Posted August 22, finished August 14
GOODREADS SUMMARY:
Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you’re only seventeen?
Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father’s kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran’s queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar’s wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire…
But Akaran has its own secrets—thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most…including herself.
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I am not certain how I feel about this book.
A memory is a fine legacy to leave behind.
The writing was fantastic and beautiful, however it sometimes crossed the line into purple prose. Though I admired it at some parts, others felt like the author was trying too hard to be ~great~.
This was the court of Bharata, a city like a bone spur—tacked on like an afterthought. Its demons were different: harem wives with jewels in their hair hair and hate in their heart, courtiers with mouths full of lies, a father who knew me only as a colored stone around his neck. Those were the monsters I knew. My world didn’t have room for more.
The world was enchanting and atmospheric. I enjoyed the glimpse into Indian culture – something that I don’t see very often, either as a Young Adult fantasy reader or as an American. Sad but true.
No matter where we are, we’ll always share the same sky. We can always find each other in the same constellation.
The plot was meandering and almost non-existent. Not much happens in this book, and when things do happen they seem jarring and out of place. Love declarations . . . when the characters haven’t known each other long enough to possibly have developed these Earth-shattering feelings. Betrayals . . . when we don’t know enough about the characters to care either way. The middle chunk was mostly exploring the word, and it seemed to put the plot on hold in order to do that.
I see only night and smoke, dreams and glass, embers and wings. And I would not have you any other way.
The love was…insta, as stated above. It was explained by reincarnation and such, but if you can’t make me feel the love between the two characters in the here-and-now, I’m not going to buy the we’ve been in love for ~eternity~ stuff.
“I love you,” he murmured into my hair. “You are my night and stars, the fate I would fix myself to in any life.”
Okay . . . if you’re sure . . .
The characters were incredibly, and sadly, flat. My favorite was Gauri, and she was hardly in the book! I wish I had liked Maya and Amar more – hopefully, they’ll be further developed in the sequel(s).
I know your soul. Everything else is just an ornament.
Pick this one up for the world and the writing, but don’t expect too much plot- and character-wise.
3/5 stars
we are all stories in the end 
I really wanted to read this- too bad about the plot and instalove. I’ll probably still give it a try because beautiful writing is my weakness
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Hello! You should absolutely give it a shot – perhaps you’ll love it! You’ll have to tell me what you think 🙂
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