Aru Shah and the Song of Death (Pandava Quartet #2) by Roshani Chokshi

Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi

My Rating: ★★★★★

Aru Shah is trying to get the hang of being a Pandava when someone using her likeness steals the god of love’s bow and arrow. Unable to prove that she’s been framed, Aru, Mini, and the third Pandava are given a new task: retrieve the bow and arrow in ten days or find themselves booted from the Otherworld forever. Overwhelmed, Aru and her soul-sisters team up with a boy assigned to help them and find themselves barely strapped in for a wild ride.

I was very excited when this book dropped earlier this year and I was even more excited when I finally got my hands on it because I absolutely loved the first book in the series. Picking up where the previous book left off, we follow Aru and Mini on their next great adventure. This time, they have a new soul-sister, Brynne, and her best friend Aiden along for the ride. Sadly, Boo is held back as Aru and company are guilty until proven innocent.

The story is fast paced, funny, and has a lot of serious moments as well as moral lessons. It’s a great story that has the potential to be ageless in the same way that Harry Potter is. I love that the theme of this story is to look past the surface because things are not always what they seem, and there’s two sides to every story. It’s an important lesson for people of all ages and it’s something that is seamlessly weaved throughout the book in a way that doesn’t hit its readers over the head.

Roshani gives us such a great cast of characters. Aru is a self-conscious kid who finally feels like she’s apart of something now that it’s been revealed she has one of the Pandava brother’s souls. Like most kids her age, she just wants to fit in, so she feels like she’s finally being seen rather than cast out. Unlike most kids her age, she fears that she will eventually turn on her soul-sisters and work with the Sleeper as was predicted in the previous book. I like Aru. She’s funny, relatable, and has a heart of gold.

Aru’s sister, Mini, is my favorite character. Also a self-conscious kid, Mini is also under an immense amount of pressure by her family. Poor mini is also a huge germaphobe, which makes for great comedy when things get tough. I think she’s my favorite because I relate to her in a lot of ways, especially when I think about how I was as a pre-teen and teenager.

This time around, we have two new characters: Brynne and Aiden. Brynne is the newest soul-sister and she feels like she has a lot to prove, especially because of how she’s been treated all her life. Aiden, Brynne’s best friend and Aru’s neighbor, has everything going for him but he’s got his own hardships that slowly come out as the story continues. I rather like the new additions and I look forward to seeing how their stories develop as the series continues.

My only complaint about this book is that Aru and company do not read as a group of 12-year-olds. In the first installment, there were moments where Aru and Mini read as two 16-year-olds. This time around, if I didn’t know they were supposed to be 12, I would’ve thought they were 16 or 17 because they are much more mature than they should be for the age bracket they’re supposed to be. Otherwise, it’s a great story and I’m already looking forward to the third book.