Aru Shah and the Song of Death

Not too much to say here except that this was fun ride with Aru. I think that Chokshi did a great job with the adventure story-line while still giving a fun flavor to old stories that Aru, Mimi and the newest additions have heard about. We also had a great set-up into the next book as well.

'Aru Shah and the Song of Death" has soul sisters Aru and Mimi trying to track down a thief who stole the god of Love's bow and arrow. Coming across someone that they believe stole it, Aru and Mimi come across the third Pandava,Brynne. After being summoned before the Guardians, the three Pandavas are told either they find out the name of the thief who stole the bow and arrows or they will be banished and the Pandava cycle will have to start again. Boo is also not allowed to help them so the three girls along with Aru's next door neighbor Aiden all have to go and find the bow and arrows before time runs out.

Of course the three girls have trouble ironing things out and working together and it doesn't help that Aru is a little jealous that Brynne appears to be best friends with Aiden, the boy that Aru had a crush on in the last book. Thank goodness that Chokshi doesn't do any of that love triangle nonsense in this book though. We have the three girls slowly learning to trust each other and figuring out more and more how their powers from the brothers work exactly. I thought that Chokshi did a great job with developing not only Aru but everyone else as well.

Aru still doubts herself at times and doesn't feel that confident as a Pandava (very reminiscent of Sailor Moon). Mimi is still obsessed with good hygiene and Brynne seems obsessed with food. I thought Aiden was a nice addition and am interested to see where that whole story-line with his parents is going.

The writing was very good and I laughed at all of the chapter headings. Some of the headings spoiled what was to come though, but still made me crack up. There is also a lot of pop culture references in this which made me laugh (Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Bollywood, etc.). The flow was very good and I enjoyed getting to see more of the world of the Pandava's in this one.

The setting of the Night's Bazaar and other locations have always been my favorite part of this series and the other one that Chokshi wrote (The Star-Touched Queen). We get to see some old and new characters in this one which was good.

The ending left things nice and tidy with a hint of what the next book will be about. I loved that this book was focused on the three girls becoming friends and also family and that Aiden was just all of their friend. Please no love triangle hint or jealousy in the next book. It's refreshing to just see a boy and several girls being friends. ( )

Can I have at least one page without any pop culture reference? ( )

Aru Shah and the Song of Death is the second book in what is planned to be a four-book series, or "Quartet." This exciting continuation of mythology-themed adventure immediately drops readers into the action. Aru Shah and her friend Mini are the reincarnated souls of demigod brothers, the Pandavas, from Hindu mythology. In this new installment, they meet another girl, Brynne, who is also a reincarnated Pandava. (There were five brothers in all, so it makes sense that in future offerings, more Pandavas will be introduced.) Putting aside their initial antagonism, Aru and Mini have to work with Brynne and a classmate, Aiden, to recover a bow and arrow that was stolen from the god of love. This was a fun story, due to be published in April under the "Rick Riordan Presents" imprint. I think this book will definitely appeal to readers of mythology-based fantasy.