Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Series: Pandava Quartet Book 1
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction
Length: 384 pages
Audiobook Length: 10 hours and 24 minutes
First Published: 2018

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Rachael’s Review

When her classmates call her out for exaggerating, Aru Shah takes a dare to light the cursed Lamp of Bharata at the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture her mother runs. When the lamp releases the Sleeper, an ancient demon set on awakening the God of Destruction, Aru finds herself on an epic quest to save the world.

The Aru Shah series is the equivalent of the Percy Jackson books, but with a female protagonist and Hindi beliefs and mythology. You get the same snarky teenage wit which drives me crazy, but I know kids love. I wouldn’t recommend it for adults to read unless you enjoy middle grade fiction. However, I think it’s a great series to buy for your kids.

Publisher’s Description

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 her 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?