Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar (review)

Desi teen Sheetal may seem like a regular girl, but she's actually the daughter of a star and a mortal. When Sheetal's star powers put her mortal dad in a coma, she ventures to Svargalok, the golden palace in the sky, with her best friend and cousin Minal to ask for a real star's blood to heal her father. Sheetal's grandparents agree to give her blood, but only if Sheetal will participate in a contest intended for mortal champions to bring their House back to ascendancy before Sheetal's seventeenth birthday, when she will become a full star. Sheetal navigates sabotage, heartbreak, and prejudice against her half-mortal status from the court of the stars—and she may decide to dismantle the system rather than participate in it at all. Thakrar's novel is full of the wonder and enchantment suggestive of Neil Gaiman's Stardust, including magical night markets and dreamy library magic. Hindu mythology is well integrated here, as are many references to Indian-American culture and Bollywood. The competition is less of a focus than the world building itself, wherein Sheetal discovers that her grandmother wishes to cut off the gate between Earth and Svargalok due to past injustices inflicted by mortals, and Sheetal's mother hopes to use star powers to compel human beings out of negative behaviors, thus robbing them of free will. With a sprinkle of cosmic magic, Thakrar has crafted an excellent story about the power of the younger generations to carve their own path amidst the traditions and expectations of their elders.