Review: The Blazing Star by Imani Josey

Title: The Blazing Star
Author: Imani Josey
Genres: YA, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Goodreads

'Sixteen-year-old Portia White is used to being overlooked—after all, her twin sister Alex is a literal genius.
But when Portia holds an Egyptian scarab beetle during history class, she takes center stage in a way she never expected: she faints. Upon waking, she is stronger, faster, and braver than before. And when she accidentally touches the scarab again?
She wakes up in ancient Egypt—her sister and an unwitting freshman in tow.
Great.
Mysterious and beautiful, Egypt is more than they could have ever imagined from their days in the classroom. History comes alive as the three teens realize that getting back to the present will be the most difficult thing they’ve ever done. Stalked by vicious monsters called Scorpions, every step in the right direction means a step closer to danger.
As Portia and the girls discover that they’re linked to the past by more than just chance, they have to decide what it truly means to be yourself, to love your sister, and to find your way home.'

My rating: ★★★/5 stars

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Before I start this review, I want to write a little disclaimer. I read this book during a very difficult week, namely, the week that Trump won the presidency. I could pretend that this had no effect on my reading, but sadly, it did. I felt very down, and I kept thinking about my American friends and what they were feeling, which made the reading experience a lot less fun. It wouldn't be fair to the author of the book if I didn't address this, since it is something that affected my reading experience, and I'm sure I would've enjoyed the book more if I had read it the month before. Now, let's move on to my review.

When I spotted this book on Netgalley and read the synopsis, I got incredibly excited. Ancient Egypt? Time travel? Monsters? YA diversity? Heck yes! 

The first thing I want to talk about is how amazingly diverse this book is. Almost every character in this book is a person of colour, and I loved it. The second thing I really enjoyed was that the author didn't simplify certain words for the reader, and she used the real Egyptian terms (example: kalasiris instead of dress.) Of course this was difficult sometimes, but the author explained everything very well and it really added an almost authentic feel to the story.

Something I also enjoyed was the part that the Egyptian mythology and culture played in the book. It wasn't like Rick Riordan's books were the Gods are super involved in the story and we actually see them, but in The Blazing Star, the Gods do play a part, but it feels a bit more mysterious. 

As for the characters, I'm not sure if I like them or not. I did like our main character Portia, who is a very strong and brave, but I strongly disliked her twin Alex. Alex is the kind of character who is used to getting her way, and gets very annoying when stuff don't go her way. For the rest of the characters? I could just couldn't keep them apart, and I'm still not quite sure who's who, so I can't really tell you anything about them. My little disclaimer does play a huge part in this, so please keep that in mind. 


The Blazing Star does have a lot of girl power, and just girls kicking ass in general, which is something I adore. That was the main thing I loved about this book. Girls supporting girls. Girls being strong, in a society in which they're expected to be weak. Love love love. 

However, I didn't love the book. One of the reasons for this was that I didn't like the writing, which felt a bit messy sometimes. I wasn't able to picture any of the scenery or rooms because of a lack of descriptive-ness, and some passages I just didn't get. I read them over and over to be able to understand what was going on, but I just couldn't. I still have no idea about some of the things that happened in the book. 

Overall, I did enjoy the book, but I don't feel invested enough to want to continue on with the series. However, if you like books about Ancient Egypt and magic, I would recommend this one to you. 

Review: The Star-Touched Queen

Title: The Star-Touched Queen

Author: Roshani Chokshi 
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: April 26th, 2016
Genres: Fantasy, YA

Goodreads Synopsis

'Cursed with a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, sixteen-year-old Maya has only earned the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her world is upheaved when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. But when her wedding takes a fatal turn, Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Yet neither roles are what she expected. As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds friendship and warmth.

But Akaran has its own secrets - thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Beneath Akaran's magic, Maya begins to suspect her life is in danger. When she ignores Amar's plea for patience, her discoveries put more than new love at risk - it threatens the balance of all realms, human and Otherworldly.

Now, Maya must confront a secret that spans reincarnated lives and fight her way through the dangerous underbelly of the Otherworld if she wants to protect the people she loves.

Inspired by Indian mythology.'

My rating: 

When I joined Netgalley a week ago, I didn't think I would actually be able to read an ARC of my most-anticapated 2016 release. When I got the e-mail that my request was accepted, I was like

This novel follows a girl named Maya, a girl who lives in a kingdom where horoscopes are very important, and she happens to have a very dark one. People are scared of her and bully her, and her only wish is to be free of her horoscope, marry a respectable man who treats her well, and she longs for knowledge. A sudden turn of events changes everything, and she finds herself married to Amar, the Raja of Akaran. Akaran is part of the underworld, or Otherworld, and mysteries about Maya's past begin to unravel and she soon finds out that there is more to Amar than she first thought. 

First things first - I loved the Indian influence! The Indian culture is a big part of the story, and it's very well done. At least, for as far as I could tell. The imagery of the landscape, the architecture and the clothes Maya wore were beautiful, and I couldn't get enough of it. It gave the book a very magical and dream-like feel to it. Roshani's writing often felt like a work of art, and I found myself re-reading some passages just because the wording and imagery were so beautiful. 

The character development in this novel was phenomenal, and I truly felt a connection with the characters. Maya is a very strong main character, and I absolutely adored her. She doesn't let her horoscope define her and she has an amazing relationship with her sister Gauri, whom she reads to before bed and tells magical stories.

However, I didn't feel such a connection to Amar, the Raj of Akaran and Maya's love interest. His character felt very one-dimensional and I wish we got to know more of his backstory. 

I really enjoyed the romance. It's one of the first YA-fantasy books I've read were there weren't any love-triangles or insta-love, and that's a big plus for me. I loved the scenes between Amar and Maya, and I wanted MORE since their dialogue was absolutely beautiful and had a very poetic feel to it. 

"What do you want from me?
He stopped, the smile was gone from his lips.
"I want your perspective and honesty," he said, before adding in a softer voice, "I want to be humbled by you. My kingdom needs a queen. It needs someone with fury in her heart and shadows in her smile. It needs someone restless and clever. It needs you."

‘‘You know nothing about me.’’ ‘‘I know your soul. Everything else is an ornament.’’ 

A few things I didn't love about the book, except for the fact that Amar felt a bit one-dimensional, is that I would have liked to see a bit more world-building and some passages felt a bit rushed. I wish the book was about 100 pages longer, but then again, my Netgalley copy was 230 pages, and Goodreads says The Star-Touched Queen has 350 pages, so who knows? Maybe the final copy will be 100 pages longer.

Overall, The Star-Touched Queen was absolutely stunning and you don't want to miss it!