This book might just be my favorite read of 2017. I know it’s still early in the year for such a declaration, but I am dead serious – I devoured A Crown of Wishes and I think it is just about as close to perfect fantasy as a story can get. Now, you don’t have to have read The Star-Touched Queen to love this book, though I do think you’ll get more out of A Crown of Wishes having read the first book (there are quite a few references to Star-Touched throughout). But seriously, even if you didn’t read or didn’t love her first book, trust me when I say Roshani has taken her writing game to a whole new level with this one. I really really really enjoyed her debut, but this companion novel is in a league all its own.
Reading this book was like stepping into another world… One I seriously did not want to leave. I would move to Bharata or Alaka or Ujijain in a heartbeat and never leave. I wanted to melt into the pages of this book, burn the words into the back of my eyelids, anything to keep a piece of it with me always.
“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.”
This story reminded me of the true power of a great novel. The way you will it not to end so that you won’t have to leave. The way that the words and images you find within its pages burn themselves into your mind, your dreams, your every waking moment. The bittersweet taste it leaves on your tongue afterwards that makes you long for just. one. more. chapter. The heaviness that prevents you from even thinking about starting another book while you’re still so invested in the one in front of you. It’s a beautiful, wondrous, magical feeling, and I would not trade it away for all the books in the world. A book like this… well, it’s the entire reason I love to read. Finding A Crown of Wishes reminded me of everything I love about books, about reading, about discovering new worlds and leaping into fresh stories. It was a completely rejuvenating experience.
Roshani somehow manages to rip open the very heart of humanity and paint it across the pages of this stunning tale. Vikram and Gauri will grip you from the first, fill you with their fire, their burning desire to change their own fates, and their sheer determination to carry on in the face of all adversity. Aasha will tug your heartstrings until you cry out for her predicament, desperate to free her from a life she never got to choose. It’s a book that will show you your deepest desires and desperate hopes and use them to remind you of all that living truly is.
“Existence is the gift. Life is a choice.”
There is so much more to life than simply existing, and often, what we think is impossible to reach is actually just begging us to try and grab it while we can. This book is for dreamers, for lovers, for fighters, for schemers. It’s for fans of such beautiful literature as The Night Circus, readers who long to escape into world bursting with possibilities, magic, and myth. It’s for those brave enough to gather their willpower and leap into the unknown, and it is worth every single penny you might spend on it, every second you might disappear into its depths, every emotion you might cry out with as you travel through a truly remarkable journey.
Oh, and my favorite talking horse makes an appearance, which just made me burst with happiness.
If you are looking for a diverse fantasy read, sure to enthrall and entice all of your sense, A Crown of Wishes is definitely the book for you. Don’t waste your time on anything else. This is as good as it gets, and I know that I, for one, will be going back for many, many more read-throughs. I cannot wait to see what Roshani writes next… She is definitely on my permanent auto-buy author list, and I dare you to read this book and not feel the same.
Rating: 5+/5 stars