Rick Riordan Presents: Aru Shah and the End of Time

lapetitepritt

Aug 7

Hello, bookworms!

Happy Sunday, I hope you are having a nice weekend. I am back at our sea house and in a bit I am going to get a haircut and get my nails done, because you know: selfcare. Later, I am probably going to the beach to swim and read in the shade, which I really enjoy.

All that aside, today I am here to review Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi, the first book in the Pandava series and the very first Rick Riordan Present book. I have already read another RRP book (Dragon Pearl) and I enventually want to read them all, but this is the first one I really liked, since Dragon Pearl wasn't really for me.

This is one of the 22 books I have picked from my physical TBR to read and review in 2022 and it's book number 16 out of 22. I'm almost there, can you believe it? I am actually almost there with most of my challenges, and I think I am going to write a recap of how they are going early in September, like a sort of check in to see what I still need to read!

About the book
Title: Aru Shah and the End of Time
Series: Pandava #1
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents
Publication date: 27 March 2018
Pages: 355

Plot, as stated on Goodreads
Twelve-year-old Aru Shah has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off family cations in exotic locales, she'll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from her latest archeological trip. Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur? One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru's doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don't believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru Thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again. But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it's up to Aru to save them. The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that?

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Review
I have owned this book for more than 4 years now. I actually bought it as soon as it came out and I was sure I was going to read it immediately. Then, for some reason, I never did until last month and I am really regretting not having picked it up sooner.

At least, I have now read it and I cannot wait to read the sequels, probably later this year. I think I am going to buy the physical copies and read them this way, as the font is not too small and I am back to enjoying physically reading books (who am I?).

Anyways, let's address the obvious first: yes, this book has a lot of similarities with The Lightning Thief, but 1. It was the first book in this imprint, and I think it was a smart move to start with a similar book to the Riordanverse; 2. It's only book one and already there were really interesting plot points and discussions; 3. It was great and I don't really care.

I loved Aru as a main character, and I also loved Mini as her companion. I think they are both such interesting girls, and I am very curious to see how their friendship is going to evolve throughout the books, especially once the new characters are added — whom I also cannot wait to meet. I'm not going to spoil anything, but I want to know how things are going from where we left them, to what was shown in the last chapters.

Now, if you know me in real life, you know I am ornitophobic and I am especially scared of pigeon. This book made me like a character that presents in the form of a pigeon, so if this doesn't tell you how much I loved Aru Shah and the End of Time, I don't know what will.

As I said, the plot held some similarities to The Lightning Thief, but I didn't mind, because I was super fascinated by the mythology. I know very little about Hindu mythology and epic, so everything was new for me and it was amazing to see how, in the end, all the world has similar myths, because ancient populations used them to explain the same things. I am very intrigued to see what other creatures and myths are going to inspire the next instalments.

The writing style was also really good: if you like Rick Riordan's books, especially Magnus Chase I would say, you are going to love the way Roshani Chokshi writes in this book. It perfectly mixes humor with serious moments and there not one point in the book where you will want to put it down. I had some work to do, otherwise I would have finished it in one sitting, that's for sure. It's really easy to fly through and if you are in a reading slump or feel one coming, I would highly recommend picking this book up.

So, I would totally encourage anyone to read Aru Shah and the End of Time, especially if you love middle grades involving mythology as much as I do and want to learn more about Hindu epic. This is also a perfect gift for children, as it will either broaden their horizon or make them feel seen, which is what I like the most about this imprint.

I will try and read the other four books in the series this year, and I will also try and review them all. I am thinking about rereading Dragon Pearl and make this a series on my blog (hence the different title than the usual "Book Review" I use for the 22 Books for 2022).

That's all for now, I will talk to you soon with a new review!

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