Reviews

Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar

tatyanavogt's review

4.0

So it might be unfair to rate this because i was listening to the audio on scribd and was having all sorts of technical problems with this (pages missing, parts out of order, etc). But regardless of the issues with scribd I STILL ended up enjoying the book. This is about a girl born of the stars and the journey she is forced to take to try and save her father. Now there were some things that did bother me, but I loved the idea, I loved the characters and I am excited to re-read in the future to get the full and correct experience.

Spoiler

I wasn't a fan of the boyfriend, his history was bad (which is fine) but the fact that he kinda continues to be a love interest.. I dunno. I kinda wish she got someone else, someone better. I know he ended up not being so bad but.. I dunno I just wasn't crazy happy about him. Perhaps if we heard from his perspective as well i could forgive him..

dragonwriter's review against another edition

emotional informative tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Sheetal’s father is an astronomer, and her mother is a star. A true star. A magical being that lives up in the heavens. The type of star no one believes in anymore. Almost no one. There is still enough of a threat that Sheetal’s mother had to return to the heavens, and that Sheetal herself has to hide the truth of her heritage. When the dye starts leeching out of her starbright hair, and the call of the stars starts becoming impossible to ignore, however, Sheetal begins to lose control and accidentally burns her father. Desperate to heal him and lured with the promise of star blood’s healing properties, Sheetal finds her way to the heavens--and in the middle of a political struggle. As half mortal, Sheetal qualifies to be her star-family’s champion in an arts competition for the crown, and to make sure she follows through, her grandmother withholds the healing magic her father needs until Sheetal wins. But it isn’t as simple as doing her best; there is another star in the heavens determined to destroy Sheetal’s family and everything they stand for. 

 

I really enjoyed the Hindu-inspired culture of the stars, as well as the Hindu culture of Sheetal’s earthly family. It was fun to see the close-knit family dynamics mirrored below and above, and I liked seeing the flaws in what are supposed to be perfect beings. That said, there was a lot of drama. Sheetal was mad at her boyfriend, Dev, for withholding information. Dev’s cousin was drinking star-blood for inspiration (basically doing drugs). Another competitor constantly went out of her way to attack Sheetal verbally and accuse her of cheating (and while there was an off-page apology, I wasn’t satisfied by that resolution). Sheetal’s mother’s ex-bff was taking out her bitterness on Sheetal, and Sheetal’s grandmother was also using Sheetal to get her own ends. Then you throw in the discrimination against being half-mortal, and there was just a LOT of what ultimately felt like high school drama--something that Sheetal points out herself in story. The ending felt lacking, too, since no one really seems to learn their lesson.

Sheetal sabotages herself to prove a point, forcing fame onto her ex-bf (something he didn’t want), her grandmother never acknowledges or apologizes for her wrong doings, the ex-bff suffers no consequences for essentially doping up a human, and, as I said, the one apology we did get was off-page. The only good thing the ending accomplished was healing Sheetal’s father.

It was highly dissatisfying. 

brendalovesbooks's review against another edition

3.0

When I started this, I really liked it, but as it went on I liked it less and less. I never want to read the word "sidereal" again. I feel like I've read it enough for a few lifetimes after reading this book. The main problem, though, is that the whole thing takes place over the span of a few days, and not a whole lot of interesting things happen in those days. I loved the concept, I just wish it had been executed a bit better.

millyupton's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

swampbooks's review

3.0

The writing was lovely but the plot was dull and the characters didn’t really have much depth or development. I was really looking forward to this book and I’m disappointed :/

serenity043's review

4.0

I really enjoyed this book and am very excited to read more from the author. The book felt as lyrical as the story itself. I enjoyed the author's writing style and how it added to the starry quality to the book itself. I would have liked to learn a bit more about what happened after the events of the story and could have used just a bit more with the relationship, but the ending was very nice and sweet. I look forward to the author's next book.

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition

3.0

3.5/5

I found the owlcrate exclusive of this book on my trip to 2nd and Charles. The summary sounded good so I was so excited to start reading it. The plot was interesting but personally it was somewhat hard to follow the plot.

emi_nya's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

ollieandeviesmama's review

2.0

When starting this book immediately I was hooked. I love the use of mythology and I was so intrigued to see into the life of a star. Once Sheetal had left the mortal world and we learn that it was for a competition I became less intrigued and found it fairly difficult to finish this book. I felt like Sheetal and Devs relationship was just thrown in when it shouldn’t have. To me there were many parts in this book that just seemed to not belong where they were and didn’t smoothly transition into the next. The ending was lovely when Sheetal woke up from his coma and saw her mom there in the hospital room, that may have been my favourite part of the book. I got the book from FairyLoot, the cover is beautiful and was the initial reason I was excited to read it.

marieintheraw's review

3.0

With a beautiful cover, beautiful writing and a character who is half-human, half-star I was hoping for more, but unfortunately, the plot let me down a bit on this one.