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4/29/2016

Blog Tour: The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi (Review and Interview!)

The Star Touched Queen

Author: Roshani Chokshi

Pages: 352

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: April 26th 2016

Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you're only seventeen? Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire... But Akaran has its own secrets -- thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most. . .including herself. A lush and vivid story that is steeped in Indian folklore and mythology. The Star-Touched Queen is a novel that no reader will soon forget.

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I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are not altered by that.

I knew The Star Touched Queen was going to be an interesting book from when I read the synopsis. There is just so much from the synopsis that leaves you asking questions about this book and wanting to find out more about it. More about Maya's curse, more about Akaran, and Maya's life in general. The Star Touched Queen delivered such a great story. It had a really interesting plot and a world that I would definitely not mind having a spin off take place in. (Update: Turns out Roshani will be having a spin off of The Star Touched Queen. Whoo!) Roshani had really great writing and I really enjoyed the characters she wrote about. If you're looking for a really suspenseful and mysterious novel with based on a really interesting Indian folktale, I would definitely hand you The Star Touched Queen.

So, you can obviously tell I loved this book. One of the reasons was because of how great and interesting the characters were. From the beginning, we already know Maya is cursed with a horrible horoscope, which is taken really seriously by the people in Maya's life. She really grows within this book, which is one of the highlights. She gets to know herself more and also gets to experience what it is like to not live in her palace walls. I really love how she doesn't take crap from anyone. All her life people have been putting her down because of her horoscope and that leads to her development of relying on herself to get through tough situations. She is so independent and I really love that about her. There are so many other characters introduced in this book and they were all so interesting and all I loved how different from each other they were. No character was every similar to the next one. Interesting characters for an interesting book, am I right? I also really loved reading about how they impacted the plot and Maya's life.

Now, here is my favorite part about this book. The plot. Going into this book, I didn't know much on what was going to happen. I only had so many questions that needed to be answered. As the book progresses, it get's more and more mysterious. That really added more suspense and made the book really hard to put down. That's really all I could say. Some books I could write paragraphs on how good it was but with Star Touched, there isn't much to say because it's very easy to describe. Basically, the more pages you read in, the more questions you have and the more the suspense will build up.

I gave this book 5 stars because I fully enjoyed it. It had awesome characters, a great world, and a really suspenseful plot.

4/24/2016

Sunday Street Team: The Island by S Usher Evans (Review and Giveaway!)

4/22/2016

Interview with Burning Glass Author, Kathryn Purdie!

Hey everyone and welcome to a very exciting interview with BURNING GLASS author Kathryn Purdie! Today, she talks a little about herself, her book and it's characters and world. I hope you enjoy and make sure to check out BURNING GLASS if you haven't heard of it yet!

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1. Hi Kathryn and welcome to Next Page Please! Thank you so much for being here today. Let's start this interview with a question to get to know you better! What do you like doing when you're not writing?

Thanks so much for having me here! When I’m not writing (let’s be honest, hardly ever), I love to binge-watch TV shows with my husband, see all the latest movies (we’re actors, so this is ART), drive up the canyon, and play guitar and sing.

2. What is something you're excited for readers to read about in Burning Glass? (A character, event, place, etc.)

Hmm. For me it’s not so much a character, place, or event I’m most excited about sharing…it’s the whole feeling of the story that I want readers to take away with them. I hope it’s fertile ground for deep thought, empowerment, and lovely escapism.

3. What has been your favorite part about publishing your book?

My favorite part has been meeting more authors and publishing professionals in the industry. But my favorite moment was running into the bookstore with my family, just minutes before closing, and seeing my book on the bookshelf for the first time. I jumped up and down and started squealing and clapping.

4. If Sonya came to our world, what do you think she would feel about it and what would be the first thing she would do?

Oh, that’s painful to think about! Our world is so noisy, overcrowded, and full of tension. I think Sonya would run for the mountains and hide away for a while, and then slowly acclimate herself to entering the bigger cities, like dipping her toe into a cold pool of water before jumping in. I think Sonya would also find respite in music. She’d probably buy some noise-blocking headphones and download a ton of calming songs.

5. Thank you so much for being here Kathryn and congrats on Burning Glass's publication! For my final question, I would love to know what the first thing you would do if you were dropped into the Burning Glass world?

Ooh, fun! I have to admit, I’d want to tour the palace in Torchev. Even though it’s full of corruption, I’d want to see every inch of that beautiful and fascinating place that I’ve imagined so vividly in my head.

4/14/2016

The Hamilton Book Tag

4/08/2016

Blog Tour: Dreamology by Lucy Keating (Review and Giveaway!)

4/06/2016

Waiting on Wednesday #44

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Breaking The Spine where we share upcoming releases that we are excited about!

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The Unexpected Everything

Author: Morgan Matson
Pages: 496
Publisher: Simon and Schuester
Release Date: May 3rd 2016

Andie had it all planned out. When you are a politician’s daughter who’s pretty much raised yourself, you learn everything can be planned or spun, or both. Especially your future. Important internship? Check. Amazing friends? Check. Guys? Check (as long as we’re talking no more than three weeks) But that was before the scandal. Before having to be in the same house with her dad. Before walking an insane number of dogs. That was before Clark and those few months that might change her whole life. Because here’s the thing - if everything's planned out, you can never find the unexpected. And where’s the fun in that?

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Why I'm Waiting...

I have been a huge fan of Morgan Matson. I love her books, the writing, her characters, and most of all how great her books were. When I found out she was writing a new book, I was pretty excited. When I went to see her at the Bay Book Fest, she talked just a little about her new book. All the books she has written in the past have mostly been about characters who weren't very outgoing and confident in herself and she mentioned that this book was going to be about someone who was the opposite of her past characters, which I am really looking forward to. Based on the synopsis, one could already tell this girl was very confident in herself (see: Guys.) and I feel like YA definitely does not have many of those type of characters so I am really looking forward to what reading from a character like Andie may be like. Changes are coming for her and I looking forward to reading about her personality and how she will deal with those changes. (Also, this scandal. I am intrigued.)

So tell me: Have you read any books by Morgan Matson and what are your thoughts on this book?

4/05/2016