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A review by renuked
The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
2.0
When I first heard about this book, I immediately closed my laptop and walked away. I know myself, and I know that I personally do not enjoy Indian mythological retellings. Why? Because the mythology is intricate, and somehow, somewhere, something goes wrong. Then I thought maybe I was being too harsh. As an Indian (although yes born and raised in America), of course it would be tough to please me. Furthermore, I know how important representation is, so I convinced myself to give it a chance. The reviews were glowing after all. Unfortunately, I still didn't enjoy it.
My problem: It wasn't our mythology. Instead, it was a mash up of names, places, and creatures. Our beautiful stories were ignored, and instead, we received a Hades and Persephone retelling. (I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure that's GREEK). What even. What is the Night Bazaar? What the heck is Airavata doing in this plot. Since when are there flesh-eating horses? I just don't know. I don't pretend to be the number one expert in this stuff (far from it), but after doing some additional research, I believe that literally none of this book makes sense. It's just a bunch of Indian vocabulary.
The characters are so bland I don't even remember their names (oops), and their ancient love felt more like insta-love. Luckily, the language was pretty enough that the book rescued parts of itself. The plot was just confusing, and not engaging at all. In fact, I might have just put this book down and left it, except I wanted to write this review with all the facts.
In the end, I wondered if maybe I should swear off of reading Indian mythological retellings. I haven't really found any that satisfy me, and in fact, they tend to upset me. I spent half an hour bothering my mom with angry questions. However, I do encourage writers to keep trying because, I would love some proper representation. I believe that someone will get it right, and manage to hit that perfect mix of myth and retelling. It doesn't have to be exact (hello, I know it's a retelling), but I would love for it to just be a creation based on our beautiful culture. One day, someone will capture the atmosphere and the messages in our myths, and I can't wait to read that book.
My problem: It wasn't our mythology. Instead, it was a mash up of names, places, and creatures. Our beautiful stories were ignored, and instead, we received a Hades and Persephone retelling. (I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure that's GREEK). What even. What is the Night Bazaar? What the heck is Airavata doing in this plot. Since when are there flesh-eating horses? I just don't know. I don't pretend to be the number one expert in this stuff (far from it), but after doing some additional research, I believe that literally none of this book makes sense. It's just a bunch of Indian vocabulary.
The characters are so bland I don't even remember their names (oops), and their ancient love felt more like insta-love. Luckily, the language was pretty enough that the book rescued parts of itself. The plot was just confusing, and not engaging at all. In fact, I might have just put this book down and left it, except I wanted to write this review with all the facts.
In the end, I wondered if maybe I should swear off of reading Indian mythological retellings. I haven't really found any that satisfy me, and in fact, they tend to upset me. I spent half an hour bothering my mom with angry questions. However, I do encourage writers to keep trying because, I would love some proper representation. I believe that someone will get it right, and manage to hit that perfect mix of myth and retelling. It doesn't have to be exact (hello, I know it's a retelling), but I would love for it to just be a creation based on our beautiful culture. One day, someone will capture the atmosphere and the messages in our myths, and I can't wait to read that book.