Aya and the Star Chaser - Radiya Hafiza - ★★.½

AUTHOR: Radiya Hafiza

GENRE: Middle-grade Fantasy

PUBLICATION DATE: March 21, 2024

RATING: 2.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade fantasy supposedly based on a Bengali folklore. The story had great promise, but the execution left me bored. Really disappointed, because I had had great expectations from this one.

Plot Preview:

Aya, whose age we find out much later in the book as being ten years old, adores the night sky and the stars. So when there’s news of a meteor shower, she makes plans along with her best friend Naznen to go up the nearby hill and watch the spectacle first at hand at midnight, even after her mother’s express command telling her not to leave her bed. Unexpectedly, Aya is struck by a star, and seems to have come away unscathed. Until some weird powers begin to manifest.

When an evil entity named Abnus invades and takes over the kingdom of Alferra, Aya learns of a terrifying prophecy.

The story comes to us in Aya’s third person perspective.

Few middle-grade folklore-based fantasies are based in South Asia, even though this region is ripe with fantastical stories. So when I saw this one, I knew I HAD to grab it. My intrigue was further enhanced by the mention of its being a “fairy tale based on a Bengali folklore.” The author is a British Muslim of Bangladeshi heritage, so my excitement at seeing an OwnVoices story set in this region was even higher. Sadly, my experience didn’t match up.

Bookish Yays:

👻 Aya is wonderful as a girl with independent spirit and a fascination for nature, especially the night sky. Her character is very relatable, hating the chores on the farm, loving to frolic around with her friend, and just like me, a night bird who hates early mornings. A great character to lead this story!

👻 Aya’s being a hijab-clad, brown, Muslim girl adds many ticks to the inclusivity checklist.

👻 The key secondary characters in the book are Aya’s mom Jannah and Aya’s bestie Naznen. While Jannah might not be a favourite due to her overprotectiveness, she comes across as a concerned parent than an overbearing one. Naznen is fabulous as the best buddy who is always ready to support Aya. I wish she had had a greater role in the plot, especially the finale.

👻 Unlike many middle grade books I have read (and I have read plenty!), Aya is shown feeling guilt at deceiving her mother every time she does something rebellious or tells lies. While she does what she wants anyway, I still appreciate how this regret was factored into the story. I don’t like MG books that let kids get away with all kinds of behaviour without any prickling in their conscience.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🤡 Every Indian knows the word “bhoot”. It means ‘ghost’ or ‘spirit’ in Hindi, and from what I checked online, it has a similar meaning in Bangladesh. However, the bhoots in this story were more like demons than spirits, giving me conflicting feelings. This won’t be a hindrance to those who have no idea what bhoots are.

🤡 The abilities Aya gains after the star hits her are interesting and diverse. But they are barely utilised in the story except in the climactic scene. I wish we had seen more of her magical prowess, and also more of her learning to control these unexpected powers.

Bookish Nays:

☠ Thanks to Jannah’s being overprotective and Aya’s being worried about her strange new powers, a lot of the story is spent in hiding and escaping. This makes the plot slow and somewhat boring. There is no action for most of the way and then suddenly there is a burst of magic towards the climax, which ends almost as quickly as it begins. The overall effect is not like a fantasy adventure but like a slow drama.

☠ The setting isn't used satisfactorily. Alferra is fictional, but the blurb, the author’s background, and the characters’ dressing set the story in South Asia, specifically in Bangladesh. But there is just a rudimentary Bangladeshi/South Asian feel to the plot, most of which could have been set anywhere. The oddest to me was the ‘Somerfest ball’, as balls are an essentially Western concept.

☠ The blurb declares this to be a “fairytale based on Bengali folklore.” I tried to look up the source material, but couldn’t find any result. I wish there had been some note about what story it was. I like retellings better when I get a chance to observe how the new story has evolved from the original one.

☠ The book has some B&W illustrations. They were a bit too simplistic for my liking, but my bigger issue was that only a couple of illustrations depicted key scenes. The rest were all incidental graphics, which didn’t add much to my experience.

A part of me feels like this might still work better in the target market, where this book would be perceived as an exotic, Asian-origin fantasy retelling. But to someone with desi blood, this felt like a vague representation of our rich culture.

As the summer vacations are going on, I caught hold of my in-house middle-grader, who enjoys magical stories, to read and vet this book. I was hoping to get a more accurate opinion from the right target audience. To my disappointment, she abandoned this book after reading 35%, calling it “too boring.” Yup, she’s harsher than I am, and by now, a pro at DNFing. *deep sigh!*

Looking at the other ratings, mine is clearly an outlier opinion. So I guess I would still suggest you give this a try. As long as you expect a mostly generic story without hoping for any retelling or genuine South Asian feels, this might still work better for you.

2.5 stars. (Rounding down wherever applicable, because the in-house MG boss wasn’t impressed.)

My thanks to Pan Macmillan, Macmillan Children's Books, and NetGalley for the DRC of “Aya and the Star Chaser”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.