of forgot to tell her (so maybe next time)! But nonetheless I enjoyed talking to her and am glad I actually had something to say (since my first signing with her went much like my interaction with Marie did).


It was overall a wonderful event and experience!! After the signing I took a ton of photos with my blog friends and we hung out for a bit before Izzy and I had to catch a train home. I'd definitely say it was more successful than the last event, as I was less tired and thus more engaged and interactive, and I actually talked to the authors (or most of them) without making a complete fool of myself. And, of course, it was wonderful because I met two of my favorite authors (Roshani and Renée) at the same time.

The Star-Touched Queen (ARC Review)

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Mythology
Page Length: 352 pages
Format: ARC (won in a giveaway!)
Publication Date: April 26, 2016
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

I'd like to thank Roshani Chokshi for hosting the giveaway. Although she provided me with a copy of her book, it in no way whatsoever affected my thoughts/opinions about this book. These opinions are completely my own.

About The Star-Touched Queen (via Goodreads):

Cursed with a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, sixteen-year-old Maya has only earned the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her world is upheaved when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. But when her wedding takes a fatal turn, Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Yet neither roles are what she expected. As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds friendship and warmth.

But Akaran has its own secrets - thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Beneath Akaran's magic, Maya begins to suspect her life is in danger. When she ignores Amar's plea for patience, her discoveries put more than new love at risk - it threatens the balance of all realms, human and Otherworldly.

Now, Maya must confront a secret that spans reincarnated lives and fight her way through the dangerous underbelly of the Otherworld if she wants to protect the people she loves.

The Star-Touched Queen is a lush, beautifully written and vividly imagined fantasy inspired by Indian mythology.

I ADORED THIS BOOK. Actually, I more than adored it. THIS BOOK GAVE ME PURE UNADULTERATED HAPPINESS. Okay, maybe not pure happiness because I was shrieking in despair for some of the book, but it was so breathtakingly beautiful I didn't even care that my heart was fracturing into a billion pieces. I ached for the characters and their broken hearts and battered souls, and sang in happiness when things fell into place, even if it was only for a fleeting moment.

The Star-Touched Queen is the most captivating and exquisite book I have ever read in my entire existence. Roshani Chokshi's words cast a spell on me, and every detail was so vivid and poetic. Her words were true magic.

The plot was heavily entwined with Maya's relationship with Amar, but it wasn't overwhelmingly so. Their romance scorched the pages and left me longing for more. It was heartbreaking but beautiful, and I loved every second of it. However, in the end, the story was also about Maya's renewal and her quest to find herself after losing her sense of identity.  Maya's transformation throughout the course of the novel was like watching a butterfly break out of its cocoon and test its wings for the first time—it was a truly unique and joyous experience.

Before reading The Star-Touched Queen, I knew next to nothing about Indian mythology, but Chokshi's writing opened my eyes to the beauty of Indian culture and their myths and legends, and I was completely enraptured by the lore. I have always been a fan of mythology, so even though the book was absolutely stunning on its own, learning about a completely foreign culture and mythology in the process was an added bonus.

Reading The Star-Touched Queen was like taking a breath of fresh air. I needed to keep reading like my life depended on it. It was that good. In fact, I loved The Star-Touched Queen so much that I would give it every star in the universe if I could. The Star-Touched Queen was an absolute masterpiece, and I could not have asked for anything more.

Rating: 5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday (22)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Mythology
Page Length: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: May 3, 2016

About The Star-Touched Queen (via Goodreads):

Cursed with a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, sixteen-year-old Maya has only earned the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her world is upheaved when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. But when her wedding takes a fatal turn, Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Yet neither roles are what she expected. As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds friendship and warmth.

But Akaran has its own secrets - thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Beneath Akaran's magic, Maya begins to suspect her life is in danger. When she ignores Amar's plea for patience, her discoveries put more than new love at risk - it threatens the balance of all realms, human and Otherworldly.

Now, Maya must confront a secret that spans reincarnated lives and fight her way through the dangerous underbelly of the Otherworld if she wants to protect the people she loves.

THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN is a lush, beautifully written and vividly imagined fantasy inspired by Indian mythology.

*flails* I NEED THIS BOOK. First of all, I am one of those people who obsesses over horoscopes, so that first sentence of the synopsis totally hooked me. Second, everything about the plot sounds like something I WOULD LOVE. I am a huge fan of books based on mythology, and HAVING GARDENS OF GLASS AND A TREE THAT BEARS MEMORIES INSTEAD OF FRUIT JUST SOUNDS AMAZING *flails* Oh, and that cover? Absolute perfection.