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369 pages, Hardcover
First published March 28, 2017
“A story is control.”
"Humanity has nothing to do with what runs through your veins or shows up on your skin."
"How many times have answers been so simple and yet someone is determined to take the path of thorns instead of roses?"
A crown of wishes is finally here! I love this story so much I feel like making every friend of mine read it. Yup, I am that unashamed *Grinch smile* You haven't started this book yet? What are you doing here?! Run, reader, run and start it right now :D
*Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book!* “A story had no ownership. A story could break its bones, grow wings, soar out of reach and dive out of sight in the time it took just to draw breath. It meant we weren’t walking a cut path. We carved it into existence with every step.”
Roshani Chokshi is a queen of storytelling! Every word, every line is filled with exquisite magic. It feels like honey spreading through your veins and making your blood sing. Reading her books is a pleasure I find myself addicted to. It also doesn't hurt that books' covers are so gorgeous. This is how the author described A Crown of Wishes:
There are feasts of silk birds, poisonous courtesans, strange rooms where desires can be devoured, thrones to be conquered, rakshasi fruit that turns princesses to beasts, and, of course, love.
I wouldn't say better!
This story is about a lonely Fox Prince. The world praises his mind and slyness, but would never accept him as a true ruler - only as a Puppet King. He is so sure of himself; he never doubts, he hides his hurt behind smirks and lopsided grins. And so he wishes: for magic to show him the way, to hope for something more, to own his fears, for power and recognition.
This story is about a fierce girl - with blood on her lips and fangs in the heart, who wears the armor of silk and cosmetics as confident as she wears the armor of leather and chain mail. The ‘Jewel of Bharata’ they call her. She got so tangled up in court games that she one day lost herself. She hides her weaknesses, she strikes her enemies, but she loses. And so she wishes: for a chance to prove her worth, to shed her guilt, to save her people.
A chance meeting. Reluctant allies. A tournament of wishes. Everything to gain and nothing left to lose. A Crown of wishes is many things in one. I liked The Star-touched Queen a lot, but I loved this one. The author found a perfect balance between story-characters-writing-wisdom and magic. Lovers of fast-paced, engaging plots will find this book entertaining, but characters are what really makes it shine brightly. Gauri and Vikram stole my heart from the first moment I met them. They deservedly take place among my all-time favorite book couples. Why couples, not characters? Because I can't imagine anything but a team when I think about them. Their shared scenes and interactions are what makes this book light and funny, but, at the same time, deep and sad. Gauri and Vikram felt real and flawed; they grow throughout the book: they make mistakes, they fall; they stand and move on but with every step, they become someone new and someone better.
Gauri is a fierce and strong warrior. Vikram, on the other hand, fights with his wits. Gauri places her faith only in herself. Vikram believes in magic. Two absolutely different people forced to work together in order to get their wishes. What to expect from such duet? ONE OF THE BEST CHARACTER DYNAMICS! Their banters are the best thing I've experienced in a while. “What do I call you? ” he asked, turning to me. “The ‘Jewel
of Bharata’ just seems too modest, don’t you think? ”
“Call me Gauri.”
“How intimate.”
I glared. “Enjoy it, because that’s as intimate as this will ever get, Fox Prince.”
When they first meet, they do not hesitate to threaten the other. They don't value each other's lives; after all, they are from two warring Kingdoms. But time passes, bonds grow tighter and THAT transformation from enemies to more is EVERYTHING. But if you think their banters will cease after they grow closer - don't be fooled, they'll become only better, hehe. Ah, how I wish I could share every dialogue of theirs with you; I highlighted practically the whole book, and I feel like running re-reading those passages already, though, I finished reading it only a couple of hours ago!
Oh, and there's also a scene with shirtless Vikram reading a book! Aahh, I believe I thought myself in paradise when I read that scene, haha. Sorry for the little fangirl excursus, I needed to share that awesome scene with the whole world *grins*.
A Crown of wishes is a story filled with wisdom. I admire, once more, how unique and beautiful the world author created. I know little about Indian (Hindi) culture, but it felt authentic to me in this book. And it's not only about one culture: Roshani Chokshi added something from the western mythology as well, flavoring the story with richness. It doesn't feel just like an entertaining story, it feels like a story that teaches you something valuable. The writing is so beautiful, I couldn't stop myself from reading some passage aloud or re-reading some - so beautiful and melodic they were.
All in all, A Crown of Wishes is better and richer than its predecessor. If you didn't enjoy The Star-touched Queen, I would strongly recommend you, my friends, to give this book a chance: I am sure it will surprise you in more ways than one. This story left a deep imprint on me and it is, for sure, became one of my favorites. It has everything a reader can want in a book: an engaging and magical story (there's per se something irresistible about magical tournaments, e.g. Caraval, A Gathering of Shadows), three-dimensional characters with fantastic dynamics, exquisite writing that transfers you into the world of wishes you've never visited before, well-rounded secondary characters which, for once, play an important role in the story. It was a nice bonus to find myself caring for someone apart from our main characters.
I wish I had enough words to express how deeply I enjoyed this story. I can only hope that when the book is out in the world in March, you will wish to read it, my friends.
“What was magic anyway, but the world beheld by someone who chose to see it differently?”
“A story had no ownership. A story could break its bones, grow wings, soar out of reach and dive out of sight in the time it took just to draw breath. It meant we weren't walking a cut path. We carved it into existence with every step.”
“Find the one who glows, with blood on the lips and fangs in the heart.”
“I donned my armor, lining my eyes with kohl until they were dark as death and patting crushed rose petals on my lips until they were scarlet as blood.”
“Of course we are,” said Vikram drily. “Do we not look wildly in love?”
“Not particularly.”
“What’s her favorite color?” asked a council member.
“The color of my eyes,” said Vikram quickly.
“Yes,” said Gauri woodenly. “They are so very … brown.”
“Vicious and sweet,” said Vikram, shaking his head. “Beastly girl.”
“You like me, don’t lie,” I teased.
“I couldn’t lie if I tried,” he said quietly.
“The problem with guilt was not how it attacks the present, but how it stained the past.
“You’re a monster,” she said.
I secured the necklace. “We all have to be something.”
Vikram had tried bribing them. At one point, he offered Gauri’s hand in marriage, which earned him two sharp jabs in the ribs. For equality’s sake, he offered his own hand in marriage, but that ended all bargaining negotiations on the spot.
“I prefer the poisoned food.”
“You may be rewarded yet,” he said. He popped a handful of pomegranate seeds in his mouth. He froze, some of the juice spilling from his lips. “Oh no,” he breathed, clutching his chest.
“Vikram!” I screamed.
He held up his hand. “I meant to start with mangos.”
“My apologies. Is it your bellicose-let-me-drain-your-blood face? Could you not master an expression that looked less like an outraged cat? ”
“Better than steepling my hands and looking like an overgrown spider.”
"An overgrown spider who is rarely wrong.”
"My bellicose-let-me-drain-your-blood face has saved your life.”
“And this overgrown-spider pose is about to save yours.”
“I thought you were going to stay away from me,” she said.
He looked at her, this princess who seemed so dangerously sharp that he might cut himself just brushing against her shadow. “I don’t know how.”
She laughed. And Vikram, who had never wanted for his life to slow down but only to move faster and faster to the next thing, found himself craving to live in this second.
“Surviving isn’t just about cutting out your heart and burning every feeling into ash,” he said. “Sometimes it means taking whatever is thrown at you, beautiful or grotesque, poisonous or blissful, and carving out your life with the pieces you’re given.”
**ARC provided by St. Martin's Griffin in exchange for an honest review**
"But why settle for a story, when I could start a legend?"
"Play the game and you may yet win your kingdom, not just the husk of its name."
"What was magic anyway, but the world beheld by someone who chose to see it differently?"
“Find the one who glows, with blood on the lips and fangs in the heart.”
"Death might be waiting, but I was going to be a queen. I would have my throne if I had to carve a path of blood and bone to get it back.
Death could wait."
"He was raised on a bellyful of want—always kept at a distance, always in sight of everything he wanted and could never sink his teeth into—which only made him that much more attuned to seeing through words and straight to the desires."
"Once, when he was ten, he attempted to fly by attaching silk scarves to his arms and leaping from a tree. It did not work. When he was fifteen, he dressed like a courtesan to sneak into the harem. He ended up appearing too convincing to a palace guard and was forced to throw off his silks and punch the man. All things considered, this was not the most shameful thing he had endured."
“You’re certain that rakshasi fruit is out of your system?” asked Vikram.
"Yes?”
"Good.” He took a deep breath. “Because, once more, I told you so.”
"You do realize that I don’t need the enhancements of demon fruit to knock you to the ground?”
"I do. But I concede that some bodily harm from you is inevitable. I’m just trying to minimize the damage.”
"How very wise,” I said, rolling my eyes.
(Vikram): "Have some faith.”
(Gauri): "Between faith and distrust, which one is more likely to keep you alive?”
"And which one is more likely to let you experience living?”
I threw up my hands. “Why is everything so philosophical with you?”
He shrugged. “I like thinking.”
I didn’t want to cut out my heart. I wanted to give it. Freely and without feeling as if it would be turned into a weapon against me. I wanted freedom to thaw me, to let it break the walls Skanda’s rule had forced me to build. I wanted the privilege of weakness.
"I’d almost forgotten the true power of a story … how it lulled you outside your thoughts, let you process the world in a way that was palatable. Not poisonous. Calm rushed through me."
This story is about two people. A girl, "with blood on her lips and fangs in the heart" also known as The ‘Jewel of Bharata.’ Gauri is who she's fierce because she's had to become so in order to survive her life with her brother as King. She was raised to use cosmetics as a sort of war paint, to paint herself as an armor in silk as makeup. Her character is brilliant as she tries so desperately to save her people from the cruel tyranny of her brother. But she looses over and over, so her life has hardened her and made her hide her weaknesses and strike out at any and all her enemies.
"Existence is the gift. Life is a choice."
Then we also have Vikram. Also known as the Fox Prince. In his world he is the heir to the throne but will never be accepted among his piers regardless of how his countrymen praise his mind and foxy slyness. He was adopted and therefore seen as a puppet by those who would use that knowledge to rule through him instead. He is confident in his smarts and never doubts himself. Yet he is also susceptible to hurt and pain which is hides behind smirks and off handed remarks. He wants be seen as someone with potential to rule the throne on his own merits and not by blood.
"Humanity has nothing to do with what runs through your veins or shows up on your skin."
Here we have these two people who actually aren't allied kingdoms. In fact they kind of hate each other. But with a chance meeting they've both decided to put aside their differences for a time as each decide they want to enter the tournament of wishes in order to get a wish. With everything to lose they had to join forces and help each other out in sticky situations, each having to change and grow in order to survive the tournament.
I absolutely loved the gods involved and how vivid the author painted them. The kingdoms in which Gauri and Vikram have to pass through were amazing and vibrant. I appreciated the backstories and time spent on the history and differences between each kingdom and ruler.
Overall I can't give this book enough stars I loved it so much. Seriously am in love with the writing style and storytelling by this author and cannot wait to read more from her!
Sexual Content: mild
Lanugage: mild
Violence: moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: mild
* A HUGE thank you to St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC which I got in exchange for an honest review*