Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi - OPTIONAL


Aru Shah and the Song of Death (Pandava, #2) by Roshani Chokshi,  381 pages.  Disney Hyperion, 2019.  $17.  

Content: G  

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Aru and her best friend, Mini, are drawn into an Otherworld crisis when Aru is accused of stealing the God of Love’s arrow.  With the arrow, someone is turning human men into zombies and the only way to return them to themselves is to steal the arrow and pierce the heart of the thief.  Aru works with Mini, Brynne (another Pandava) and Aiden (Aru’s across the street neighbor) to follow the clues to the thief and stop the thief while clearing her name.  

I am torn on this review because I love Aru and think she is hilarious.  She has a younger feel to her, maybe twelve, and her humor and banter is laugh out loud creative and funny.  I’m not sure younger readers will be patient with the amount of names and terms constantly thrown out about Indian mythology.  It is hard to keep track of them and some of the characters have multiple names with multiple powers or other terms.  Also, Aru moves from adventure to adventure throughout the quest and sometimes it feels like too much crammed into one story.  Overall, I like the Aru Shah series, but I think it will take a determined reader to stay with the story.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson.     

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