Reviews

Aru Shah and the City of Gold by Roshani Chokshi

Only show reviews with written explanations

fiona_sailer's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

bookishbrainfart's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

crosswarrior7's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

❧ Aru Shah is supposedly no longer the only daughter of the Sleeper, and now she and her new sister must team up with her others to try to stop the Sleeper in yet another attack on the Otherworld. This time, he is targeting Lanka, the City of Gold. Coincidentally, the Pandavas (and adjacent) are heading that way anyway to receive a great army promised to them. The catch? They must face trials set before them by the god over the city. There will be more trials than just those, though, including the struggles within Aru herself as she continues to ask: just whose side is truly right?

❧ I am gonna admit by the time I’m getting around to writing this, I’ve already finished reading the next book, so it may be shorter and stuff. Which may also be better because how awesome can I just keep screaming the same thing?

Aru is a wonderful chaotic gremlin. Aiden is a great emo artist grandma. Mini is such a wonderful mom friend who knows a thousand ways to die (and maybe kill you). And Brynne is just a cyclone in human form WHO MAKES FOOD! Plus. Like. You have the ridiculous snake prince Rudy with his awesome stones and now Kara with all her awesome word facts and the angst with her. Then the fabulous dream twins. Like, just all these amazing characters!

Plus, again, how many times can I just yell about this book exploring the greys of good and evil? It elevates that with the addition of the second Sleeper daughter, the struggle of Boo’s betrayal, Aru’s growing distrust in the side she’s on, and it’s just SO SO GOOD, GAAH. Also, the moment the thing happens in the middle of the battle, I wanted to sob, because no??? You can’t just do that??? Thankfully, it all ended well.

❧ There was a twist in this book, and it was one I saw coming. This does not make it a bad twist, though, but one set up well. It had a nice tie in to mythology and the Pandava story and built on themes already present in the series.

I do think, however, that a bit too much of a connection was built between the Pandavas and this new enemy for the ‘twist’ to feel organic. There was a timeskip that felt like it hindered the twist rather than helped it, because when the event occurred, it felt like it should have taken a bit more convincing than it did.

But a bit of the ship I have (as much as one can ship when it comes with MG) started to progress, so there is that! Even if it was just used to stir that pot that felt a little bit forced in its stir...

❧ All in all, the series continues to be amazing, with each new addition building upon an excellent series, fantastic themes, delicious struggles, and fantastically lovable characters, all leading up to the next and final installment!