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4.44 AVERAGE
4.44 AVERAGE
wtf am i supposed to do now that i’m done w this series???
Reliably wonderful. Great ending to a fabulous series.
❧ The final installment finds Aru Shah and the other Pandavas on the back foot. The Sleeper and Kara know where the nectar of immortality is while the Pandavas are weaponless. The Pandavas have formulated a plan, though. It will require going through trials that really test who they are, but they have no other choice. They have to reach the nectar of immortality and defeat the Sleeper. But the time for Aru to make her final decision quickly approaches, and with her complicated emotions toward her father, it will take more than godly strength and weapons to win the war.
❧ This finale left me mostly content. I feel like there’s some things left hanging that could be picked up and expanded upon, to the point I’m disappointed this is the end for more than it just being the end, but otherwise...
I LOVED IT! All my beloved characters getting to be their amazing selves while facing their last great challenges, all while interweaving the amazing Hindu culture, the juicy moral dilemmas, the heart-warming sister bond. The series has continued to be amazing, and this book just delivered what the ones prior to it have had.
We also get more PoVs for this book than we have the earlier ones, which only continues to further it in amazingness, because I loved getting to see more from these characters I already loved. This book also did another thing I adore: tackling the weaknesses of characters. Like, that was a major arc for this entire book and a focal point of the PoVs, and it was glorious.
❧ The end result of the question that has been plaguing Aru since the start was what I expected, but again left much room for further exploration should Chokshi decide to dabble in this world a bit more. Which, like, I am all here for, just saying.
I can see people being conflicted with the resolution of the big baddie, which I would fully understand. A lot of stuff happened behind the scenes which led to one character’s actions, and a character readers may have expected to act more in the end plot didn’t. It bothered me a little as well, but not enough that I disliked the ending. Just enough that I went “huh” about it but could still move along well enough.
The struggle within Aru continued to be very heartfelt and hard, though, and enjoyable to read up to the end. Having the villain be her father never felt like it was forgotten about or brushed to the side, and it always carried a weight for the character, and it just made the narrative more compelling and her character arc more enjoyable. It also made her moral struggle feel more believable because she had even more reason to see the opposite side.
❧ Overall, this was a fantastic series. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves mythology-based series like Percy Jackson, adventurous MG fantasy tales with lots of great humor and heart, and just wants to have a great time. In the end will still be 4 stars because, well, still an adult who can’t help but be pulled out a bit by the kiddish moments, but I think if I had read this when I was younger, this would have been a solid 5 stars that would have had the same nostalgic love as PJO.
❧ This finale left me mostly content. I feel like there’s some things left hanging that could be picked up and expanded upon, to the point I’m disappointed this is the end for more than it just being the end, but otherwise...
I LOVED IT! All my beloved characters getting to be their amazing selves while facing their last great challenges, all while interweaving the amazing Hindu culture, the juicy moral dilemmas, the heart-warming sister bond. The series has continued to be amazing, and this book just delivered what the ones prior to it have had.
We also get more PoVs for this book than we have the earlier ones, which only continues to further it in amazingness, because I loved getting to see more from these characters I already loved. This book also did another thing I adore: tackling the weaknesses of characters. Like, that was a major arc for this entire book and a focal point of the PoVs, and it was glorious.
❧ The end result of the question that has been plaguing Aru since the start was what I expected, but again left much room for further exploration should Chokshi decide to dabble in this world a bit more. Which, like, I am all here for, just saying.
I can see people being conflicted with the resolution of the big baddie, which I would fully understand. A lot of stuff happened behind the scenes which led to one character’s actions, and a character readers may have expected to act more in the end plot didn’t. It bothered me a little as well, but not enough that I disliked the ending. Just enough that I went “huh” about it but could still move along well enough.
The struggle within Aru continued to be very heartfelt and hard, though, and enjoyable to read up to the end. Having the villain be her father never felt like it was forgotten about or brushed to the side, and it always carried a weight for the character, and it just made the narrative more compelling and her character arc more enjoyable. It also made her moral struggle feel more believable because she had even more reason to see the opposite side.
❧ Overall, this was a fantastic series. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves mythology-based series like Percy Jackson, adventurous MG fantasy tales with lots of great humor and heart, and just wants to have a great time. In the end will still be 4 stars because, well, still an adult who can’t help but be pulled out a bit by the kiddish moments, but I think if I had read this when I was younger, this would have been a solid 5 stars that would have had the same nostalgic love as PJO.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Star Rating: 4.5 stars
Note: This is the 5th and final book in the Pandava series by Roshani Chokshi so this will not be an in-depth review.
As most of my followers know, I have a complex reading schedule that I keep up with so that I don’t lose track of all the series and TBRs that I am trying to make my way through. However, I do allow space for new releases, especially if they are releases in series that I am trying to complete, and that’s the case with Aru Shah and the Nectar or Immortality by Roshani Chokshi, the 5th and final book in the Pandava series. This book wraps up the story of Aru Shah and her friends as they struggle to fulfill their destiny.
My favorite part of this book and honestly, the series in general, was the themes that Chokshi explores over the course of it. In this one, she chooses the generational trauma that many ethnic and immigrant populations must deal with as well as the pressures that parents put on their children because of it and the importance of story/legend/mythos in concern to the previous topics. Although, most immigrant societies have had trauma in their past, most of the time said trauma leading to them immigrating in the first place, India is a particularly catastrophic example with repeated instances of colonialism and cultural subversion that leads to India being a complex patchwork with multiple different cultures and religions existing in one space, and sometimes, warring against each other, but Chokshi doesn’t stop there, instead she takes it one step further, and discusses the effect that this has one on her young characters, particularly when it comes to the stress that parents, often in response to the trauma, put on their children, whether intentional or not, and she does this mostly through the motif of Hindu mythos/story/legend. Although, I haven’t gone through this experience myself, I think it is a good topic for young readers/people to be introduced to, whether it be because they can relate due to personal experience or because it can help them understand what their friends and peers may be going through.
I also really enjoyed her exploration of the motif of heroism as our characters encounter a lot of individuals that due to their stories or actions may be seen as villains or may even have had their stories/actions erased in order to give heroes more influence, whether it was intentional or not. Although, I can’t spoil how this exploration affects the plot of the story because of spoilers, I will say how our characters handles this motif and its repercussions was one of the things I loved most about this book.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although it wasn’t my favorite in the series, mostly since I honestly don’t understand the point of the character of Kara. Personally, to me, she does not need to be present in the narrative as everything that Chokshi explores with her character could have been addressed within another character, in my opinion, Aru, and it would make a lot more sense within the narrative, but other than that, this book was amazing. 4.5 stars!!!!!
Note: This is the 5th and final book in the Pandava series by Roshani Chokshi so this will not be an in-depth review.
As most of my followers know, I have a complex reading schedule that I keep up with so that I don’t lose track of all the series and TBRs that I am trying to make my way through. However, I do allow space for new releases, especially if they are releases in series that I am trying to complete, and that’s the case with Aru Shah and the Nectar or Immortality by Roshani Chokshi, the 5th and final book in the Pandava series. This book wraps up the story of Aru Shah and her friends as they struggle to fulfill their destiny.
My favorite part of this book and honestly, the series in general, was the themes that Chokshi explores over the course of it. In this one, she chooses the generational trauma that many ethnic and immigrant populations must deal with as well as the pressures that parents put on their children because of it and the importance of story/legend/mythos in concern to the previous topics. Although, most immigrant societies have had trauma in their past, most of the time said trauma leading to them immigrating in the first place, India is a particularly catastrophic example with repeated instances of colonialism and cultural subversion that leads to India being a complex patchwork with multiple different cultures and religions existing in one space, and sometimes, warring against each other, but Chokshi doesn’t stop there, instead she takes it one step further, and discusses the effect that this has one on her young characters, particularly when it comes to the stress that parents, often in response to the trauma, put on their children, whether intentional or not, and she does this mostly through the motif of Hindu mythos/story/legend. Although, I haven’t gone through this experience myself, I think it is a good topic for young readers/people to be introduced to, whether it be because they can relate due to personal experience or because it can help them understand what their friends and peers may be going through.
I also really enjoyed her exploration of the motif of heroism as our characters encounter a lot of individuals that due to their stories or actions may be seen as villains or may even have had their stories/actions erased in order to give heroes more influence, whether it was intentional or not. Although, I can’t spoil how this exploration affects the plot of the story because of spoilers, I will say how our characters handles this motif and its repercussions was one of the things I loved most about this book.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although it wasn’t my favorite in the series, mostly since I honestly don’t understand the point of the character of Kara. Personally, to me, she does not need to be present in the narrative as everything that Chokshi explores with her character could have been addressed within another character, in my opinion, Aru, and it would make a lot more sense within the narrative, but other than that, this book was amazing. 4.5 stars!!!!!
I can’t believe I’m DNFing at the last book but I just have little desire to pick this up / continue on.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As upset as I am that this series is over, this was by far the best book in the series and a very satisfying conclusion. The characters, as always, were fantastic and interacted very well with one another, but there was a certain depth to the character's relationships to each other that was so special in this installment specifically. Contrary to most of the books in this series, there weren't any major new additions to the main group of characters, so it skipped the awkward adjustment period that was in some of the other books. The characters all had enough history to have meaningful relationships, but through it all they maintained a sense of companionship. They never felt fractured as a group.
The plot was as strong in this book as it was in the rest of the books in the series. It is always a little bittersweet to end a series, and especially in a series like this one where the characters are so easy to get attached to, no ending will ever truly satisfy. That being said, the ending of this book felt realistic and it really did wrap up all of the different things going on. I do want more of these characters, but I don't feel like I'm missing something the way the ending played out. I think it also goes without saying that the mythology elements of the story were weaved into the plot perfectly, as always.
I have an endless amount of love for this series and cannot recommend it enough. Of course, read the series in order, but don't skip the conclusion. This book, and this series as a whole, is truly exceptional.
The plot was as strong in this book as it was in the rest of the books in the series. It is always a little bittersweet to end a series, and especially in a series like this one where the characters are so easy to get attached to, no ending will ever truly satisfy. That being said, the ending of this book felt realistic and it really did wrap up all of the different things going on. I do want more of these characters, but I don't feel like I'm missing something the way the ending played out. I think it also goes without saying that the mythology elements of the story were weaved into the plot perfectly, as always.
I have an endless amount of love for this series and cannot recommend it enough. Of course, read the series in order, but don't skip the conclusion. This book, and this series as a whole, is truly exceptional.