Review: Aru Shah and The End of Time

Aru Shah and the End of Time
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

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 their 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?

Okay folks, you need to read this book! If you loved Roshani's other books...if you love Percy Jackson...you need to read this! I think I've been anticipating this book since sometime last year or so? I remember stumbling across it on GoodReads and it didn't even have a cover or a proper synopsis but I needed it so badly and I finally got a copy in my hands and I read it in one sitting because it was so good!

I really loved our MC Aru, and I really felt for her too. She was trying to fit in at school, which was a place full of rich and snobby people, FYI. So she told the odd lie to try and fit in with the popular people. Who hasn't, let's be real. I really rooted for her, and she definitely gains confidence over the course of the book, and she actually has to kinda look out for Mini a bit too! I liked seeing her journey throughout the book, coming to terms with herself and who she is now and so on. She's scared...but that doesn't stop her. I love her narrative voice, and so she was so relatable....like hello Instagram Algorithm that's ruining Bookstagram for everyone...Aru knows. 

I wasn't too sure about Mini at first, but she was actually a lot of fun with her knowledge and her whole "and you COULD DIE" thing. I found her to be quite relatable too, she was also scared, but I really loved watching Mini and Aru bond, and become friends and, well, sisters, and work together to get the job done. I'm looking forward to seeing more of their interactions in the future! 

Along with our girls, we had Subala, their trusty pigeon sidekick who was funny and kind of ridiculous at the same time. There was much snort laughing! We unfortunately also had Arielle, Poppy and Burton, no more of them please. Such nasty children. I've never wanted to punch a fictional 12 year old before. 

We also had an array of Gods and Goddesses and I freaking loved it. You guys know me, I live for mythology and Gods and Godesses, I want to know aaaaallll about them and I'll read anything with mythology..hence you know...why I wanted to read this book! That and well...Roshani was the author so...double need. But the Gods and Goddesses where entertaining, particularly Urvashi and I loved getting to know them and learn about them through Aru! 

Aru Shah and the End of Time is just...amazing. It's got a brilliantly fast pace, you can breeze through this book in one go...like I did because I have no self control. There's plenty of action and humour to go with the mythology, the perfect combination of three of my favourite things in a book! I really, really, loved all the mythology! It was fascinating to read about and it's made me curious to know more so I'm definitely looking forward to Aru's next adventure! 

I don't usually go for Middle Grade, because I'm quite picky, but Aru Shah was a lot of fun, the characters are relatable, and easy to root for as well as being entertaining! Honestly...it's a freaking hilarious read, and it's definitely one for Rick Riordan fans! Aru Shah also leaves you wanting a hell of a lot more, as it ends on a high with a nice little cliffhanger that simultaneously makes you chuckle...but also go..."GIMME THE NEXT BOOK NOW!".