I know this was geared toward middle grade readers and it'll be perfect for them. Too many fart jokes for me though.  However, I do always learning about other mythologies that I'm less familiar with.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

The fact that this book is amazing and it is part of the new "Rick Riordan Presents" line of fantasies/mythology/etc. will go so far with young readers! I love recommending this to those who have already read Percy and Harry.  I am so glad this series is in the world!

5/5 stars

This is such a fun book, and I am sorry it took me so long to read it! Now I can't wait to move on with the next book!! :) I especially love the characters and the interesting twists and turns of the plot. I also just loved that the book was pretty funny! It definitely reminded me of reading Percy Jackson, but with Hindu gods instead of Greek ones. It was great! 

I usually read YA rather than middle grade, but my daughters are middle grade reading age, so I wanted to check this one out in order to see if they would like it. And boy, was I surprised that I totally LOVED it! Roshani Chokshi is very talented and does a great job writing for this age group. I love that Aru Shah has such a relatable character flaw--lying, or more accurately, stretching the truth to suit her. This is something that I feel like kids can totally get and it is actually pretty charming, even though it totally gets her into trouble.

I really enjoyed Aru Shah, a great mythology adventure and story of two girls who come together on a big adventure. A great empowering story with lots of mythology entangled into the story.

I wasn't as familiar with Hindu gods and goddesses as I would've liked, and I'd never heard of the Pandava brothers prior to reading this, so it was truly a pleasure to read this book and be introduced to the whole pantheon of beings and creatures and places that it brought in. I can't help but compare this to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which is clearly an overwhelmingly guiding influence. I liked this book for basically all the same reasons that I liked The Lightning Thief; the witty banter, the action, the humor, and the healthy diet of contemporary references mixed with magical fantasy realism. I'll gladly share this with my students for years to come. The whole thing really works.

I have read a LOT of the various "Rick Riordan presents" fantasy series, and while they all have something going for them to various degrees, I think Aru Shah is my favorite. It has a lot of what made Rick Riordan's own Percy Jackson books fun and compelling, with the added challenge of skillfully introducing an exhilarating number of characters and concepts to readers who may not have already read a thousand and one stories about them before. It's a great middle grade level book, with just the right amount of angst, danger, and personal and friendship growth to offset the starry-eyed, magical adventure.

Perfect for the reader who thrives on a fast paced event driven adventure with a heavy dose of Indian mythology.

Aru Shah and the End of Time is the first of a middle grade quartet by Roshani Chokshi. Aru Shah lives in an actual museum in Georgia with her mother, the curator who is always off looking for more artifacts. In an attempt to impress three kids from her school, she lights a lamp, setting into motion an adventure that Aru could never have imagined. This is a fabulous middle grade adventure, filled with Indian mythology and humor. This is the perfect series for anyone who enjoyed the Percy Jackson series. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series!

Rick Riordan knows his audience. Whether he's writing them or choosing them to be published. Aru Shah and the End of Time is a fun read. There's action, adventure, mythological creatures, Indian culture and more. Another can't miss read.

Aru wants to prove to her classmates that she isn’t lying and shows them an ancient Indian lamp, but her touch starts a cascade of events that she must now journey to undo. Great reads for fans of Rick Riordan’s Mythology series, but now with a new author writing about her culture. Appropriate for upper elementary school students.
#AruShahAndTheEndOfTimeaPandavaNovelBook1 #NetGalley

Great middle grade, ownvoices title. I am so glad that Rick Riordan decided to sponsor these books. Aru Shah is full of adventure, comedy and even some feminism. Every teen that read it in my library enjoyed it immensely.

The action, the humor, the puns!  It's all there and it's all perfect.  The first in the new imprint from Rick Riordan reads so much like his well-loved books that it's an easy sell.  Plus the story is great and shines a light on Indian mythology.  High recommended.

This was such a fun middle grade read! I loved the characters and the plot dearly and cannot wait for the next installment to be published!

My son loved this book! He is a fan of mythology but didn't know a lot about Hindu mythology. He felt the female character was a strong lead and is excitedly anticipating the next book.

Super super cute. If <i>Aru Shah and the End of Time</i> weren't from Riordan's imprint, I don't think I would have been happy with it, because it's got a veeeeery strong Riordan vibe. However, it is from Riordan's imprint, so I think it's totally fine that the plot concept and basic structure is classic Riordan. That said, Chokshi does bring her own element to it for sure, starting with the fact that there's not a male lead to be seen, unless you count a male pigeon. 

My favorite part of <i>Aru Shah and the End of Time</i> is that our two heroines, Aru and Mini, aren't remotely typical heroes, nor do they magically become them over the course of their journey. In fact, Aru's quite difficult to like at times. She lies constantly to get people to like her, and this, in fact, is what puts the world in danger. It's kind of fun that Aru's such a difficult character who needs so much to grow and who so much does not seem like a hero. Mini, her counter-point, is intelligent but neurotic and awkward. They're not a dream team but they make it work. I look forward to seeing them evolve as the series continues.

The biggest issue I had was the plot. Aru accidentally unleashed the Sleeper, who will end time if he can get hold of the keys to do some stuff. You know, the usual sort of prophecy plot Riordan shenanigans. Only thing is that he can't get there unless they find the things for him...so it very much seemed to me like if they did absolutely nothing, everything would have been fine? Maybe I missed something, but it all felt unnecessary to me. It's also one of those plots where the heroines just follow directions from one point to another, rather than making their own way.

The book continues on after the denouement in a way that's both strange but queues up excitement for book two. There's a potential love interest and/or enemy that I'm here for anyway. I'll definitely be back for book two, where I hope to see the plot and characterization just get better.

When I got this book, I was thrilled — “It’s Percy Jackson with Indian mythology!” And while I enjoyed reading it, I was less thrilled when I finished reading because it was almost exactly Percy Jackson with Indian mythology.

Prickly, unlikable hero(ine) who discovers she’s actually a descendant of a god? Check. Unleashed evil ready to take over the world? Check. Plucky sidekicks who assist hero(ine) and also illuminate the value of friendship? Check. Secret mythic world hidden in plain sight? Check? Hero(ine) the only one who can put things right? Check.

I mean, it’s a good story. And there’s a lot of Indian mythology here, which requires the author to both explain the basics and specifics of Indian myth (challenging since a lot of readers might not come to the story with a working knowledge of Indian mythology) and to do it well enough so that people will get all the jokes and real world connections. I think Chokshi does that really well, and I love that the book gives voice to a whole world of literature that kids might be inspired to go and explore. Some of the descriptions are lovely (“There was a Night Bazaar where you could purchase dreams on a string. If you had a good singing voice, you could use it to buy rice pudding dusted with moonlight.”), and the incarnated pigeon is often hilarious. There’s a lot to like — but it really ends up feeling like a badly dubbed movie version of the first Percy Jackson book sometimes. And I couldn’t shake a dislike of Aru’s character, which probably didn’t help.

I’ll definitely read the next book in the series — there’s a lot of set-up in this book for what comes next — but I’m hoping it finds more of its own voice and style. If it does, this could easily become a favorite.

My school has a lot of students of Indian descent and they have been so thrilled to see a book using their mythology.  I enjoyed it also because I am a mythology fan.  The intrigue and challenges Aru faced with the gods and goddesses made me want to read the actual Indian mythology to learn more.

The adventure itself was exciting.  The characters were quirky and likable.

Chokski has crafted a hilarious, fun, action-packed tale that also easily makes Indian mythology accessible. Readers will delight in Aru, Mini, and Boo’s banter, and be heartbroken by the secretly tragic tale of the demonic Sleeper. Riordan’s first release from his new imprint(?) is a worthy successor to the Percy Jackson fame. Recommended for upper elementary and above.

"In theory, a quest sounded awesome. But in reality, a whole lot of lives hung in the balance. Maybe that's why superheroes wore capes. Maybe they weren't capes at all, but safety blankets, like the one Aru kept at the bottom of her bed and pulled up under her chin before she went to sleep. Maybe superheroes just tied their blankies around their necks so they'd have a little bit of comfort wherever they went. Because honestly? Saving the world was scary. No harm admitting that."
~Aru, ARU SHAH & THE END OF TIME




Last week, I was fortunate enough to interview Roshani Chokshi for BroadwayWorld. We chatted about world-building,favorite myths, and, of course, working with Rick Riordan. Check it out!


Percy Jackson fans looking for similar authors are going to fall head over heels for Roshani Chokshi's Aru Shah! All the humor, friendships, and, of course, quests make this a perfect debut in the Rick Riordan Presents line!

I have a been a fan of Chokshi since THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN debuted. When I heard that there was going to be a Rick Riordan Presents line with publisher Disney Hyperion and that she was one of the three chosen authors, I was SO excited. Especially when I found out that her series would launch first! Granted, I wanted all three books and thought they all sounded great, but I especially wanted ARU SHAH.

The series starter ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME came out last week and I'm so happy to say it didn't disappoint! I was enamored with the world-building and the characters and have already been introduced to so much new mythology! It also feels like a great new series to recommend to kids who couldn't get enough of the Percy Jackson series. There's only so much I can give them in the children's department, and I love that ARU SHAH had all the humor, all the emphasis on friendship, and, of course, all the fun real-world questing that the Percy books have. I am so excited to continue Aru's journey as well as read the other books in the line because if they all capture the spirit of Riordan's own books and are as compelling and engaging as Aru Shah has been already, then I need to own each and every single one.

Aru Shah is just an ordinary kid, and readers will easily see themselves in her. She constantly wishes for a different life, and often tells tall tales at school that get her into trouble. When three of her classmates come to the museum her mother owns and see that she didn't go to Paris during break like she'd said, they decide to call her on her bluffs. Aru had told them that the Museum  of Ancient Indian Art and Culture was home to the cursed Lamp of Bharata. The trio demands that she do the impossible and touch the lamp. Panicking and not wanting to be in a viral video, Aru lights the lamp, never dreaming that she'll ACTUALLY release the Sleeper and bring about the end of the world. When everyone around her freezes, she realizes there's more at stake than she ever thought possible. She is a reincarnation of one of the Pandava Brothers from the epic Mahabharata poem. She is a demigod. And now, it is up to her and her Pandava sister Mini to save the world and prevent the Sleeper from reaching the Lord of Destruction before Shiva can perform the dance to end Time forever...

One of the main reasons I first fell in love with Rick Riordan's books was because they were overflowing with Greek mythology. Mythology was my favorite course in school, and I loved books influenced by myths. After discovering mythology, and realizing that myths and lore varied from culture to culture, I was always on the look out for tales from all over the world. I loved that Riordan went beyond the Greek mythology that is the most well-known in the United States and explored Roman, Egyptian, and Norse mythology. New tales were introduced and kids grew up enamored. One reason I've been so excited about the Rick Riordan Presents line is because more authors will introduce more myths to kids through fictional series--and they'll be #OwnVoices to boot! The first three series in the line focus on Hindu, Mayan, and Korean mythology. I know very little about these tales and am so excited to add to the vault in my mind where I store all these myths and tales. 

Aru Shah has already introduced me to so much, from little things such as Urvashi's outfit "made from the skipped heartbeats of every person who had ever laid eyes" on her, which reveals so much about her personality and makes you want to know more, to the quests and heroism of the Pandava Brothers from the epic poem. Hindu demigods don't come into their heritage the same way as Greek demigods, either. They are related through the soul, not through blood. And their Claiming Ceremony is AWESOME and potentially deadlier than the ones at Camp Half Blood.

Another thing I loved about Riordan's books was the way he could turn something ordinary into something extraordinary. For example, Percy Jackson's weapon Riptide. It's a PEN. Demons and nymphs and monsters walked among humans, often disguised as your local teacher or shop owner. Regular buildings were fronts for something more magical....but only if you knew how to look. I love that all of these traits I loved so much carried over into Aru Shah and hope they do with other authors as well. There is an incredible Night Bazaar hidden in a CostCo--and it's a place for all types of beings, no matter their culture or identity. Percy Jackson and Magnus Chase and Aru Shah could totally walk side by side--and so too could a minotaur or a fury or a dryad!  It was such an imaginative place to bring to life, and I loved the characters we met inside who needed to help Aru and Mini on their journey. There are other "hidden" places they stop, too, that I don't want to spoil, but I will say, that visiting the family home of the Pandava Brothers was an especially well-shaped scene I enjoyed. And, of course, items! From weapons hidden in every day objects to special cookies to hairpins, there is so much fun and creativity throughout the journey!

 There are so many great things I loved about Aru Shah, but to divulge them all would be to spoil your own discovery. ARU SHAH was fantastic, though, and I'm already eager to get my hands on ARU SHAH AND THE SONG OF DEATH in 2019 and meet more of the reincarnated Pandavas!

Terrific fantasy, with great twist on traditional tale. Definitely recommending this! Thank you for sharing.