Review // Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Pandava Quartet #1

Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents

Publication Date: March 27th, 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Netgalley

Format: eARC

Pages: 368

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Summary (from 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 to family vacations 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?

Aru Shah and the End of Time is a story about Aru Shah, a twelve-year-old girl who lights a cursed lamp in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture to impress several of her classmates and ends up awakening a demon who wishes to bring about the end of time.

She also learns that she is one of the reincarnated souls of one of the five Pandava brothers of legend. She has to meet up with one of the other Pandavas and try to stop the Sleeper from stopping time.

Aru Shah and the End of Time is exactly what I would expect from Roshani Chokshi. It has the same beautiful writing style as her previous books, but with characters that are possibly quirkier and funnier.

Aru was a fun main character. She seems to tell a lot of lies, but I think a lot of them are highly exaggerated slivers of the truth. I thought it was funny that she got stuck going on this adventure in a pair of Spider-Man pajamas.

Mini is the other reincarnated Pandava brother that goes on this journey with Aru. She was kind of like Aru's opposite. Where Aru seemed more confident in herself, Mini was more quietly brave. She expected the worst of everything, but when the need arose, she really stepped up.

I really liked the bond that Aru and Mini had. They started off as total strangers and really ended up as sisters in the end. I loved seeing them work together and try to defeat the Sleeper together.

So, I really enjoyed this book. It was fun, it was funny, it was cute. I kinda loved it. It had a bit of a twist in it that I didn't see coming and I am looking forward to seeing how it goes in the rest of the series!

If you are a fan of Roshani Chokshi's previous books, funny characters, and wonderful friendships, you will almost definitely like this book!

Have you read this one yet? Are you looking forward to it?