House of Lavender

(Book Review):  'The Star-Touched Queen' by Roshani Chokshi



'The Star-Touched Queen' tells the story of Maya, the princess of Bharata who pretty much receives the Cinderella treatment from her stepmothers because she was born with a bad horoscope.  Her father, the King wants to arrange a marriage for her, and after loads of twists later, she ends up marrying Amar, the King of Akaran.  Set amidst the backdrop of Indian mythology, the world-building in this novel is awesome.  Roshani Chokshi is an amazing writer who can deliver an intriguing plot with so many unforeseeable twists (like seriously!).

However, I did not feel any particular attachment for any of the main characters.  I usually ship a lot, but for some reason, I did not root for the main couple.  They're the type whom people would start betting for their divorce before the wedding reception even ends.  That aside, my favourite character is Kamala <3 Such an interesting character!

I was in a terrible reading slump before this, and I was so happy I picked this up because it brought me right out.  Thanks, Roshani!

Verdict: 4.3/5

(Book Review):  'The Name of the Star' & 'The Madness Underneath' by Maureen Johnson  (Shades of London #1 & #2)



(Disclaimer:  This will contain spoilers!)


Aurora 'Rory' Deveaux is a teenage girl from Lousiana who moves to London to attend a boarding school.  There, she befriends her roommate, Jazza (and a couple more people along the way including a boy named Jerome ;D)  A series of murder is committed, mimicking the patterns of Jack the Ripper, except nobody can see the killer.  Somewhere along the way, Rory choked on her food and has a near death experience.  Once she wakes up, she can see ghosts.

The first book is straight up my alley.  I've never been interested in Jack the Ripper before, so I pretty much started the book on a blank slate.  Tbh, the book is fascinating as hell, and I really appreciate the fact that it is written from such a clever and witty perspective (think Princess Mia from The Princess Diaries).  The side characters are very interesting as well.

The second book starts a couple of weeks after where the first book ended.  Rory becomes progressively unlikeable.  I don't like the way she and Jazza hate on Charlotte (and Boo at the first book) for no apparent reason at all.  Rory seems to think that she patented the right to be traumatized as well, judging by the way she reacts to Charlotte's trauma. But still, I was excited about the whole Bedlam thing and wished the book focused more on that part.  We also see less of the lovely characters from the first book (namely Jazza, Alistair etc), which is kind of a bummer.  She also lies all the time, and is bad at it, and uses the victim card quite a number of times but then got angry when people pities her.  I mean I have nothing against lying, cause it's not like she can straight up tell the truth, but at least put some thoughts into it, girl..  The ending effectively killed the series for me.  By then, it already lost the essence of what made it special; the English boarding school, the ghost-seeing ability, the interesting ghosts etc.  I am also surprised neither Callum nor Boo blamed Rory for what happened in the end, because lbr, it was partially her fault -sideeye-


Verdicts:
Book 1:   4.2/5
Book 2:   2.9/5

(If you like this, you might like 'Abandon' by Meg Cabot.)

(Book Review):  Once by Cameron Dokey


(Disclaimer:  This will contain spoiler!)

'Once' is kind of like an onmibus; there are three different stories in one book.  The book contains 'Before Midnight' (a retelling of Cinderella), 'Golden' (a retelling of Rapunzel), and 'Wild Orchid' (a retelling of Mulan).

'Before Midnight' is a clever and creative take on Cinderella. I love all the characters.  Since Dokey took a lot of liberty with the plot, I was kept on the edge pretty much all the time.  I love what Dokey did with the novel.  It doesn't focus much on romance, instead, it focuses on Cendrillion's growth as a person throughout the years.  In fact, all the romance pretty much hits you in the face with how fast things go.

'Golden' tells the story of our beloved Rapunzel sans the hair.  The story is just so pure it should be wrapped in a cinnamon bun.  I love the twists and developments, I love the characters.  This doesn't feel like a YA novel, it feels like a real fairy tale, just with more depth and plot development.

'Wild Orchid' is a retelling of Hua Mulan, the famous female warrior.  This has been retold splendidly. I love the dynamics between the characters; from her relationship with her father, to Li Po and General Yuwen.  I felt like I was reading a full-fledged Chinese novel, with the vibe that I was getting, especially when the princes were introduced.  I think, this is my favorite story out of the lot.  The only bone I have to pick is the pacing.  Or the lack thereof, when it comes to romance (as is the case with the other two).  I wish the romance were given more time to develop, perhaps it'd be even better to have no romance at all.

Verdicts:
Before Midnight: 4
Golden: 4
Wild Orchid: 4.2 (make it longer and sell it as a different book and I'd def be the first in line to buy it)

'"Luck," hissed the maiden.

"Risk," the mother spat.

"Hazard," snarled the crone.

"I prefer Chance.  It has a nicer ring," the man said, with a wink.'


'Stepsister' is a retelling of Cinderella, except it's told from the perspective of one of the stepsisters.   I am a sucker for Cinderella , so when this hits the store, I immediately made a grab.

 It starts right near the end of the original fairytale, when the stepsisters cut their toes to fit into the glass slippers.  Obviously, they were exposed and the prince married Ella.  This book tells the story of what happened afterwards.

Ella becomes the Queen and left.  The two stepsisters, Isabelle and Octavia gained notoriety as the ugly stepsisters who used to torture the now Queen of France, and the townspeople made their life a living hell.   Then, the story criss-crossed to a different realm altogether.  The three Fates (the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone) make maps of human lives and Chance has a habit of stealing them, trying to make them better (until you realized that he doesn't always make them better).  Isabelle's doomed fate was sealed in her map; until Chance stole it and decided to make her salvation his next conquest.  Then, in comes the Fairy Queen herself, Tanaquill, the tiebreaker.

I cannot do justice to the book by my short review.  It's so magical.  The chapters are short but meaningful. The shallow me only wish that there were more romance in it than that.

I have read 'Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister' and it's premise is similar to this one, but if I have to pick, I'd recommend you guys 'Stepsister' any day.


Verdict: 5/5 (Hall of Famer)