Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable collection of stories centering around characters from The Star Touched Queen & A Crown of Wishes. It did take me a while to get into the stories but I think if I would have read this collection closer to when I read the main stories, I would have devoured them. It just took me a while to get back into the world and in tune with Roshani Chokshi's writing. I needed a refresher of what had happened, especially for the first story because I had forgotten some of the mythology underlying the story. However, by the time I was halfway through the second story, I quickly finished the rest. If I had to pick a favorite, it was probably the third story, Rose and Sword, mainly because my favorite ghost horse makes an appearance!

I'd definitely recommend this, especially if you just finished both of her previous books. It's like a little cherry and sprinkles on top of the deliciousness that was the Star-Touched Queen & A Crown of Wishes.

My rating is 3.5 out of 5 stars. This review is based off an arc provided by Netgalley in exchange for honest reviews.

Thank you so much for this surprise ARC. It was wonderful to revisit the Star Touched Queen world, and Roshani's writing is so dreamy and romantic that it just draws you in and keeps you there.

The stories surpassed my expectations. The writing is gorgeous, vivid, and perfectly captures the magical essence and settings. I was partially pulled in by the first story Death and Night mainly because the romance didn't feel right. Death pursues Night despite her rejections, but she develops feelings for him later? Out of loneliness? She deserves better. I found it hard to sympathise with Death. 

The other two stories were stronger plot, character and emotionally wise. Poison and Gold is the best one. Aasha turned out to be more interesting than I expected. Her goals are so relatable that it hurts and I love her character development as well as her relationship with Zahril the Spy Mistress.  

Gauri and Vikram continue to be delightful and a pang in the heart. Their story was a satisfying, bittersweet ending to the series. I miss them already.

Was not disappointed by these short stories by Roshani Chokshi. Her trademark prose elevates all the stories, weaving decadent, beautiful tales. Thoroughly enjoyed.

I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of The Star Touched Queen! Chokshi's writing never disappoints with its flowery and romantic descriptions of the Star Touched world.

this book was really magical. it left me in tears with the last story. I really enjoy the author's magical writing style and can't wait for more books by her.

I was really excited to be getting to see the world and characters I fell in love with while reading The Star-Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes, while also getting to know a few different characters and seeing a little bit more of the magical world I fell in love with. I hadn't read any of Roshani Chokshi's shorter writings, so I was excited to see what she would do with the different writing style required for shorter work.

The characters in all three of the stories were all developed enough to allow me to imagine them, but the smaller details are not there. Someone who hasn't read the novels these stories are set in the world of might not be able to fully grasp the characters personalities or appearances, but as an accompanying novella collection, I think it works really well. I especially loved the second story, Poison and Gold, for the view of Aasha it offers that we didn't fully get to see in A Crown of Wishes. I loved seeing the 'after' for her. In the last story, Rose and Sword, getting to know Gauri's granddaughter a little made me both proud and sad, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

The stories are set in both Bharat-Jain and the Otherworld. The stories are also all set in different periods of time in these worlds that aren't seen in either of the attached novels, which I especially enjoyed. Death and Light is set in the Otherworld long before the beginning of The Star-Touched Queen, Poison and Gold is set in Bharat-Jain just after the end of A Crown of Wishes, and Rose and Sword is set some decades after the end of A Crown of Wishes in both Bharat-Jain and what I can only assume is Death's domain. They're all developed nicely for the story lengths, but I don't think someone who hasn't read the two accompanying novels will be able to appreciate the worlds quite so much as someone who has.

The stories themselves flow very well. Roshani's poetic prose jumps off the page and pushes the story along at a nearly perfect pace from beginning to end. I went into the collection hoping her writing would shine as much in short story format as it does in novel format and she did not disappoint me at all! Everything flows perfectly and makes sense, though I'm not sure if that's because I read both of the attached novels already and have a good understanding of the characters and the world they exist in or if it's because of how clear the story is written here.

Either way, I truly loved reading this collection of stories and I'm so glad to have been given the opportunity to read them before their release date, though there is already a spot on my shelf waiting for them when I can get my hands on a physical copy. This is definitely one I will recommend to anyone who loved Roshani Chokshi's other work or anyone who simply loves short stories with lyrical prose.

As this is a sequel, I don’t want to give away too much in way of spoilers. But these short stories were a wonderful addition to the series! The Star Touched Queen is a Hades and Persephone retelling set in the Middle East and it is gorgeous and atmospheric and a must-read for Fantasy fans. And in this short story collection we got a little more plot, a little more character development, and a lot more EMOTIONS. Seriously! I could not tell which way my feelings were going! Any fans of the series will surely love this collection! And I can’t wait to add it to my shelves.

Continuing with the characters and mythic, magical realism of The Star-Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes, Roshani Chokshi’s newest release, Star-Touched Stories provides readers with three new stories exploring the universe and relationships she’s established. While some characters are familiar leads, we also get new depth to some who were more on the sidelines of the two novels. With two set after the conclusion on A Crown of Wishes, these stories also provide a glimpse of the future should the series continue (and I certainly hope it does).

The thematic tension between fear and faith is the thread that runs through all three tales. In Death and Night, the fear of a curse first drives Death to court Night and then threatens the relationship that starts to blossom between them. Poison and Gold follows Aasha’s journey navigating the mortal realm and the court of her close friends, Gauri and Vikram. When her fear puts those she loves in danger, she must master it or risk being banished from their inner circle. But as she masters the balance between being human and being a vishakanya, old fears are replaced with new ones. Lastly, Rose and Sword tells a tale of Gauri’s deepest fears about her relationship with Vikram.

The themes in Chokshi’s stories find strong support in the narrative approaches used to tell each—a variety of approaches that also help each story to stand surefooted on its own. Death and Night, is very much an exercise in perspective. As Death courts Night, the narrative switches between their points of view, overlapping in a way that provides only the reader with the complete emotional picture. Poison and Gold is much more focused on Aasha’s individual journey. Because of her dual nature, she struggles at times to comprehend why others act the way they do, so limiting it to her perspective is necessary for maintaining (in the reader) a lot of the uncertainty that drives her actions. Rose and Sword has perhaps the most unusual narrative framing of the collection. Utilizing two timelines, it begins a ways into the future but with a scene that in many ways echoes The Star-Touched Queen and the close (but complicated) relationship between two sisters. Soon, the young girl, Hira, finds her grandmother who begins telling her a tale and it is revealed that Gauri is the grandmother. The heart of the tale she shares is one about herself in the days leading up to her wedding. With the exception of a few brief interruptions from Hira, the bulk of the tale shifts to Gauri in her past—a short time after both A Crown of Wishes and the story immediately preceding it take place. The ultimate outcome of the story is given close to the beginning, allowing the reader to focus not on the events themselves, but on the character at the center of them—Gauri—and the personal growth she must undergo in order to achieve her goal.

My only complaints about Star-Touched Stories all speak to the book’s strengths: 1) there weren’t enough stories and 2) it’s left me wanting so much more to this series. I want to know more about what’s taken place in the time between Poison and Gold and Rose and Sword. I want small, side stories and backgrounds for so many more characters in this universe. I truly hope that Star-Touched Stories is only another stop in this world and that Chokshi will venture to bring readers like myself to this series many more times in the coming years.

Star-Touched Stories will be available August 7, 2018.

The Star-Touched Queen series just gets better and better with each book. With three stories related to The Star-Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes, these stories will leave you both satisfied and wanting more. Of course, there were stories I preferred over others, so let's get into the nitty gritty!

Night and Death
Rating: 4 stars

I read this one last year when it was released as a short story and I'm happy to see that it's found a family. I mentioned in my review last year that I wished that Night and Death came out before The Star-Touched Queen because it provided a lot of background on Amar that we didn't get to see in The-Star Touched Queen.

Poison and Gold
Rating: 3 stars

I'm sorry to say that Poison and Gold fell flat for me. I couldn't give it anything less than 3 stars, but I felt that it was missing the emotion and magic that I had grown to expect from this world. I loved Asha from A Crown of Wishes, but I wanted to feel the connection between her and her love interest. My favorite scenes from this story involved Gauri and Vikram, which doesn't say much for Asha's stage presence.

Rose and Sword
Rating: 5 stars

This. This is the story that we're all here for! If you fell head-over-heels in love with Gauri and Vikram (like any rational human-being), this beautiful story was written for you. This story had me in tears for the majority of it, and I felt that it wrapped up the series almost perfectly. When you crack this one up, make sure you have the tissue box handy. Because you don't understand, you will cry.

Short N Sweet: Star-Touched Stories includes faces and places that we've all come to love. This is a satisfactory conclusion to an epic adventure.

Death and Night-8/10

Roshani Chokshi hitting me where I live with hints of the courtship-involving-riddles trope which is, for some reason, a favourite. If I were a character in a folktale courting/being courted by a deity of any variety I would expect, nae, require riddles. There's just something that feels like a folktale about them and I really enjoy that a lot. Nonsensical folklore riddles are my favourite.

I think this does a good job of setting up the characters who we meet in The Star-Touched Queen. In a way I kind of wish that I'd been able to read this before going into the book because I think it would have made some of the aspects that frustrated me the first time I read the story more understandable. (Although... I might have been confused by things in the short story if I read it first without knowing what happens next. #folkloreproblems I guess? Oftentimes stories drawn from folklore are a little bit stories with no beginnings.)


Poison and Gold-7/10

It's nice to see Aasha facing the challenges of living in the human world- especially when Gauri and Vikram ask her to take on the role of spymaster, a role for which she'll need to leave the court of training. Her time at court has been an uncomfortable learning curve- she's found herself unprepared for navigating the politics of the court and terrified to touch anyone after an incident with her vishakanya abilities- and she approaches this new challenge with a combination of hope and trepidation. Living in the maze-like house of the current spy master, she has to learn to control her abilities (magical and otherwise).

This one did feel like it suffered a bit for being a short story- there just wasn't quite enough time to build up the relationship between Aasha and Zahril for my taste (although I did like what we did see). Zahril was an interesting character in that I still don't feel like we know that much about her. (Also that she's apparently well-versed in poisoning and making things that smell good but. Aasha just gets rid of the tea she makes which I'm assuming means that Zahril is not great at tea? This detail amused me.) I liked what we did see about Aasha and Zahril coming to know each other, although I do wish we'd gotten to see more of it. It's also kind of a strange relationship because... Zahril is her mentor and also because Aasha is hiding her vishakanya nature (something she's reasonably certain Zahril would hate her for) so off the bat the dynamic is a little tense. Not so much that it was necessarily unbalanced by these factors but it was definitely complicated by them, and they weren't really explored in the limits of the short story. (Because it was. You know. Short.)

Rose and Sword-8/10

This was interesting. Again, I feel like I could have done with maybe... 10 more pages for to fully get across the part of the story involving Hira- as that whole bit really did seem to mostly be an excuse to get Gauri to tell the story of how she had to drag Vikram back from the brink of death right before their wedding. I'm going to have to re-read A Crown of Wishes too because I feel like I forgot what wound up happening with Kamala and I was super confused by the meeting in the short story because of it...

That said it wound up being part quest story, part peak into post-A Crown of Wishes canon, and part musing on what it is to love someone and what it is to commit to loving someone for the long-term. (Especially in the face of the day-to-day stresses of juggling the concerns of an entire kingdom. But also just. In general.) This one was, for me, the most touching of the three stories and a really good note to end the anthology on because it feels like a satisfying conclusion and also like a good reflection of what the stories in the anthology were driving toward.


Final Word
This collection is a wonderful way to delve further into the world of The Star-Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes featuring Roshani Chokshi's signature lyrical and musing writing style and familiar characters (and a few new ones too).

A breezy read, one I was excited about because I love Roshani Chokshi’s writing. It’s always so lucious and alluring. This one was as enjoyable as TSTQ and ACoW, though it just makes me yearn for more!

Reading Roshani Chokshi is like getting high on literature. I was lost in myth and enamored in a culture I was fast falling in love with. I had previously read her other work and this collection of stories didn't fail to meet expectations. I do think its helpful to have read The Star -Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes first. It will give you more of a fulfilling experience of the worlds that are built by the author.

In three short stories Roshani Chokshi effectively wraps up the current generations of her Star-Touched series and sets the stage for a possible third novel-length work exploring the adventures of Gauri and Vikram's granddaughters. Personally I found the second story, which focused on Aasha, to be the weakest, but other readers may disagree. This work is a poor introduction to the series, but a lovely conclusion for those already familiar with both of the Star-Touched novels.

4 stars for this collection of small stories taking place in The Star Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes universe!

Told in a very poetic way Roshani is true to her gorgeous, hypnotic yet smart and intelligent writing!

It felt like reading a tale from India. Colorful, dreamy with fantastical creatures and gods.

I don’t think you really need to read her other books first but it would help to enjoy these small stories to their full potential.

My favorite is the one is about Death (Dharma Raja) and Night.

Death has been cursed and can never love. Yet he feels lonely and incomplete even with his faithful counselor Gupta.

But he has a revelation: he needs a wife!

He will propose marriage as a partnership without love.

Night is somewhat shunned by most immortals. They don’t really see Night as a time to rest and dream but rather a time for nightmares.

Yet Night dreams of love. She wants to change things not just sell dreams.

When Death meets Night he makes his intention clear but Night does not want to marry without love.

Death is determined to court Night and woo her with his incredible creations like a crystal garden.


Special mention too to Rose and Sword as I loved reading about Gauri telling her “fairy tale” to her grand-daughter!


If you love elegant prose and reading about exotic and mysterious tales just read it!

Roshani Chokshi has quickly become one of my favorites authors. Her writing is incredibly beautiful and her storytelling is always mesmerizing. I didn't realize how much I wanted/needed these short stories from the world of The Star-Touched Queen until I started reading this, and now I want a hundred more. All three stories were magical and the perfect compliments to The Star-Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes.

Death and Night ☆☆☆☆☆
In Death and Night, we are told the backstory and history behind Maya and Amar from The Star-Touched Queen, which I now desperately need to reread. I loved this story way more than I had been expecting; it was so splendid and the writing and imagery was breathtaking.

Poison and Gold ☆☆☆☆
The focus of this story is Aasha, one of the characters I adored from A Crown of Wishes, as she attempts to find her place in the human world. I really enjoyed reading about her training as the Spy Mistress and her growth as a character. Gauri and Vikram are also present in this story and it gave me all the feels.

Rose and Sword ☆☆☆☆☆
I loved the format of Rose and Sword; we have an older woman telling a story to her young granddaughter, and it was absolute perfection. The brief interruptions by the little girl reminded me of the movie version of The Princess Bride, and it was so whimsical and wonderful. I also loved how it tied together really well with Death and Night. I don't want post spoilers or give anything away so all I will say is that I FEEL SO BLESSED BY THE CHARACTERS FEATURED. This story was everything I could have asked for and more.

[Excerpt]:

About 2-3 years ago, I read “The Star-Touched Queen” (TSTQ) in my backyard by the pool. I remember being entranced by the cover the very first time I saw it, and then months later I finally got around to reading the book. It was so good I finished it in about 2 days. The characters, the worlds, the emotion….I loved it all. Roshani Chokshi is a brillant writer, and she does a fantastic job of creating an atmosphere within the story that makes the reader feel like they’re there, too.

Then, a couple days after “A Crown of Wishes” was released, I managed to find a copy at my library, and I enjoyed that one too. I think it was more adventure-centered than romantic for me, although I still did enjoy the characters and overall story. Again, the cover is magnificent. (Whoever’s in charge of Chokshi’s covers….YOU’RE DOING GREAT, HONEY!)

When I saw that “Star-Touched Stories” was available for request on NetGalley, I didn’t hesitate to request a copy. And I’m so glad I did. Truly, this might be my favorite next to TSTQ.

DEATH AND NIGHT:

Since reading “The Star-Touched Queen” a couple years ago, I’ve really wanted to read about Maya (Night) and Amar’s (the Dharma Raja) first meeting. In TSTQ we get to hear all about the many lifetimes Amar has spent in pain because he can never be with Maya for long, thanks to their curse. But their first meeting obviously has great significance because it’s where their story started. It’s the first time they ever see each other, and let me tell, you this story REEKS of romance. The language is very flowery and lovely and infused with angst and the daze of true love. I absolutely loved the dual POVs too because we get to see the feelings they each have and how they react to each other. It was a very sweet story, and I’m so glad we finally got to see this first meeting between the two. Also, it ended on a happy note, which I appreciated considering the next several centuries leading up to the events in TSTQ are pretty rough for the both of them.

Rating: 4.5 stars!

[Full reivew on my blog!]

Other than the fact that I can never remember the name of this author, I loved this book. It's a collection of three stories, all set in the world the author has built. They all tie together and create a wonderful mystery about them. Are they a tale or truth? My favorite was the first story Death and Night. I might read that one again, just because it was so good.

Read it... And read the first two... And then read them again...

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

I completely forgot that I did not finish the Star Touched Queen when I requested this. While I like the idea of stories that expand the history of an established world, I think I probably would have benefited from having read the first two books in this universe. I would not recommending using these stories as an introduction to the series, though your mileage may vary.

There is nothing wrong with this book, essentially. That's why I'm not going to rate it. It's a case of "this book isn't for me, but is definitely for other people." It wouldn't be fair to rate the book low just because it's not my type of read. So I'm not.


The prose is way too flowery for me. Quotes like 'He was the winged thing in my soul, something carrying my dreams aloft and freeing me from the ground. He was the nightmare of night, the tragic ending to a love story, the shadow over the cremation ground' and 'She tasted the way she looked—like wonder and cold, velvet shadows and hidden paths beneath too-dark woods. She tasted like the edge of imagination, like the shadows of a new idea, which chases away your thoughts and leaves you lost in dreams' are just too purple. The stories are also very slow, thought-provoking, and every bit a swoony, imaginative romance. Again, not something I love reading. But the world is so imaginative, and it's definitely whimsical and otherworldly.

If you love slow, magical romance written with colourful, flowery language, then you'll adore this book. But personally, it's not for me.