I feel very torn regarding this book. Its language was beautiful, the sentences well crafted and weaving a tapestry of story for the reading to follow. The story being told has certainly drawn inspiration from many hindu and Indian based myths, myths I am unfamiliar with but can feel their influence clear as day. I enjoyed the idea of the characters and the trials Maya had to go through and the different lands she traveled. But when it came to the timeline in which this story was told, I was frustrated. I will attempt to articulate this in as spoiler free a way as possible, be but forewarned that a few things that aren't in the summary might be revealed. 
 The Star-Touched Queen follows Maya, one of the daughters of the Raja of Bharata, but she has been cursed with a terrible horoscope: that her fate is to be partnered with Death, a fate she cannot escape and will touch upon the lives of others. Due to this horoscope, she is shunned by the court and all the members of her family. Eventually her father orders her into a marriage with an unknown political rival, a marriage that will surely result in her death. She escapes and finds herself instead wed to the Maharaja of Akaran, a mysterious and secretive ruler of a land she has never heard of. But Amar (the ruler), seems to know something about her that she herself does not, something about her destiny and why her horoscope was so bleak, and what the land of Akaran truly holds hidden. 
 As to be expected of a story that draws so heavily upon hindu mythology, reincarnation plays an important role throughout the cultures of this story. Maya's poor horoscope is thought to be results of something she did in a past life, and much of her quest is trying to figure out what that past life could have been. And here come my pacing issues. We as a reader, directly are following Maya's perspective throughout the entire novel, and discover secrets at the same time she does. Because of this, we have zero understanding of the stakes set up at the present time, same as Maya. The villain appears and clearly is trying to trick Maya into not seeing them as the villain, but the reader also doesn't know who this person is so there is no sense of dread as they weave words of silk trying to ensnare Maya in their machinations. The reader can very quickly guess "oh yeah, this is totes the villain" but we have no idea this person's motivations, power, plans, reasons behind anything they do, etc. We just passively have to sit there and watch them try to trick Maya into betraying her best interests. 
 Not all writing rules are meant to be set into stone, but "show, don't tell" generally is one that if not made of stone, is etched in very hard-packed mud. The entire plot and driving force behind the novel is due to events in previous lifetimes, events unknown currently to Maya and ourselves. And as the book progresses, Maya slowly gets more memories of said previous lives, and what their events signify. But we never actually get to see those lifetimes, it's told to the reader in quick isolated flashbacks. Near the end of the book, Maya makes a plea to a character behaving in a cruel manner, saying "I know you, this is not like you!" But, we don't actually know this character in that way. We know this character from the Maya's current life, and what flashbacks we got, taken in isolation. That presentation of moments doesn't lend itself to engendering a sense of emotional connection with the reader. I fully believe that Maya has a strong emotional connection, because the book told me that she felt one. But as a reader, we never saw enough moments to justify that connection. 
 I think that if the events previous, the different lifetimes (or at least the most important one) had been told in a previous book, ending on a cliffhanger of the character being reincarnated which would lead into Star-Touched Queen, the overall story would have been more impactful for me. You as a reader would have such a sense of dread when the villain showed up. You would know the consequences of the actions being proposed, consequences that Maya obviously does not know as she's a new person. You would have that connection between characters that she was friends with, and get the satisfaction of seeing her rekindle those connections in this lifetime. Instead, in the order that it is currently written, I was left feeling empty when it came to caring about the outcomes of the story. 
 I still enjoyed this book. I loved Maya and her headstrong will. I loved her little half sister (also if the not sequel book 2 doesn't follow her, I will be SO DISAPPOINTED). I loved learning about Akaran and all the lore throughout this novel. I loved our demon horse friend. I loved the story in concept. I just felt it could have been executed in a way that let the reader fully understand the stakes while leaving Maya in the dark.