e-ARC, 400 pages
Release Date: April 30, 2019Published by: Rick Riordan Presents
Read from: April 14-19, 2019Pandava Quartet, #2Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)TW: N/AFor fans of: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, LOL, Folklore, POC MC, Own Voices, Sparkly Covers, MGAru is only just getting the hang of this whole Pandava thing when the Otherworld goes into full panic mode. The god of love’s bow and arrow have gone missing, and the thief isn’t playing Cupid. Instead, they’re turning people into heartless fighting-machine zombies. If that weren’t bad enough, somehow Aru gets framed as the thief. If she doesn’t find the arrow by the next full moon, she’ll be kicked out of the Otherworld. For good.
But, for better or worse, she won’t be going it alone.
Along with her soul-sister, Mini, Aru will team up with Brynne, an ultra-strong girl who knows more than she lets on, and Aiden, the boy who lives across the street and is also hiding plenty of secrets. Together they’ll battle demons, travel through a glittering and dangerous serpent realm, and discover that their enemy isn’t at all who they expected.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I really admire Rick Riordan for letting everyone tell their own culture’s mythological stories. I love Riordan, but there’s no way he could have produced Aru and made her as spunky, funny, and so epically cool and gotten her culture correct (as she knows it) as Chokshi did.
“Trust yourself more than you distrust others.”12%
Aru Shah and Mini thought they’d have a break from quests since they just fulfilled one. Of course not. Now the god of love’s bow and arrow has been stolen and Aru and Mini must return it to its rightful owners. Or they’re kicked out of the Otherworld. But this time, they have more to worry about than just each other. This time they’re adding two more people to the quest, Brynne who wants to fight anything and everything and Aiden the boy who lives across the street.
“What is fair and what is just do not always look the same.”13%
The characters of this were my favorite part! Of course I love Aru and Mini, but Aiden is really cool and Brynne took a bit for me to warm up to, but she definitely grew on me. I love their personalities and how they all brought something to the quest. None of them were being dragged along and I liked that they all carried their weight. There were a couple times I worried about a couple of them, but they certainly made up for it. And the way they all interacted together made this book for me. There were multiple times where I found myself laughing out loud. All of them worked so well together and I’m excited to see what happens in Aru, #3.
“…sometimes villains can do heroic things and heroes can do villainous things, so what did it mean to be one or the other?”75%
The only thing I didn’t care for was the ending. There is something happening NON-STOP in this book, but when it gets to the end it feels like a really abrupt STOP. Like the weather in Texas. Pouring one minute and then 5 minutes later, the sun is out. It just seemed weird to end it so quickly.
“…bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. Somtimes life isn’t fair- but that doesn’t mean things happen without a reason. We just don’t always know what the reason is.The world is inscrutable. It doesn’t owe you answers.”75%
As usual I didn’t find anything wrong with Chokshi’s writing style. It was so easy to follow and it kept me so into the story. The only thing was I felt like it was a bit long. Like maybe it was a bit drawn out. I’m not sure if it was just me wanting to finish it or if it actually was, but I felt like I was reading it for a long time. In actuality it was only 5 days. Normally I can read a MG novel of this size in half that time. I wasn’t busier than normal, but it still took awhile for me to read it all.
“In the end, all we are is the version of ourselves that others choose to remember.”83%
I can’t wait to get Aru #3. I’m not sure I can wait to see what the new characters at the end of this one were talking about. And the new title sounds like it will be a lot of trouble lol Aru Shah is my favorite series from this imprint and I can’t wait to see what other fun they have in store!
Overall, I give this
