This gorgeously imagined YA debut blends shades of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and a breathtaking landscape of Hindu mythology into a radiant contemporary fantasy. 'Shveta Thakrar's prose is as beautiful as starlight.' ( New York Times best-selling author Holly Black) I’m rating it 3/5 stars.*Chosen as a 2020 Kids’ Indie Next pick * A Locus Reading List recommendation * An Andre Norton Nebula Award Finalist* Overall I thought Star Daughter was a solid debut from a promising author. I also liked how Thakrar painted her as a somewhat normal teenager at the start with pimples and problems. She was down-to earth and she valued her family and her friends above all else. However, I liked Sheetal herself as a main character. I thought Sheetal’s mother needed more work. However, I think this a common thing in debut novels and I know many authors who have had debuts much like this one and have gone on to develop some amazing writing skills. Whilst there were some beautiful descriptions for such a fantastical world I felt there weren’t quite enough. Scenes which should have been intense didn’t feel intense at all. I also found the writing style to be a little bland. I felt this conflict could have been further expanded upon to make it a little more believable. Thakrar uses past interactions between stars and mortals as the main source of conflict in this book. I’m still a bit confused about how she got there in the first place and how the social dynamic worked at this palace. The main character finds herself in a palace among the stars.

The world which the book was set in left a lot up to the imagination. But Star Daughter is a debut novel and whilst it gets a number of things right but it also gets a number of things wrong. It takes a lot of creativity to make it work and I think it works to make this book an enjoyable read. I usually adore mish-mash stories like this. Thakrar also takes some inspiration from Hindu mythology and the book also features a whole lot of diverse characters. It’s part coming of age, part talent show and a partly fantasy. It features a girl who is half star and half mortal. It’s also inspired by Gaiman’s Stardust (my favourite Gaiman tale).

When I was the stunning cover for Star Daughter, I simply knew this was a book I had to add to my collection. In short: Talent Show/Stardust/Young Adult/Hindi-inspired/Fantasy

Star daughter shveta thakrar