Title: Star-Touched Stories
Author: Roshani Schokshi
Type: Fiction
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Short Stories
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (Macmillan Publishers)
Published: August 7, 2018
Source: NetGalley

A digital copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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?

– My Review –

I absolutely loved Roshani Chokshi’s full novels The Star-Touched Queen (my review) and A Crown of Wishes (my review), so when the first short story in this collection, “Death and Night” came out as a novella last May, I was all over it. I won’t go into that story in this review, because I wrote a full review for it last year (and you can read it here). So, when I started reading Star-Touched Stories, I skipped straight to “Poison and Gold” … and I do have to say that it was my least favourite story in the collection. The story revolved around Aasha, a friend that Gauri and Vikram made while participating in the tournament of wishes in A Crown of Wishes, and while I did like her character in that book, I can’t way that I liked her enough to read a short story about her. I did enjoy learning more about the world as a whole, but I wasn’t really too invested in Asha and her interactions with the Spy Mistress, although the ending was a sweet one.

My favourite thing in “Poison and Gold,” was that I got to spend a little more time with Gauri and Vikram. The third and last story in the collection, “Rose and Sword,“ had more of a focus on Gauri and Vikram though, and it was quite a beautiful story. It was also a very sad story though, and I spent most of it crying, while the ending made me bawl my eyes out. I’m actually tearing up while typing this now! Gauri and Vikram had been through a lot in order to “save the day” and be together, so I was very sad to see them have to suffer through another struggle. I would have rather read in detail about their wedding day and night. There were some happy moments though, and I character that I enjoyed in Chokshi’s full-length books made a reappearance, so that made me happy! Also, like I said, “Rose and Sword” was a beautiful story, and all three stories, in fact, were beautifully written in the unique and lush style of Chokshi. I also found that Chokshi’s writing (while great from the start for me), has matured and improved over the years! I highly recommend this short story collection to fans of her work!

– About the Author –

Roshani Chokshi is the New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen and A CROWN OF WISHES. Her middle grade debut, ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME, released April 3, 2018 from Disney/Rick Riordan Presents. Her next young adult novel, THE GILDED WOLVES, is slated for Winter 2019. Chokshi’s work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Shimmer, and Book Smugglers. She was a finalist in the 2016 Andre Norton Award and the Locus Top Ten for Best First Novel. Her short story, “The Star Maiden,” was longlisted for the British Fantasy Science Award.

– Purchase Links –

THANK YOU FOR READING MY REVIEW! HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET, DO YOU WANT TO, OR NOT? HOW COME? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS!