A review by dragonwriter
Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar

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.