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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: Blood and Panic attacks/disorders
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: Blood, Confinement, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
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, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders
malloryfitz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Premise- (4/5) So, so, so much about this premise called to me. First of all, stars. Who doesn't love the night sky? And the concept of stars as beings is so excellent! I also love magical competitions, so that was a big plus. The comparisons for Star Daughter also had appeal--I like quite a bit of Laini Taylor, Roshani Chokshi, and Neil Gaiman, so that was promising as well.
Characters- (3/5) Mixed feelings here. Sheetal was an overall likable protagonist, but she was a little all over the map. Which, on the one hand, was very understandable, given that she's 16 and going through both mortal and star puberty, with massive consequences on both sides. But it also felt a bit heavy-handed to read at times. I liked Minal a lot, and her relationship with Sheetal, but also, I felt like there were some tricky grey areas in their relationship that weren't addressed as clearly as I would have liked. I actually felt like that about a number of Sheetal's relationships, including her mom and Dev. There were a lot of supporting characters, from Sheetal's grandparents and other members of the star court to the competing champions and Sheetal's mortal family, but I thought Thakrar did a pretty good job of handling them.
Plot- (2.5/5) I liked the overall plot structure of Star Daughter, but the pacing was a bit of a struggle, especially once we got to the star court. I had a hard time keeping track of exactly how quickly the competition was approaching. It was soon, and the soon-ness was emphasized, but at the same time, it felt like we spent a LOT of time in the court before the competition not doing very much. It picked up again once the competition hit through the end of the book, but the middle was a bit uneven.
World- (4/5) I really, really enjoyed the star court. I'll get into the writing down below, but the descriptions were lovely, and Thakrar did a nice job of making the star court feel real but also unimaginably whimsical and fantastic. I was entranced by the magical settings Thakrar described, but also chuckling sometimes at the normalcy of some aspects of the court.
Writing- (2.5/5) This was tough. On one hand, Thakrar's descriptions were often stunning, lyrical, and magical. The comparisons to Laini Taylor and Roshani Chokshi ring true. On the other hand, there was a lot of telling instead of showing. Star Daughter was packed with high-running emotions, but I often felt like Thakrar was just narrating Sheetal's emotions to me rather demonstrating them. The language also, sometimes, while gorgeous, got repetitive. This was a debut novel, and I think Thakrar's writing will only improve over time, which I look forward to because the prose was often lovely!
Overall- (3.2/5) Star Daughter was a fantastic premise with strong world-building and lush prose. Sheetal's journey of self-discovery was an emotional roller-coaster, but while the writing was often beautiful, it did a lot of telling instead of showing when it came to Sheetal's feelings. The novel struggled at times with pacing and consistency, but I loved the world of the star court. Though I didn't always love the characters, their motives were always clear and usually sympathetic, and Thakrar juggled a large supporting cast quite well. I would love to see more from her, but I would also love for her narrative voice to continue to mature. All in all, very cool mythology and important themes about self-discovery and relationships (familial, romantic, platonic), but also some stumbling blocks in the writing and pacing for me.
Characters- (3/5) Mixed feelings here. Sheetal was an overall likable protagonist, but she was a little all over the map. Which, on the one hand, was very understandable, given that she's 16 and going through both mortal and star puberty, with massive consequences on both sides. But it also felt a bit heavy-handed to read at times. I liked Minal a lot, and her relationship with Sheetal, but also, I felt like there were some tricky grey areas in their relationship that weren't addressed as clearly as I would have liked. I actually felt like that about a number of Sheetal's relationships, including her mom and Dev. There were a lot of supporting characters, from Sheetal's grandparents and other members of the star court to the competing champions and Sheetal's mortal family, but I thought Thakrar did a pretty good job of handling them.
Plot- (2.5/5) I liked the overall plot structure of Star Daughter, but the pacing was a bit of a struggle, especially once we got to the star court. I had a hard time keeping track of exactly how quickly the competition was approaching. It was soon, and the soon-ness was emphasized, but at the same time, it felt like we spent a LOT of time in the court before the competition not doing very much. It picked up again once the competition hit through the end of the book, but the middle was a bit uneven.
World- (4/5) I really, really enjoyed the star court. I'll get into the writing down below, but the descriptions were lovely, and Thakrar did a nice job of making the star court feel real but also unimaginably whimsical and fantastic. I was entranced by the magical settings Thakrar described, but also chuckling sometimes at the normalcy of some aspects of the court.
Writing- (2.5/5) This was tough. On one hand, Thakrar's descriptions were often stunning, lyrical, and magical. The comparisons to Laini Taylor and Roshani Chokshi ring true. On the other hand, there was a lot of telling instead of showing. Star Daughter was packed with high-running emotions, but I often felt like Thakrar was just narrating Sheetal's emotions to me rather demonstrating them. The language also, sometimes, while gorgeous, got repetitive. This was a debut novel, and I think Thakrar's writing will only improve over time, which I look forward to because the prose was often lovely!
Overall- (3.2/5) Star Daughter was a fantastic premise with strong world-building and lush prose. Sheetal's journey of self-discovery was an emotional roller-coaster, but while the writing was often beautiful, it did a lot of telling instead of showing when it came to Sheetal's feelings. The novel struggled at times with pacing and consistency, but I loved the world of the star court. Though I didn't always love the characters, their motives were always clear and usually sympathetic, and Thakrar juggled a large supporting cast quite well. I would love to see more from her, but I would also love for her narrative voice to continue to mature. All in all, very cool mythology and important themes about self-discovery and relationships (familial, romantic, platonic), but also some stumbling blocks in the writing and pacing for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Addiction
mandkips's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders
unicornsbookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Disclaimer: I have voluntarily reviewed this book after receiving a free copy from the publisher via Edelweiss+, thank you!
Like many others, the first thing that got my attention with this book was the cover. It’s stunning. Beautiful. One of the most beautiful covers I’ve seen this year and the summary promised an enchanting tale that seemed like something I’d absolutely love.
Star Daughter is a story about, well, a daughter of a star. Sheetal’s mother left her and her father behind and returned to the sky, leaving Sheetal to deal with her heritage alone. And she has been doing pretty good until she starts hearing the stars call to her, her silver hair stop letting themselves be covered with black dye and suddenly she has to deal with a fire burning inside her that almost sends her father to his deathbed. Determined to heal him, Sheetal decides to seek her mother out to ask for a drop of her blood that supposedly has healing abilities.
The world we’re introduced to is truly magical. The Night Market, the star courts in heaven are so heavy in this mythical, fairytale-like atmosphere. Everything Sheetal and her cousin Minal see is described in a way that you can just feel the unearthly wonders emitting from the page. The stars are free of typical earthly problems like paying taxes, doing laundry and it shows in their behavior and the way they live. They’re etheric and watch humans in a way curious people in the zoo watch animals. Their world is like a beautiful fever dream and the reader can feel the difference between it and Sheetal’s earthly life very vividly. I also loved the idea of stars inspiring people and how art-focused everything was. It didn’t only focus on music or painting as a form of art but also sculpting, writing, and even theatre.
Another thing I loved was the writing style. The descriptions of the court, the food, the world were all so vivid and beautiful. The author crafted a wonderful atmosphere in a unique world and every sentence is a pleasure to read.
Sadly a book can’t be 5 stars just with worldbuilding and beautiful writing. So let’s move on to the things that didn’t exactly do it for me.
First of all - the characters. In YA fantasy I feel like the characters are one of the most important things that make me fall in love with the book. In Star Daughter, however, the characters just weren’t for me. I couldn’t connect to Sheetal and the way she was constantly moping about something. It was hard to enjoy the plot and the setting when the main character constantly reminded you how much she didn’t want to be there. Moreover, I felt like Sheetal was too easily swayed and influenced by others - her opinion on things changed each time someone talked to her about something and her decisions were mostly influenced by others. She just felt more like googles through which we were watching the amazing world we were introduced too than an actual character. I also really hated her romance with Dev - there was no chemistry between them and their whole conflict made me tired. Only at the very end, they got a bit more spark to them, before that constantly reading about how hot Dev was in his (description of the most casual outfit possible here) and how much Sheetal wanted to kiss him was making me really tired. What I did enjoy was her struggle with deciding where she belongs - on Earth with her father or in Heavens with her mother and grandparents and also how much she struggled with reconnecting with her absent mother and working out if she can forgive her for leaving.
Other characters didn’t really get my attention either. The star characters were all lacking basic humanity at times, which made them completely unrelatable and while one may argue that that was the point, they were also lacking any kind of charm or spark that made other non-human races in fantasy appealing to me. I did like Minal, Sheetal’s human cousin, who really deserved better than being a sidekick to a girl who couldn’t even appreciate her and the girl performing with puppets whose backstory was far more appealing than Sheetal’s and she was much more deserving to be in the competition. That’s another thing I didn’t really like - it was hard to cheer on Sheetal in the competition when everybody around her was right - as a half-star, she did have unfair advantage over other performers. I didn’t feel like support nepotism in a book when my friends experience it in real life in college and work. I will say the ending fixed some of those issues I had but the bad taste stayed.
I also didn’t feel invested in the plot, which tells a lot since I’m usually a huge fan of the competition trope. Sadly there was barely any competition and most of the time Sheetal spent moping and avoiding practice to mope even more. The stakes didn’t feel high and the conclusion was unsatisfying. I’ve managed to read two books in between before I finished this one because I hoped that maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood for it. Turned out I was, it just wasn’t something I’d enjoy.
All in all, I think Star Daughter is still a very important book due to its representation and inclusion of Hindu mythology and culture. I also think people who enjoy atmospheric books more than they care about characters will really enjoy this one. I see many stellar reviews for it and that just proves to me that I didn’t enjoy myself because of the personal preference not because the book is bad.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
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