Star Daughter (Star Daughter, #1)

by Shveta Thakrar

Charlie Bowater (Artist) and Corina Lupp (Cover Designer)

*Chosen as a 2020 Kids' Indie Next pick * A Locus Reading List recommendation * An Andre Norton Nebula Award Finalist*

"Shveta Thakrar's prose is as beautiful as starlight."-New York Times bestselling author Holly Black

This gorgeously imagined YA debut blends shades of Neil Gaiman's Stardust and a breathtaking landscape of Hindu mythology into a radiant contemporary fantasy.

The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. Pretending to be "normal." But when an accidental flare of her starfire puts her human father in the hospital, Sheetal needs a full star's help to heal him. A star like her mother, who returned to the sky long ago.

Sheetal's quest to save her father will take her to a celestial court of shining wonders and dark shadows, where she must take the stage as her family's champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the heavens-and win, or risk never returning to Earth at all.

Brimming with celestial intrigue, this sparkling YA debut is perfect for fans of Roshani Chokshi and Laini Taylor.

• ISBN10: 0062894625
• ISBN13: 9780062894625
• Publish Date: 3 September 2020 (first published 11 August 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 26 February 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperTeen
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

So, thanks to a series of events, I ended up with two copies of Star Daughter. The first from BOTM, and the second from Owlcrate. Whoops! On the bright side, that was all the motivation I needed to read and review this book!

Written by Shveta Thakrar, this is the tale of Sheetal Mistry, and her biggest secret. You see, she's the daughter of a star. A literal star, not simply a famous person. That makes her part star by birth.
Her birthright is about to claim her, and pull her into an adventure like no other. It will challenge her, and pull at her heartstrings. It will force her to make the hard decisions, but in the end, Sheetal could end up a better person, or star, for it.

“She was nothing but the words of a story, one tale weaving imperceptibly into the next. She was the loom that wove the tapestry. She was the tapestry that joined all things.”

Star Daughter was a rich and fascinating novel, emulating the brilliance of the stars themselves in a heartwarming tale. It was nothing like what I expected, but it was captivating all the same.

I'll confess that I actually did struggle to get into Star Daughter, at least at first. I think it took me two tries to dig in. But once I got past the first few chapters, I found myself hooked. I loved the world, especially all of the lore hinted throughout the novel.

Truthfully, I lived for those details. It's what brought the whole story to life for me, fleshing it out and making me desperate for more. I could have lived on the lore alone. Would have happily read another book full of it.

That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy Sheetal's story, because I certainly did. It reminded me of how the past and the present can work together. How one affects the other. In that sense, Star Daughter was really beautifully done.

I also loved many of the messages in this novel, about loving and respecting yourself, about change, and inspiration. It was wonderful, and very powerful. I can see why so many people ended up loving it as much as they did.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: —> 3.5-4 Stars

pure magic

*RTC*


Buddy Read with my Darceyyyyyy

[bookishzelda]

I really enjoyed Star Daughter. The world of the stars was absolutely fascinating and the mythology is beautiful. What I loved most was the focus on family and what it means to be human.

The world created in Star Daughter is amazing and based on Hindu Mythology I believe. I really need to delve more into these myths because I love every book that incorporates the elements. I mean any story with the Night Market has me sold. I just loved how Shveta Thakrar created a rich world I wanted to be lost in. The story of the Stars time on Earth reminded me a lot of this manga I read that had to do with Celestial Maidens being trapped. I love making weird connections like that.

What I really enjoyed is that Sheetal’s family is complicated. She has a mother that is a star and a father that is mortal. She lives in this world in between. Never sure where she fits in. I like how as she explores herself she also learns to appreciate the intricacies of her family. No family is perfect, not every person in a family is perfect but sometimes we love them anyway. I had a very strong willed grandmother who immigrated to the United States under complicated circumstances. So I find myself always being attached to stories where there is a grandmother that doesn’t also seem awesome but truly has your best interest at heart. That has things in their past that make them human and they might struggle with. So we see Sheetal having to deal with the fall out of her family's choices. I love how she develops in the story and finds her voice. Her true song.

There is a little bit of romance and it’s cute but not the main focus of the story at all. I did like it’s little addition.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

I must admit, I was a wee bit leery of the whole "stars as people" concept, mostly because I had a hard time wrapping my head around it, in theory. But in practice, the author made it work so perfectly that it wasn't an issue whatsoever! I say this because if you are like me, and find illogical things iffy, I am here to assure you that it won't be a problem! 
Sheetal was a great character, put in a really difficult situation. She's torn between two different worlds, quite literally. She has been living with her dad, her extended family, and friends in the mortal world, missing her mom. When she finds out that she is an actual star, she is able to see her mom again, but in her mom's world. And not only that, her mom's family has plans for Sheetal. I felt for her, because this family she's never known is pretty much using her to accomplish their own goals, while Sheetal is over here trying to figure out who she is and where she is supposed to be. And with Sheetal's dad injured by her own accidental magic, she's desperate to save him and her mom's family kind of exploits that desperation.

I loved Sheetal's friendship with her bestie, Minal, who was able to accompany her to Star World.  They were just such a lovely and healthy example of a strong female friendship. And I absolutely loved Sheetal's developing relationships and mixed feelings with/about her whole family. Sheetal had a romance that itself transcended the mortal world into the Star realm. Speaking of the Star realm, I loved everything about it! The culture, the FOOD (okay fine, especially the food), honestly it was just fabulous and I really enjoyed reading about it!

While at times the pacing felt a little off (some moments that felt too slow, then a bit of a rush at the end), and I didn't exactly love the romance, it was still a solid book that I absolutely enjoyed!

Bottom Line: Such an incredibly well-constructed world of magic and mythology, it provided a great backdrop for Sheetal to learn so much about herself, her relationships with family and friends, and her newfound Star abilities.

[bgsbooks18]

I received a E copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not change my opinion of this book. Thank you Edelweiss for send me a copy of this book.

The first page hooked me. I loved the quote listed. I love the stories they talk about with her mother. I love the way it's written. Everything gets painted in my mind while reading this book.

" We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde

Wow! A lot has happened in this book. Sheetal is learning more about who she is, but she also learning more about the other groups. Her ex boyfriend is now in with her. So now she has to face him, now that she knows what really happened. She is now the one person everyone is relying on to win this competition. She hasn't even learned how to user her powers. will she be able to do it?

" I didn't yet know how to find our light." - Shveta Thakrar, Star Daughter

Well this was an amazing book. The world building was great. The story was so good. It was very different. Sheetal was able to learn more about herself and more about where she came from on her mothers side. I found it very interesting about the battle between the other star houses.  

" Be humble, for you are made of earth. Be noble, for you are made of stars." - Unknown
I found this quote in Star Daughter