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olivialandryxo's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
[Buddy read with Shar đź’›]
I kept getting this book from the library and then running out of time to read it, so a buddy read was exactly the incentive I needed to finally read it. And surprisingly, it was really good, and I quite enjoyed my time with the story.
Thakrar’s writing reminded me very much of Roshani Chokshi, specifically her book The Star-Touched Queen, and Anna-Marie McLemore—lovely descriptions seemingly infused with magic, making even the ordinary seem extraordinary. That and the three-dimensional characters were definitely her greatest strengths; I liked the protagonist Sheetal, and loved her best friend Minal and their relationship.
The story is undeniably slow, and more character-driven than plot-driven, but worth sticking with. While the majority of the book is a series of smaller-scale events that kept me intrigued, the last third was a whirlwind of music, discoveries and power plays. It was entertaining without pause, and led to a rather satisfying conclusion.
Though not a favorite, I’d definitely say Star Daughter is one of the most pleasantly surprising books I’ve read this year. I recommend it, and I certainly want to read more from Thakrar; if this is her debut, I look forward to seeing how she grows.
Representation
I kept getting this book from the library and then running out of time to read it, so a buddy read was exactly the incentive I needed to finally read it. And surprisingly, it was really good, and I quite enjoyed my time with the story.
Thakrar’s writing reminded me very much of Roshani Chokshi, specifically her book The Star-Touched Queen, and Anna-Marie McLemore—lovely descriptions seemingly infused with magic, making even the ordinary seem extraordinary. That and the three-dimensional characters were definitely her greatest strengths; I liked the protagonist Sheetal, and loved her best friend Minal and their relationship.
The story is undeniably slow, and more character-driven than plot-driven, but worth sticking with. While the majority of the book is a series of smaller-scale events that kept me intrigued, the last third was a whirlwind of music, discoveries and power plays. It was entertaining without pause, and led to a rather satisfying conclusion.
Though not a favorite, I’d definitely say Star Daughter is one of the most pleasantly surprising books I’ve read this year. I recommend it, and I certainly want to read more from Thakrar; if this is her debut, I look forward to seeing how she grows.
Representation
- almost entirely desi cast
- sapphic side couple
- minor achillean side couple
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Torture, and Kidnapping
Those tagged minor refer to events prior to the story that are mentioned throughout, more so in the second half, but never in graphic detail.albon's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Abandonment
iffygeneia's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
So the premise sounded amazing: a modern day story laced with Hindu-themed fantasy. And that part of the story was by far the best part.
It did require a bit of foreknowledge about Hindu mythology. Mainly, the book assumes the reader will know several different kinds of mythological creatures from Hindu mythology - it doesn't explain much beyond the most basic visual descriptions.
It's with the characters and the plot that it starts to fall apart though.
This could have been an amazing coming-of-age story, but there was hardly any character growth. Sheetal herself was just very, very shallow. Her main worries are about her boyfriend , or panicking about the currently relevant plot point. As the plot moved around randomly, Sheetal also seemed all over the place. She has a clear goal (saving her dad) , but constantly gets distraced by the currently relevant plot point. It made her seem fickle, like she didn't care about her dad when the plot demanded her attention.
The plot did finally come together in the end, but in the most predictable way.
In the end, though a lot did change, Sheetal herself didn't seem much affected by all of it.
All in all: its fine for its Teen target audience, but as an adult I expected more depth.
(Note: I listened to the audiobook version read by Soneela Nankani. She was excellent.)
It did require a bit of foreknowledge about Hindu mythology. Mainly, the book assumes the reader will know several different kinds of mythological creatures from Hindu mythology - it doesn't explain much beyond the most basic visual descriptions.
It's with the characters and the plot that it starts to fall apart though.
This could have been an amazing coming-of-age story, but there was hardly any character growth. Sheetal herself was just very, very shallow. Her main worries are about
The plot did finally come together in the end, but in the most predictable way.
In the end, though a lot did change, Sheetal herself didn't seem much affected by all of it.
All in all: its fine for its Teen target audience, but as an adult I expected more depth.
(Note: I listened to the audiobook version read by Soneela Nankani. She was excellent.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Abandonment
Minor: Racism, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
luckykosmos's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Wanted to love this one but it was all over. The pacing needed work - there was a massive drought in the middle where it felt like nothing happened, that could easily have been used to better flesh out some of the plot threads (the star hunters! the missing marionettes!) . There were some lines that were gorgeous, but they were interspersed with very plain and uninformative - dedicating a single sentence to Sheetal's supposedly amazing dance was a big let down. At other times, it felt like thesaurus bait. If I had to read 'sidereal' one more time, I was going to scream. The ending was a mess, suddenly dealing with threads that were poorly seeded throughout the book. All in all, needed a big heap of editing, but the author definitely has wonderful ideas that need refinement in execution.
A note on the non-straight characters as well:I have issues with the portrayal of so many of them as duplicitous in one way or another. Sachin sabotaging the other contestants is the big one of course, but even Sheetal spending so much time thinking about how Minal had betrayed her by blending in with the rest of the star kingdom (which we never see, we just know Minal isn't gone). Padmini's about-face on her attitude toward the mortals make sense in terms of caring for her brother, but the structure makes it feel incredibly selfish. Part of this could be just how many of the characters in the competition are fiercely defensive of themselves, but weak structure just makes me dislike most of them (really, anyone but Minal, who deserved better).
A note on the non-straight characters as well:
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying and Blood
taleofabibliophile's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Medical content
waffles's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Blood
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.25
đź“š The writing is this book is ethereal and beautiful - I could just imagine the soft light of the stars and the mystery of the celestial palace.
đź“š It's so wonderful to read a YA fantasy that doesn't center white teenagers or build off European mythology.
đź“š I wish there had been a lot more world-building in this book - there could have been so much more to the history of the star court and the palace intrigue Sheetal finds herself in the middle of, but instead she is relegated to the sidelines, finding out information secondhand. I would definitely have read a sprawling trilogy version of this book.
đź“š It's so wonderful to read a YA fantasy that doesn't center white teenagers or build off European mythology.
đź“š I wish there had been a lot more world-building in this book - there could have been so much more to the history of the star court and the palace intrigue Sheetal finds herself in the middle of, but instead she is relegated to the sidelines, finding out information secondhand. I would definitely have read a sprawling trilogy version of this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Murder
toshita's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really wanted to like this, but I think I'm too old for it. I can say that this is the kind of book I needed when I was younger.
I had trouble getting into the story, the stakes just weren't there. The world building felt vague and a little cheesy, but like I said my younger self probably would've eaten it up. At the very least I hope a lot of desi kids get something out of this.
I had trouble getting into the story, the stakes just weren't there. The world building felt vague and a little cheesy, but like I said my younger self probably would've eaten it up. At the very least I hope a lot of desi kids get something out of this.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood
nullandvoidlibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book reminded me of why I like reading, it was a very heartfelt read and made me tear up multiple times. This is despite the fact that normally I don't like competition-based plots because I find that usually means some character's are going to be unreasonably mean just because that personality is expected with these plots. Anyways, this book watered my soul.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content
booksthatburn's review
DNF 188 pages in.
This is my second attempt at reading Star Daughter and it just doesn’t click with me. I think the thing that’s irking me is that it’s full of pining for the status quo to be different but we don’t actually spend any time in the status quo she’s objecting to. So changes don’t feel important, it just feels like I’m getting jerked around. Almost as soon as we meet her kind-of-boyfriend we find out he knows her secret so it doesn’t feel like a betrayal to me as a reader because I don’t have the emotional weight of liking him first... I struggled so much with this book. The MC will say what she thought her state of mind was going to be and then tells us what it actually is... but when the first time we find out what she thought it would be is when it's something different it just feels confused. A minor example that shows this issue without really being a spoiler: the first time we ever hear about Little India in/near her neighborhood is when she finds out it has a magical night market. Cool, yay? But since we didn’t visit it at all or have the mundane side of it discussed previously my reaction isn’t “wow Little India has a magical night market!”, it’s more like, “oh sure, this new story location (Little India) has a particular feature (a magical night market). I’m not excited because I had zero expectations as to the existence or non-existence of this place. This really is a minor example, but it comes on the heels of several like it that are definitely spoilers.
I didn't get as far as the actual competition part of the narrative, so I can't vouch for how any of that plays out. If you want a story that spends at least the first half feeling like the aftermath for something you didn't get to see, you might like this. I like the MC's best friend, she feels so much more vibrant than the MC, so much so that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that in the second half the book reveals the MC's emotions were dampened by being on Earth or something, that's really the only thing I can think of that would make the flat characterization and lack of tension around the MC's narration feel purposeful. But, for me, I spent almost half the book waiting to care about the story and that just never happened, so I'm calling it quits.
This is my second attempt at reading Star Daughter and it just doesn’t click with me. I think the thing that’s irking me is that it’s full of pining for the status quo to be different but we don’t actually spend any time in the status quo she’s objecting to. So changes don’t feel important, it just feels like I’m getting jerked around. Almost as soon as we meet her kind-of-boyfriend we find out he knows her secret so it doesn’t feel like a betrayal to me as a reader because I don’t have the emotional weight of liking him first... I struggled so much with this book. The MC will say what she thought her state of mind was going to be and then tells us what it actually is... but when the first time we find out what she thought it would be is when it's something different it just feels confused. A minor example that shows this issue without really being a spoiler: the first time we ever hear about Little India in/near her neighborhood is when she finds out it has a magical night market. Cool, yay? But since we didn’t visit it at all or have the mundane side of it discussed previously my reaction isn’t “wow Little India has a magical night market!”, it’s more like, “oh sure, this new story location (Little India) has a particular feature (a magical night market). I’m not excited because I had zero expectations as to the existence or non-existence of this place. This really is a minor example, but it comes on the heels of several like it that are definitely spoilers.
I didn't get as far as the actual competition part of the narrative, so I can't vouch for how any of that plays out. If you want a story that spends at least the first half feeling like the aftermath for something you didn't get to see, you might like this. I like the MC's best friend, she feels so much more vibrant than the MC, so much so that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that in the second half the book reveals the MC's emotions were dampened by being on Earth or something, that's really the only thing I can think of that would make the flat characterization and lack of tension around the MC's narration feel purposeful. But, for me, I spent almost half the book waiting to care about the story and that just never happened, so I'm calling it quits.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Minor: Torture
CW for blood, kidnapping, imprisonment, torture, violence.