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Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar // Night Markets, Star Courts and Desi goodness

GOODREADS // AMAZON // BOOK DEPOSITORY The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. Pretending to be "normal." But when an accidental flare of her starfire puts her human father in the hospital, Sheetal needs a full star's help to heal him. A star like her mother, who returned to the sky long ago. Sheetal's quest to save her father will take her to a celestial court of shining wonders and dark shadows, where she must take the stage as her family's champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the heavens--and win, or risk never returning to Earth at all. This gorgeously imagined YA debut blends shades of Neil Gaiman's Stardust and a breathtaking landscape of Hindu mythology into a radiant contemporary fantasy.   ( A huge thank you to the  HOV Tours  and HarperTeen for the eARC and the opportunity to be a part of this blog tour.  ~When a book sees you~      Yes I am absolutely go...
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The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross // Underrated, magical YA fantasy

Born out of wedlock, Brienna is cast off by her noble family and sent to Magnolia House – a boarding house for those looking to study the passions: art, music, dramatics, wit and knowledge. Brienna must discover her passion and train hard to perfect her skill, in the hope that she will one day graduate and be chosen by a wealthy patron, looking to support one of the ‘impassioned’.

As Brienna gets closer to the eve of her graduation, she also grows closer to her smart (and handsome) tutor, Cartier. He can sense that she is hiding a secret, but Brienna chooses not to reveal that she is experiencing memories of her ancestors – memories uncovering the mysteries of the past that may have dangerous consequences in the present.

A daring plot is brewing – to overthrow the usurper king and restore the rightful monarchy – and Brienna’s memories hold the key to its success. Cartier desperately wants to help Brienna, but she must chose her friends wisely, keep her enemies close and trust no one if she is to save herself and her people.
     You know when you have a pretty book for a while but don't really know what it's about? And then you just happen to read it one day and fall head-over-heels in love? This was that book for me *heart eyes*

     This book was a gift from a special person who got it for me because it was on my TBR and also the cover is so freaking gorgeous it would be perfect for bookstagram *heart eyes* (Said special person knows how vain I can be about my bookstagram lol)

     Without further ado! Seven reasons to pick up this beauty! -

     1.  The writing gets all the *heart eyes* from me! It's the kind of writing that pulls you in and keeps you there. Like I read this book in college and when I was interrupted I legit was confused about my surroundings because I was SO immersed in the book! I absolutely loved the beautiful descriptions and the sort of ethereal quality the writing has!! AHHHH absolutely fangirling!

     2. Well-written female friendships for the win! Brienna and her passion sisters train at the Magnolia House and while there is a bit of competition among some girls, they are for the most part wonderful, caring and supportive friends. And this made my heart so happy! 

     3. NO SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE! you read that right. Brienna is wonderful! She's relatable and not like some "perfect" girl who is just good at everything she does. I loved Brienna's arc- How she starts out not having an intrinsic talent for the passions but works hard to be as good as her sisters. It felt so relatable and refreshing to see a main character like that. And she's not like the chosen one or anything. YAY!

     4. The romance. OH HEAVENS. It was SO sweet. It's slow-burn romance and it's NOT the focus of the story. And yet the romance in this book made my heart flutter! Do you know how long it's been since the romance in a book made my heart flutter and my cheeks flush? This was just SO romantic and I loved a particular scene at the end so much.*heart eyes* I know some people have had issues with the romance but to be honest, there's nothing inappropriate despite the positions of those involved in the romance. But yes I can see why for some, the romance might seem weird. (see below)

SPOILER - There is a romance between a teacher and student but it does NOT develop when they are student and teacher. It only develops later BUT even back when they were just a student and teacher, you could see the hints as to where it is going. -SPOILER

     5. Cartier. I LOVE this guy. He's like my latest favourite book boyfriend ( Nikolai Lantsov will always be my MOST FAVOURITE book boyfriend ever but Cartier has come the closest to Nik) 

     6. Blood doesn't always mean family and family doesn't always mean just blood. This is so true and The Queen's Rising shows that quite beautifully.

     7. I loved the world-building and the magic system in the book. I love reading about history and it was wonderful to see it so intricately done by the author! Also a Kingdom where only women held power because only they could wield magic? I'm so here for this feminist YA fantasy.

NOTE - Do not look at the family tree at the beginning of the book! There's a huge spoiler in it that you don't want to see.


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Have you read this book? Did you like it? Tell me in the comments below!
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