The Star-Touched Queen

TITLE: The Star-Touched Queen
AUTHOR: Roshani Chokshi
RELEASE DATE: April 2016
PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Griffin
PAGES: 342 pages
SERIES: The Star-Touched Queen book 1
GENRE: Fantasy
OVERALL RATING: 1/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 7-12

SUMMARY: Treated with scorn and fear in her father's kingdom because of a formidable horoscope, 16-year-old Maya commits herself to her education only to land in an arranged marriage that culminates in her sudden elevation to the throne, a situation that is threatened by dark secrets and Otherworldly magic.

FAVORITE QUOTE:  "Why do they always start with history? Show me a dream unrealized. Don't show me unchangeable paths." (Chokshi, )

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I could not follow the story of this book. It seemed to jump around a lot. In Part One, she is the daughter of a Raja, with a horoscope of death. In Part Two, she is in an alternate dimension with strange creatures. I felt the story jumped too much. Every time I picked up the book, I had to reread the last couple of pages just to remind myself what was happening in the storyline. 

SERIES UPDATE: Book Two: A Crown of Wishes releases March 28, 2017

READALIKES: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

BOOK TRAILER: No official book trailer was available at the time this review was published.

Flawed

TITLE: Flawed
AUTHOR: Cecilia Ahern
RELEASE DATE: April 2016
PUBLISHER: Feiwel and Friends
PAGES: 324 pages
SERIES: Flawed book 1
GENRE: Science Fiction
OVERALL RATING: 3/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 7-12

SUMMARY: Celestine is perfect in a world where people are punished for their flaws. Those that are deemed "flawed" are not only branded, but they are forced to live by a different set of laws. Celestine makes one rash decision that changes her perfect little life. Now Celestine is the most flawed person in history. Should she sit back and accept her consequence or join the rebellion to get rid of this archaic system?

   

FAVORITE QUOTE: "But  Ican now understand why people read, why they like to get lost in somebody else's life. Sometimes I'll read a sentence and it will make me sit up, jolt me, because it is something that I have recently felt but never said out loud. I want to reach into the page and tell the characters that I understand them, that they're not alone, that I'm not alone, and it's ok to feel like this. And then the lunch bell rings, the book closes, and I'm plunged back into reality."

WHAT I LIKED: I enjoyed the world building in this book. I love all dystopian novels with truly

SERIES UPDATE: Book Two: Perfect releases April 4, 2017

READALIKES: The Giver by Lois Lowry, Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

BOOK TRAILER: