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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
The latest entry in the Rick Riordan Presents series, Sarwat Chadda's City of the Plague God introduces us to Sikander Aziz, younger son of Iraqi refugee parents, and his kind-of-friend Belet, adopted daughter of the goddess Ishtar. Sikander, whose parents run a popular Arabic/Mediterranean deli, misses his older brother Mo, who recently passed away. Sik is only thirteen but is a very responsible young man, who helps his parents run their business in lower Manhattan. Imagine his shock when the Mesopotamian god Nergal shows up with some demons (one of which speaks entirely in rhyming couplets) claiming that Sik has something that his brother Mo stole! Saved by the feisty Belet, the adopted daughter of Ishtar, goddess of love and war, Sik embarks, rather unwillingly, on an adventure to save Manhattan, his parents, and his friends, from Nergal the Plague God, whose plague dogs run rampant in the city Sik loves.
Chadda has written a well-paced and truly fascinating tale using Gilgamesh and the gods and goddesses of Mesopotamian mythology. He also manages to reframe aspects of Arabic and Islamic culture in ways that are instructive for teaching tolerance and understanding. (In particular, I loved his use of common Islamic terms that are all too often misused or misconstrued, such as jihad, a righteous struggle that is often personal.) Chadda touches on the prejudice and bullying that Sik has had to put up with, though Sik is rather inured to it at this point. But this story makes young readers identify strongly with Sikander, his love of family and his feelings of loss for his brother. Belet is also a fabulous, fearless character. I hope that we will see more novels from Chadda in this world. This novel, begun before the start of the pandemic, encourages young people to be strong in the face of our present adversity.
The audiobook, narrated by Vikas Adam, was delightful.
I received an advance review copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Chadda has written a well-paced and truly fascinating tale using Gilgamesh and the gods and goddesses of Mesopotamian mythology. He also manages to reframe aspects of Arabic and Islamic culture in ways that are instructive for teaching tolerance and understanding. (In particular, I loved his use of common Islamic terms that are all too often misused or misconstrued, such as jihad, a righteous struggle that is often personal.) Chadda touches on the prejudice and bullying that Sik has had to put up with, though Sik is rather inured to it at this point. But this story makes young readers identify strongly with Sikander, his love of family and his feelings of loss for his brother. Belet is also a fabulous, fearless character. I hope that we will see more novels from Chadda in this world. This novel, begun before the start of the pandemic, encourages young people to be strong in the face of our present adversity.
The audiobook, narrated by Vikas Adam, was delightful.
I received an advance review copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
challenging
funny
fast-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
Star Rating: 4.5 Stars
Due to my love of learning about new cultures, I try to read every Rick Riordan Presents book that comes out because it is a good way to get a basic knowledge of another culture and then, if you want to learn more, you can do more research and find more books about the people/culture. With that being said, I recently picked up City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda, the 1st Rick Riordan Presents release for 2021. This book tells the story of Sikander Aziz, a 13-year-old Muslim Iraqi American boy, as he struggles to find his place in the world. His parents and his brother are all refugees from the Iraqi War, but he was born in the United States, so he doesn't feel as if he has a right to join in on their discussions about their homeland and his brother is the "prefect" son completing countless humanitarian efforts and being top of his class while all Sik wants to do is help run his family's deli, so he constantly feels like he is living in his brother's shadow.
My favorite thing about this book was the characters, especially Sik as I related to him a lot. Sik lost his brother who he looked up to at an early age and now feels like his entire life is dictated by that event. As someone who has lost someone really close to them (my father) at a pivotal point in my life, I totally relate to Sik and his feeling of responsibility as well as feeling stuck. On that same note, I also related to Belet's habit of not wanting to show emotion in public because she feels that it is a sign of weakness. It was really exciting to see grief portrayed in this way as it isn't common, and it was nice to see myself on the page.
With the culture that this book is focused on (Muslim/Middle East), it shouldn't be a surprise that one of the major themes is war: the reasons for it, what happens during it, and how people are affected by them and recover from him. With my background in history and anthropology, I have a very different viewpoint of war than "normal" people, but I did enjoy seeing war from a different perspective.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading more set in this world if there is any. 4. 5 stars!!!!!!!
Due to my love of learning about new cultures, I try to read every Rick Riordan Presents book that comes out because it is a good way to get a basic knowledge of another culture and then, if you want to learn more, you can do more research and find more books about the people/culture. With that being said, I recently picked up City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda, the 1st Rick Riordan Presents release for 2021. This book tells the story of Sikander Aziz, a 13-year-old Muslim Iraqi American boy, as he struggles to find his place in the world. His parents and his brother are all refugees from the Iraqi War, but he was born in the United States, so he doesn't feel as if he has a right to join in on their discussions about their homeland and his brother is the "prefect" son completing countless humanitarian efforts and being top of his class while all Sik wants to do is help run his family's deli, so he constantly feels like he is living in his brother's shadow.
My favorite thing about this book was the characters, especially Sik as I related to him a lot. Sik lost his brother who he looked up to at an early age and now feels like his entire life is dictated by that event. As someone who has lost someone really close to them (my father) at a pivotal point in my life, I totally relate to Sik and his feeling of responsibility as well as feeling stuck. On that same note, I also related to Belet's habit of not wanting to show emotion in public because she feels that it is a sign of weakness. It was really exciting to see grief portrayed in this way as it isn't common, and it was nice to see myself on the page.
With the culture that this book is focused on (Muslim/Middle East), it shouldn't be a surprise that one of the major themes is war: the reasons for it, what happens during it, and how people are affected by them and recover from him. With my background in history and anthropology, I have a very different viewpoint of war than "normal" people, but I did enjoy seeing war from a different perspective.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading more set in this world if there is any. 4. 5 stars!!!!!!!
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
I really liked the idea of this story, but it just takes a really long time for things ti start happening.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
medium-paced
I can see why this is marketed as "Rick Riordan presents:" as it's a book for middle grade readers in much the same vein as Riordan's demigods books. Sikander Aziz is just a thirteen year old kid, with Iranian parents, trying to help his family run their deli, when he gets embroiled in a conflict between Mesopotamian gods. What does it say about me that I know more about Nergal and Ishtar than Gilgamesh?
The timing on this one is a bit hard. Apparently the book was written in 2018 but was only coming into print in 2021, which was a pretty on-the-nose time to be selling a book about plagues. The energy in this book is very similar to Riordan's stuff, and it's obvious when it sidesteps issues that younger readers might not be interested in. Managing to tell a story about a war god, refugees, orphans, and some grizzly disease and death stories, in a way that pulls its punches just enough that it is still an exciting and inspirational story for young readers, is quite artful. I am impressed. I wish I liked battles more.
I was worried that it was going to be all fighting and glorifying violence, but the story takes a subversive turn and sets the heroes at finding better ways to solve problems. Given that the main character is Muslim, I thought it was a particularly daring touch to hint that a couple of the characters are gay. Romance does not feature in this story, as it's an adventure for pre-teens.
A mix of scary, and magic, and cats, and visiting the afterlife, community gardens, male-modelling, and saving a Manhattan deli.
The timing on this one is a bit hard. Apparently the book was written in 2018 but was only coming into print in 2021, which was a pretty on-the-nose time to be selling a book about plagues. The energy in this book is very similar to Riordan's stuff, and it's obvious when it sidesteps issues that younger readers might not be interested in. Managing to tell a story about a war god, refugees, orphans, and some grizzly disease and death stories, in a way that pulls its punches just enough that it is still an exciting and inspirational story for young readers, is quite artful. I am impressed. I wish I liked battles more.
I was worried that it was going to be all fighting and glorifying violence, but the story takes a subversive turn and sets the heroes at finding better ways to solve problems. Given that the main character is Muslim, I thought it was a particularly daring touch to hint that a couple of the characters are gay. Romance does not feature in this story, as it's an adventure for pre-teens.
A mix of scary, and magic, and cats, and visiting the afterlife, community gardens, male-modelling, and saving a Manhattan deli.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Islamophobia, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent
Old school, old deities and new heroes. Truly awesome story
DNF.
Started out really strong, but references to historical events/literature is just too frequent for kids to really understand. Anthony & Cleopatra, Napoleon & Josephine, Spanish Flu, Battle of Troy, etc.
Would definitely be interested in reading adult or YA books by this author.
Started out really strong, but references to historical events/literature is just too frequent for kids to really understand. Anthony & Cleopatra, Napoleon & Josephine, Spanish Flu, Battle of Troy, etc.
Would definitely be interested in reading adult or YA books by this author.
Find this review and more on my blog at Worlds Unlike Our Own.
Thank you to the publisher, Disney Publishing Worldwide, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Sikander Aziz’s normal life is turned upside down when one night, as he is working late at his family’s deli, he is attacked by demons who believe he holds the secret to immortality. He is saved by the unexpected appearance of a ninja – who he later finds out is his classmate, Belet, the adopted daughter of the goddess Ishtar – but the deli, his family’s livelihood is completely destroyed. Things only get worse as Nergal, the god who commands the demons, starts a disease in Manhattan – and the first to be affected are Sik’s own parents. Now Sik and Belet must go on a quest to find the Flower of Immortality before all of Manhattan is wiped out by the plague.
This will be a shorter review because when it comes to middle grade novels, I have a tendency to give away too much of the plot. I’ve been following the various Rick Riordan Presents series for some time now, but this is the only one apart from Aru Shah that I’ve actually picked up. My interest in mythology has largely been towards Greek, Roman, Egyptian and of course, Indian. Mesopotamian mythology, on the other hand, is one I have nearly no knowledge of beyond what we learnt during ancient civilizations in school.
This was a pretty fast paced book and full of adventure right from the very beginning. The pacing of the book doesn’t leave too much time for character development or backstories, but I liked how that was built up in bits and pieces over the course of the book, particularly with regards to Sik’s brother Mo. The mythological aspects were interesting, but I got the feeling I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had some background as the story doesn’t go into too much depth in that aspect. The good thing though, is that it’s possible to follow along and enjoy the story even if you are completely new to the topic.
Sik is an excellent main character and it was nice to see for once, a hero without any special powers and only fighting with the determination to save his family. He has experienced a significant loss in life and this book takes the time to focus on his grief, and how he is working through it which is not typically a topic touched upon in middle-grade novels. I did feel however, that the story took too much time to get to the point with the real quest coming into play only in the last quarter of the book – also making the quest itself much shorter than I would have liked, and giving the overall plot a less structured feel.
Overall, this was a fun read and a solid debut, and one I would definitely recommend!
Thank you to the publisher, Disney Publishing Worldwide, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Sikander Aziz’s normal life is turned upside down when one night, as he is working late at his family’s deli, he is attacked by demons who believe he holds the secret to immortality. He is saved by the unexpected appearance of a ninja – who he later finds out is his classmate, Belet, the adopted daughter of the goddess Ishtar – but the deli, his family’s livelihood is completely destroyed. Things only get worse as Nergal, the god who commands the demons, starts a disease in Manhattan – and the first to be affected are Sik’s own parents. Now Sik and Belet must go on a quest to find the Flower of Immortality before all of Manhattan is wiped out by the plague.
This will be a shorter review because when it comes to middle grade novels, I have a tendency to give away too much of the plot. I’ve been following the various Rick Riordan Presents series for some time now, but this is the only one apart from Aru Shah that I’ve actually picked up. My interest in mythology has largely been towards Greek, Roman, Egyptian and of course, Indian. Mesopotamian mythology, on the other hand, is one I have nearly no knowledge of beyond what we learnt during ancient civilizations in school.
This was a pretty fast paced book and full of adventure right from the very beginning. The pacing of the book doesn’t leave too much time for character development or backstories, but I liked how that was built up in bits and pieces over the course of the book, particularly with regards to Sik’s brother Mo. The mythological aspects were interesting, but I got the feeling I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had some background as the story doesn’t go into too much depth in that aspect. The good thing though, is that it’s possible to follow along and enjoy the story even if you are completely new to the topic.
Sik is an excellent main character and it was nice to see for once, a hero without any special powers and only fighting with the determination to save his family. He has experienced a significant loss in life and this book takes the time to focus on his grief, and how he is working through it which is not typically a topic touched upon in middle-grade novels. I did feel however, that the story took too much time to get to the point with the real quest coming into play only in the last quarter of the book – also making the quest itself much shorter than I would have liked, and giving the overall plot a less structured feel.
Overall, this was a fun read and a solid debut, and one I would definitely recommend!