Mandanna, Sangu. Vanya and the Wild Hunt. Book 1 of the Vanya series. 2025. 288p. ISBN 9781250899835.
Eleven-year-old Vanya Vallen has always felt like an outsider, grappling with her British-Indian identity in a predominantly white English town. Her parents hide their secretive pasts. And to compound it all, her ADHD scatter her attention. Adding to her unique circumstances, Vanya possesses the extraordinary ability to converse with books, and more remarkably, the books communicate back to her.
Vanya's life takes a dramatic turn when a monstrous creature, previously believed to exist only in fairytales, attacks her family, revealing her parents' hidden lives and the pervasive presence of other fantastical beasts.
Whisked away to Auramere, an enchanted library and school, Vanya finds herself among archwitches and archivists, embracing an unexpected, exciting, and wonderful new existence. However, even in this magical sanctuary, danger lurks. The mysterious and formidable Wild Hunt is on the loose, threatening Auramere itself. Vanya must tap into all her creativity and courage to unmask the Hunt's leader and thwart their destructive plans, fighting to protect the only place where she has ever truly felt a sense of belonging.
Chokshi, Roshani. The Star-Touched Queen. Book 1 of the Star-Touched Queen series. 2016. 342p. 562 mins. ISBN 978-1-42727298-0. Available as an audiobookfrom Overdrive.
Born in the harem of the Raja of Bharata, Maya has always been considered cursed by the other inhabitants of the harem. When her horoscope was drawn, it was foretold that her marriage would bring death. As a result she is considered bad luck, has no friends and no hopes of marrying. Maya spends her time avoiding the politics of the harem, her tutors, and eavesdropping on her father's Council.
Spying on her father and his Council one day, she learns that she's about to be married off to one of her kingdom's enemies in hopes of settling peace. She is stunned. She does not want to marry and does not want to leave Bharata. She plans for escape, but is instead imprisoned until the wedding. The night before, her father visits her and reveals that his plan was to use her as bait and draw their enemies here. Under the guise of a ceasefire to celebrate a wedding, the Raja fully expects his daughter to not go through with it and poison herself instead, allowing him to break the ceasefire and deal with the leaders of enemy kingdoms.
Unfortunately his enemies have spies, and they brought their own soldiers. On the day of the wedding, Maya is presented to the attendees, and when she leaves to make her choice, war breaks out. Maya is rescued by an enigmatic king who takes her away to the supernatural land of the Night Bazaar, before bringing her back to his kingdom of Akaran. King Amar wishes Maya to become his equal. Amar has secrets, however, and he asks her to wait until the new moon before he can reveal them.
Enough information is available, however, and Maya soon realizes that Amar is the Agent of Death himself, and she has just joined him! Monsters haunt the kingdom. The dead travel through its halls on their way to a new life. And whispers tell her that Amar intends to sacrifice her. With her life in danger, Maya must decide whom she can trust. How do you escape from death itself?
An Indian retelling of the myth of Persephone and Hades, Maya seems to be making bad choices one after the other, yet in the end manages to redeem herself and the kingdom. Fans of mythology will appreciate the descriptive world the author created and will enjoy Maya's struggles and eventual triumph as she finally finds her voice.
