Hi everyone! I’m so excited to be the next blog tour stop for Star-Touched Stories from St Martin’s Press. Thank you so much for an e-ARC!.
I’ll be doing a review.
Here is a little about the book from Goodreads:
Three lush and adventurous stories in the Star-Touched world.
Death and Night
He was Lord of Death, cursed never to love. She was Night incarnate, destined to stay alone. After a chance meeting, they wonder if, perhaps, they could be meant for more. But danger crouches in their paths, and the choices they make will set them on a journey that will span lifetimes.
Poison and Gold
Now that her wish for a choice has come true, Aasha struggles to control her powers. But when an opportunity to help Queen Gauri and King Vikram’s new reign presents itself, she is thrown into the path of the fearsome yet enchanting Spy Mistress. To help her friends, Aasha will have to battle her insecurities and perhaps, along the way, find love.
Rose and Sword
There is a tale whispered in the dark of the Empire of Bharat-Jain. A tale of a bride who loses her bridegroom on the eve of her wedding. But is it a tale or a truth?
I loved diving back into Roshani Chokshi’s work after reading The Star-Touched Queen. I’m usually unable to get into fantasy stories however, there was no issue with The Star-Touched Stories. I could read a thousand more of these stories. I’m pretty sad there aren’t more. As a lover of fairytales, these stories just melted my heart. It is a collection of romance laced stories that will make you swoon repeatedly. So many moments I spent gasping and grinning my face off.
The gorgeous, poetic descriptions, the brave and strong heroines, and the enchanting writing made me fall in love. The descriptions of the Night Bazaar were alsways a delight to read. Each of these short stories seemed so true to life with human emotions despite taking place in a fantastical place. It’s very much like being transported right into the world with Chokshi’s rich storytelling.
~Death and Night~
I adored Death and Night so much. Here we have your classic “I will not fall in love with this person” and I’m sure we all know how that follows. ? Nonetheless, it was a sweet tale. I adored the contrast between our two leads, they complemented each other well.
I related a ton to Death and Night. I felt it was well portrayed and also so heart-wrenching trying to live without love with Death. It was great to see Gupta again here as his sarcastic and humorous self. His interactions with Death were a treat and such a contrast.
Night was so relatable in her wanting to be recognized for what she does and who she is. I felt her yearning in wanting more for herself as shhe sold Dream Fruit. I found it really inspiring for anyone involved in any of the arts – literature, art, music, etc. She captured the feeling of an artist so well here.
My one and only complaint about this is that it felt like it happened very quickly. I was surprised how fast the two months had passed from the beginning of the story. I felt this was the most classical fairytale sounding story of the bunch. The quick timeline, the two characters meeting so quickly, the curse, the “healing” of said curse and the happily ever after.
~Poison and Gold~
I love the idea of becoming a spy, so Poison and Gold was a delight to read. I could really relate to Aasha as she feared her secret getting out and hurting people. This gave me such an Elsa vibe, which is never a bad thing. Aasha struggled a lot in Poison and Gold – with being involved in Gaira and Vikram’s lives as they get married, hiding her secret, living with regrets for what she’s done and becoming a spy master. Aasha was a blunt character at times who said what she wanted no matter what was happening – such as a meeting Gaira was holding. Not to mention Aasha couldn’t seem to make the Spy Master get along with her very well in the beginning. Like Aasha, Zaharil was also blunt to Aasha which made the training a bit difficult.
Like fantasy, I’m usually not a fan of hate-to-love or dislike-to-love but man, I was silently hoping for this the entire time reading. I enjoyed seeing Aasha and Zaharil grow closer as the training happened. I wish there were more descriptions of the training. It was so exciting to see a non-straight relationship, which was possibly lesbian but I don’t want to assume it.
~Rose and Sword~
I think Rose and Sword struck me most because of meeting these characters in Poison and Gold. It was a sweet follow-up. The ending to this tore out my heart in a heartbreaking and heart-mending kind of way. I loved the framing of this story as being told as a story from a grandmother.
It was so much fun to see Gauri again in her own story. How far would you go to save someone? We see Gauri make this journey when Vikram falls ill. The ending to this is unexpected but so gorgeous. I liked seeing Gauri and Vikram’s relationship play out in a couple scenes and seeing what would happen to them.
If you love fantasy or romance, I can’t recommend this collection of stories any more than I already have. You will not be disappointed. I will be reading every single thing that Chokshi writes from now on.
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