A CROWN OF WISHES The Star-Touched Queen, Book 2

In this high fantasy steeped in Hindu legends, narrator Priya Ayyar uses accents and character voices to distinguish the wide variety of creatures inhabiting a richly magical world within a world. Teenaged humans Vikram and Gauri are adversarial royalty who find themselves competing as a team in a magical Tournament of Wishes. Along the way, they find danger, fear, desire, and love. Chapters alternate in the first-person viewpoints of fierce and proud Gauri, witty and wily Vikram, and Asha, a curious vishikanya with a killing touch. Slightly marring an otherwise enthralling story are Ayyar's occasional tendencies to use stilted phrasing in long passages and to drop out of character voice for Gauri. On the other hand, Ayyar's presentation of Vikram is playfully perfect. L.T. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2017]