Shveta ThakrarReseñas

DNF just over a quarter of the way through.

The writing has a magical, fairytale quality that the narrator performs with a wondrous vitality and the blending of cultures and mythologies into the fantastic elements are wonderful. I desperately want to love this story, but it just isn't for me. The grief, obsession, and tantalising hints of magic not far away are absolutely my kind of thing on paper, but the bright, broad strokes with which the author paints the story just didn't work for me.

There is a palpable vibe of what seems like (apologies for just how on the nose this is) wish fulfilment, which there's nothing wrong with, it's just not for me. It's often something I can get through, but hear it's just too on the nose for me. I am not someone who throws about Mary Sue and think the discourse around it is contains so much toxicity, misogyny, and cognitive dissonance. However, the perfection of the MC and her life, beyond her mother's death in her childhood and her obsession with work and her mother's stories, is frustrating, especially with the reader only being told of the MC's troubles and feelings. Allowing us to see more of how she experiences life, rather than going from all but perfect moment to perfect moment, while we are told she is struggling.

The MC's partner is the most perfect South Asian Prince Charming, I imagined Kumail Nanjiani's abs after the superhero workout (and let's be honest human growth hormone) made into a person even sweeter than he is with his wife. The MC treats him appallingly and in turn his persistent thoughtfulness starts to feel creepy and misogynistic, especially with him 'not allowing her' to do certain things alone. Both characters and their relationship could have worked with more of all of them actually being on the page, warts and all. Again, this could well be a me problem and my bouncing off this subgenre of fantasy.

Ultimately, with all the beautiful narration and magical prose I just couldn't get swept up in the sweetness of the adventure and didn't feel any of the grief of the character (heavy emotions being something I often resonate with -- I'm a sad girl who loves sad girls), so it ended up feeling incredibly saccharine and false to me. Reading other reviews has no disabused me of this feeling and that it doesn't pervade every aspect of the story.

This is a story the author clearly feels passionate about and has researched and woven in mythology and moon symbolism from various cultures throughout history who has a wonderful way with words. The telling not showing, caricatures, and uncanny valley tweeness of it all simply didn't work for me personally. I would definitely be up for trying another work of theirs and would absolutely track down things the narrator had worked on to hear more of them.

Another book with a brilliant premise that didn't quite deliver for me. The writing was beautiful in parts, but at some points it verged on purple prose. It must seem like I am anti-romance but I seriously am not, yet here I go again saying "romance had no place in this story". There were already enough interesting elements so the romance honestly felt unnecessary. I think this might just be another case of 'it wasn't for me'.

Seven years ago, Tanvi was spirited away to the subterranean realm of Nagalok, where she joined the ranks of the dream runners: human children freed of all memory and emotion, who collect mortal dreams for the entertainment of the serpentine, immortal naga court.

But when one of Tanvi's dream harvests goes awry, she begins to remember her life on earth. Panicked and confused, she turns to the one mortal in Nagalok who might be able to help: Venkat, the dreamsmith responsible for collecting the dream runners' wares and shaping them into the kingdom's most tantalizing commodity. And as they search for answers, a terrifying truth begins to take shape--one that could turn the nagas' realm of dreams into a land of waking nightmare.

Interesting story.

It is about the struggle of a half-star teenage girl to save her dad and consequently tries to find her place in both the star and the earth world. But most importantly it is about winning a talent competition.

Personally, I found the story original since it's the first time I'm reading about Hindu mythology (I've never watched Bollywood and heard only briefly names of Hindu mythological gods.) However, at the end of the book, I felt like the story was just beginning because most questions have not yet been answered.

One cannot deny how vividly and poetically Shveta is describing her characters and the story elements, if one is able at first to understand most of Hindu names and terms without searching it in Google. I suggest this book needs a dictionary, or short explanations in the bottom of the page so that the impatient reader will not be bored of it.

This one being the first English book I've read and completed in a long long time, if ever (my mother language is Greek), I found it a little difficult at first to continue the book. As I picked up the page and the story bloomed though, it felt easier to binge the last half of the book in less than a day.

To sum up, I feel like this book needs a sequel to clear things up and perhaps entangle them even more, so one may find joy in disentangling them all over again.

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD
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I loved Charumati's boldness in the end, for she had the courage to stand up to her own mother whom she fretted for years, so that she could restore what she believed had broken. At some point I thought our 17-year-old protagonist wouldn't make choices of her own, but she proved me wrong with her decision to ascend to a full-star before she competed. Truthfully, and maybe egoistically, I wanted a lot more things to happen at the last scenes. I felt like the author was zooming more into Sheetal's turbulent feelings and into finding every word in the dictionary that could describe colors than it was necessary. I needed to know more of the stars abilities and what happens when they become black holes, what do they feel then (if they feel at all) and I wanted to know more about values I cannot grasp at once (the culture and traditions of stars, the point of view of Nani that holds some truths, how will the balance between Humans and Stars be achieved) and less about things I can pretty much already predict (the love story we got at the end, which was expected, but not satisfactory enough to content my thirst of knowing the answer to greater, more important questions concerning the plot).

If there exists a sequel, I can justify the lack of answers. In the hope of that, I'll give it a four-stars instead of three. I do not enjoy unfinished stand-alones.








I gotta say, I love Amrita and Vanita.




I also loved this scene.



And right here is the moral of the whole book.

"She wore the sky, had it wrapped around her like shadow-stained silk. She danced with it, within it, spinning softly, so softly, a sway here, a slow turn there."

A beautifully spun fantasy dripping with glitter about a girl torn between her silvery star blood and her mortal family.

It's becoming harder and harder for Sheetal to hide the fact that she's half-star. Her hair refuses to stay dyed black, her inner fire is surging, and she's finding it harder and harder to ignore the starsong. Even her boyfriend, Dev, seems to suspect something. But when she injures someone she loves in a tragic accident, her aunt finally gives her the letter left by the star mother who abandoned her, giving instructions to rejoin her. Along with her best friend Minal, she travels to the stars in search of starblood to heal her loved one. But she soon finds that her family in the stars has their own agenda they're expecting her to follow. Half-mortal, half-star, Sheetal must fight to find a place to call her own.

The strongest relationship in the book is that of Sheetal and Minal, who always has her back and will follow her anywhere. The love between Sheetal and her dad shines throughout the book, while Sheetal's pain at the absence and reappearance of her mother, Charumati, in her life seeps through the pages. Sheetal finds herself embroiled in both romance and intrigue, making for a great read.

The author uses this book's gorgeous setting among the stars to full advantage, building a shimmering fantasy world brimming with lights and secrets. From the second the girls set foot in the magical market hidden in our world to their moments in court, the otherworldly surroundings enchant. I loved the author's description of starsong as a beautiful melody that each star contributes to, where if you listen closely, you can separate out the individual threads. This is one I will read again and again to savor the beauty of the words.

I had quite a bit of fun seeing stories from Hindu mythology and so many of the names that are very familiar to me represented in this way in a YA fantasy debut. But it also made me feel old when compared to the protagonist, so I think younger readers will appreciate this one more than me. Still a fun read and I can only hope for more amazing things in the future from this author.

I read this as part of my Norton Award finalist packet.

This is a fun YA read that draws from Indian culture and mythology to bring a new spin to the familiar teen-forced-into-competition trope. The book follows Sheetal, a teen planning to take the PSAT while trying to hide her heritage as a star. Her celestial mother abandoned the family years before, leaving Sheetal with her dad--who she loves dearly, even as they clash as teenagers and parents do. With her 17th birthday days away, though, her usual black dye won't stay in her hair, she finds out her boyfriend knew she was a star and was literally using her as a muse (she is not happy), and then in a flare of anger, her star powers surge and she almost kills her dad. Now she needs to ascend to the sky to find out how to cure him before it's too late.

The cultural and mythological aspects of the book were fantastic. The first chapters hooked me right away with the desi family drama, and the drama among her mother's family brings in higher stakes for sure. The whole trope of a teen-forced-into-competition is wearing thin for me, though. I also was frustrated by how many plot points dragged on simply because people couldn't TALK. Yeah, people really do that, but it wears thin in reality, too. Still, it's a fun read and I can definitely see why it made the Norton ballot.

"Somehow Sheetal kept her eyes from rolling right out of her head."

I listened to this audiobook over the course of a few days and I was completely enamored. Star Daughter was an interesting foray into a bit of Hindu mythology that was both rich and intoxicating! The world building was robust and extremely ethereal. The writing was expressed in prose both subtle and divine. The narration was eloquent. Soneela Nankani narrated and she was very adept at conveying which character in the pantheon of personas was speaking at any given moment. Her subtle inflections made listening to her voice, for hours on end, extremely enjoyable. She managed to vocally paint the unique cast in vibrant hues allowing them to shine brilliantly through her words. She also showcased their flaws in gradients of beautiful gray making it worth every stolen moment I had with this (audio)book.To be honest, the names were a bit confusing to remember at first but some have wormed their way into my brain and are now living there... permanently. It is almost 2 weeks since I experienced Star Daughter's radiance and still those unique names remain. I believe this book will have that same affect on a variety of genre loving audio/bibliophiles... yes, that means you too... unless you don't like Fantasy... then you're in the wrong place.

Overall:

I guess I am the outlier here because I really enjoyed this book. I am convinced that every time I think of the constellations or a burgeoning star, I will think of Sheetal and her protégé boyfriend Dev.

Bottom line: This book got mixed reviews on GoodReads and I'm a bit stumped. I usually use those ratings as a gage for whether or not I should add a book to my TBR . It might sound snobby but I don't usually go for books with ratings below 4 stars. BUT in this instance I happened to pick up Star Daughter when it was first released and took a shot in the dark and gave it a chance. I'm glad I did because I ended up disagreeing with its low rating. Was this book amazingly, mind-blowingly awesome? No. Will it expand your mind in significant ways? Also No BUT it will expose you to a piece of another culture's mythos while coaxing you to dwell in the realm of the Fantastical for a bit. I say, if you're on the fence about picking this one up, go for it... you'll have a good time.

~ Enjoy½

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this book in one of my Owlcrates.

Story (3/5): This whole story is about Sheetal losing her ability to hide that she is half-star and accidentally hurting her father with her star abilities. As a result she is forced to hunt down her mother and the other stars, for help saving her father. The story was a bit all over the place. There are parts of the story I enjoyed, like the magical market and some of the mythology included. However, I ended up mostly just skimming the last 25% of the book because I found the story boring and poorly constructed.

Characters (3/5): I never really engaged with Sheetal or any of the other characters in this book. They were hard to get to know and fairly one dimensional. Sheetal seems very naive and somewhat selfish, as do all of the adult characters in this novel. Sheetal’s crush is just very fan-girlish and I didn’t see a lot of actual affection between her and her boyfriend. All the characters were just kind of “blah”.

Setting (3/5): The setting was okay. Pretty typical YA setting the first part of the book and then Sheetal journeys to the star realm. There is some nice magical description of the star realm but despite this I still had a really hard time picturing the setting. It was okay but nothing exciting.

Writing Style (3/5): This whole book was pretty mediocre and somewhat disappointing for me. I loved the aspects of desi culture and the idea of a character that was half-star. However, the whole story is very immature. The main character is immature, the whole plotline around Sheetal having to win a talent competition is really immature, and the writing was immature. There wasn’t really anything here technically awful, but nothing that piqued my interest and made me want to read more by this author either. I should also mention there is a ton of desi terminology in here I did not know, which made the book even harder to read. It would have been nice to have a glossary of these terms in the back of the book.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was an okay book, the best part by far was the beautiful cover design. There are some promising elements in here around desi culture and mythology. I also love the idea of having a character that is half-star struggling with her human vs celestial side. However, the execution was severely lacking. The whole thing is immature and unengaging. There was a lot of potential for an amazing story here but it just wasn’t realized.

Shveta Thakrar’s Star Daughter should be a dream story. It has everything I crave in novels these days – diversity, creativity, a hint of romance, and a strong female lead. Except, I found myself rather bored. After all, no amount of creativity and diversity can change the fact that Star Daughter is simply another coming-of-age/identity story, even if it happens to take place among the stars.

There are two aspects of Star Daughter I thoroughly enjoyed. One is this idea of Sheetal being half-star and visiting her star family. I am still not certain exactly what being a star means when it comes to where they live versus the constellations. After all, Sheetal’s best friend is able to get to this star location by hopping on clouds, so it is not like they live in space. Still, stars are not a fantasy creature you normally see, and the novelty of it was intriguing.

I also found Sheetal’s Desi background fascinating since it is so far removed from my own. Everything from the food to the clothes to the familial interactions was fresh and new in my eyes, no matter how often I read a story set in Eastern Asia or with an Eastern Asian main character/family. In fact, Star Daughter served as a great reminder that I still have room for improvement when it comes to diversifying my reading.

Still, Star Daughter is an oft-told tale of a teenager on the cusp of adulthood who must navigate the chaos of family and growing up. This chaos includes everything from family secrets, hidden agendas, ambition, power struggles, loyalty, and first love. No matter how exotic or unfamiliar its setting, there is nothing truly novel about Sheetal’s story.

Looking back on my recent reviews, I realize that I have not really loved the last four books read. I don’t think I am being too picky. There are plenty of novels I am currently reading or have read that give me that reader thrill we seek when reading. Instinctually, I know the coming-of-age story is a classic plotline that remains popular. I think my problem is the fact that these novels are too predictable.

Authors will continue to use this plotline because everyone can relate to it. However, I want them to make it fresh and exciting so that it feels like I am experiencing it for the very first time. This ability to make the old new again is what distinguishes a good author from an excellent one. Excellent authors don’t rely on window dressings to make their novels different, which is where I feel Ms. Thakrar goes wrong. She spends so much time establishing her star and Desi lifestyle that her characters suffer from one-dimensionality, resulting in a story that feels stale.

Star Daughter shows hints of something special. Unfortunately, this only compounds my frustration at its predictability and familiarity. I want more information about life as a star as well as the powers one has as a star or a half-star. Instead, I got a story that briefly touched on those powers but spent most of its time rehashing the age-old questions of “Who am I?” and “What is most important to me?” with answers that I could predict after the first two chapters. In other words, it is yet another frustratingly predictable read.

[Early August expiry.]

3.5

3.5 stars