‘Star Daughter’ by Shveta Thakrar | #OwnVoices review | beautiful writing & vivid settings

Hey everyone!

A few days ago I finished a wonderful book called Star Daughter, by Shveta Thakrar. It’s been a really long time (REALLY long time) since I’ve written a review, so I’m going to try my best to put my thoughts onto this page!

Before I get into this, can we just take a moment to appreciate be absolutely DISGUSTED by the current block editor? I would just like my classic editor back, please 😭 I have no idea how to use blocks…

Star Daughter – Shveta Thakrar – Spoiler-Free Review

Representation: Indian MC and completely Indian cast of characters, sapphic side romance

TWs: multiple descriptions of cutting another character for blood (skippable & not condoned)

What I liked:

COVER

Regardless of whether you like Star Daughter or not, everyone has to admit that this cover is stunning. I would give this book five stars just for the cover. 😍 It’s also unapologetically Indian- we have a beautiful brown girl on the cover wearing a bindi and a chutti and it’s gorgeous. 🥰

Why You Should Watch The Show ‘Never Have I Ever’ Now // ft. rant, bias in the media, representation matters!

Hey sunshines!

Today is going to be somewhat of an emotional, rant-y, super long post so be warned 🙂

I just finished watching Never Have I Ever.

If you haven’t heard of it, it’s the new and hot TV series that everyone’s talking about- it’s about Devi, an Indian-American teen who is getting over the loss of her father and her paralyzation. The show is so Indian, and I can’t tell you how much I love it.

Here’s the synopsis:

Never Have I Ever is a series about the life of a modern-day first-generation Indian American teenage girl, a highschool sophmore named Devi. She recently lost her father and was paralyzed for a few months but is looking to ‘start over’ this year- but friends, school, and circumstances don’t make it easy for her. The series is loosely inspired by Mindy Kaling, the director’s, childhood.

So.

I am obsessed with this show. But not just a normal fangirl- to be honest, I probably won’t fangirl about it much like I do with a lot of other books/shows because this just isn’t that sort of series.

It’s flawed.

It’s flawed, and it has issues (mostly because a lot of it was quite cringy), but in my opinion that makes it so much better.

What I Want You To See // blog tour & review

Hey everyone!!
I’M SO SORRY I HAVEN’T POSTED IN AGES. (and this post is late because of WP difficulties and I’m sorry about that too!!)

I will definitely try to post more often, everyone- thank you for sticking around with me no matter what!! I love y’all ❤

10 Thoughts On ‘Woven In Moonlight’

Hey everyone!

It’s been a while since I’ve last posted, but I’ve been really busy and low-key stressed (hurh hurh not a big surprise). I’ve still had an amazing January so far and I hope all of you had it too!

Remember how I was in a huge reading slump a while ago? Well, reading this book and Woven in Moonlight DEFINITELY helped me (like a bunch).

The thing is, I GOT A PHYSICAL COPY OF THIS BOOK. And, um, that’s huge and I think I screamed when the publisher told me??!?! I’M DYING Y’ALL BECAUSE IT’S JUST TOO GORGEOUS.

also, I got fairy lights!!

So without further ado, let’s jump into the review (well, my thoughts on WiM)!

1. The Cover

Ok, not even kidding, the cover is soo pretty and intricate and ugh I’m in love in with the cover!!

I mean, look at it?! Isabel Ibañez actually designed the cover herself?? We love a multifaceted author! (ok, but I actually love this cover!! look at the cute designs and the moon and the jaguar and the tapestry!!)

2. The Premise

Even before I started reading Woven in Moonlight, I was already intrigued by the synopsis! I’ll show it below:

Ximena is the decoy Condesa, a stand-in for the last remaining Illustrian royal. Her people lost everything when the usurper, Atoc, used an ancient relic to summon ghosts and drive the Illustrians from La Ciudad. Now Ximena’s motivated by her insatiable thirst for revenge, and her rare ability to spin thread from moonlight.

When Atoc demands the real Condesa’s hand in marriage, it’s Ximena’s duty to go in her stead. She relishes the chance, as Illustrian spies have reported that Atoc’s no longer carrying his deadly relic. If Ximena can find it, she can return the true aristócrata to their rightful place.

She hunts for the relic, using her weaving ability to hide messages in tapestries for the resistance. But when a masked vigilante, a warm-hearted princess, and a thoughtful healer challenge Ximena, her mission becomes more complicated. There could be a way to overthrow the usurper without starting another war, but only if Ximena turns her back on revenge—and her Condesa.

It literally says ‘Bolivia politics’ and you expect me to not be hooked?!

Every Other Weekend (book review + quotes) // blog tour

Hello, everybody!

I just finished reading a really amazing book that I got in the mail for this blog tour– and I’m so, so thankful to FFBC tours and the publisher for this chance!

I’m going to be sharing my review of this book as well as some of my favorite quotes- and boy was it hard to find them! (also, I forgot that I needed quotes until I was done. how smart.)

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My Review:

I had to find a way to glimpse a future where I could tell the story I wanted, instead of starring in the never-ending nightmare my parents had cast me in.

Every Other Weekend is a laugh-out-loud and shed-a-few-tears sort of story. And yes, I did both of them, and yes, they both happened multiple times.

It tells the story of Jolene and Adam, two broken teenagers from broken families. Jolene is fiery and fierce but wary of trust- after her parents divorced, she was shuttled between her mother’s toxic hate/love + abuse and her dad’s complete non-existence, forced to live with his new girlfriend that she hates who’s barely a few years older than Jolene.

Tarnished Are The Stars // review

Hey lovely!

Before we get on with the post, WHOA.

I reached 200 followers yesterday night- two-hundred!! I can’t believe that so many people have read my posts and thought them worthwhile. Thank you so much for making my blog journey so fulfilling!

Welp, on to the post!

Here I am, back with another blog tour (don’t worry, the onslaught of blog tours is over ~for now~) and woah, I’m impressed! Cue another huge ranting post!

First off, can we talk about how the cover is actually so neat?? I love love love the nut-and-bolt-metal font and the constellations– THANK YOU to FFBC and Scholastic for the beautiful book in my mail!

Before we get on to the book, here’s the synopsis (in my words, and spoiler free).

Anna, a teen girl living in a secluded, hidden town off the coast of the Settlement, a gated area on the planet where everyone else lived, has a secret: not only does she have an illegal mechanical heart, banned by the Commissioner, but she sells and makes those illegal parts to help out her clients, going under the name of ‘The Technician’.

Nathaniel, the Commissioner’s son, desperately wants to prove to his father that he is worthy of being his heir, and that he is worthy enough to outgrow his shadow that is him being the living proof of everything his father fought to eliminate. The obvious way? Capture the Technician, a tyrant who sneaks around and has never managed to be found.

Eliza, who lives out in space with the nobles and the Queen, has dedicated her life to the Queen’s services by charming and sweet-talking the liars and criminals, turning them into the Queen as soon as she can. She’s built her life off of secrets and lies, so her dream of becoming the Queen’s successor comes crashing down when she’s sent to the planet to meet her betrothed, whom she struggles not to hate for his part in ruining her dreams– and, while she’s at it, discover the Commissioner’s secrets.

When these three figures all meet, it happens in an explosion of stars, steel, and secrets, making each of them question what their world has taught them and what they believe in. Is the preservation of a community’s lifestyle worth human lives?