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A review by xavia
Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi
4.0
There's a line in the book that I felt really encompassed this story: There's a reason movies don't always show what happens immediately after a battle ends.
I feel like this line, which in context is probably nothing more than a throw away to lighten the mood after a hard battle, really fits my overall take away from this book. People are so focused on the climax, they pay little attention to the aftermath.
Light spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk!
In this book, we are confronted with two antagonists. Takshaka and Surpanakha. Takshaka holds a grudge against Aru/Arjuna for the destruction of his home and the death of his family. Surpanakha just wants to be remembered for her life as a whole, and not her worst moment. We find out through the course of this book, that both of these figures feature in some way or another in larger stories, but that they are largely overlooked or misrepresented in favor of a larger narrative. Their stories and their pain is not important to the narrative, so it gets pushes aside. Forgotten. Glossed over, just like the aftermath of a battle. I'm not here to defend what they do in this book. They hurt a lot of people. They are undeniably villains. But I get where they are coming from. And I think Aru does too.
That message, that Heroes are not always good and Villains are not always bad, is a prominent theme so far in these books, and I love it. Everything shouldn't be black and white, as it is so often portrayed, so this grey morality, this having to choose to a side, is fantastic. And I think may be building to something bigger later on in the series.
Let's move on though to something else that I loved. The Characters.
This book introduces us to two new characters, Aiden and Brynne. The inclusion of these two characters is fantastic as it gives us more personalities to work with and blend together and make the book feel even more put together. Aru and Mini by themselves are a treat (I would die for Yamini, don't fight me), but Brynne and Aiden were like icing on a cinnamon roll. The roll is good by itself, it certainly doesn't suffer in it's base form, but the addition of icing makes it even better.
We meet Aiden at the end of the last book, and when we first meet him again here, it is wild. Semi-divine, he has access to the Otherworld, and he also has otherworldly good looks (for a reason). Even though he is apparently the Bollywood hero of Aru's dreams, he is also a bit of a nerd, which honestly just makes me think he suits Aru even better. He is always taking pictures of everything around him and is trying to ensure all the girls get along and takes special care to make sure they accept Brynne. I love his characterization, and am interested to see where the books take him going forward (also that end reveal? Delicious.)
Brynne is our second new character, and I love her. Maybe not as much as I love Mini, but that's a high bar. Brynne is crazy strong, super accomplished, and has the appetite of an absolute beast (in a good way). She actually reminds me of my favorite Shadowrun character I've ever created, so I may be a bit biased here. Any way, despite how absolutely epic she is, she suffers from a lot of self esteem and abandonment issues, and I think that twist on her character is fantastic. It's easy to make an absolute unit that is arrogant and dismissive (and indeed Brynne starts off in this very way), but as the story goes forward, you realize that a lot of that is just an act, and what she wants is to be accepted. Just like Aru and Mini.
All in all, I'm really loving this series. Of all the RRP series I've read, I think this is in my top three. This and The Storm Runner (which went absolutely off the rails and I cannot wait for the spin off). What I'm saying is, if you can't read all the RRP books - and that's understandable there are a lot of them - I highly recommend this series be one of the ones you do read.
I feel like this line, which in context is probably nothing more than a throw away to lighten the mood after a hard battle, really fits my overall take away from this book. People are so focused on the climax, they pay little attention to the aftermath.
Light spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk!
In this book, we are confronted with two antagonists. Takshaka and Surpanakha. Takshaka holds a grudge against Aru/Arjuna for the destruction of his home and the death of his family. Surpanakha just wants to be remembered for her life as a whole, and not her worst moment. We find out through the course of this book, that both of these figures feature in some way or another in larger stories, but that they are largely overlooked or misrepresented in favor of a larger narrative. Their stories and their pain is not important to the narrative, so it gets pushes aside. Forgotten. Glossed over, just like the aftermath of a battle. I'm not here to defend what they do in this book. They hurt a lot of people. They are undeniably villains. But I get where they are coming from. And I think Aru does too.
That message, that Heroes are not always good and Villains are not always bad, is a prominent theme so far in these books, and I love it. Everything shouldn't be black and white, as it is so often portrayed, so this grey morality, this having to choose to a side, is fantastic. And I think may be building to something bigger later on in the series.
Let's move on though to something else that I loved. The Characters.
This book introduces us to two new characters, Aiden and Brynne. The inclusion of these two characters is fantastic as it gives us more personalities to work with and blend together and make the book feel even more put together. Aru and Mini by themselves are a treat (I would die for Yamini, don't fight me), but Brynne and Aiden were like icing on a cinnamon roll. The roll is good by itself, it certainly doesn't suffer in it's base form, but the addition of icing makes it even better.
We meet Aiden at the end of the last book, and when we first meet him again here, it is wild. Semi-divine, he has access to the Otherworld, and he also has otherworldly good looks (for a reason). Even though he is apparently the Bollywood hero of Aru's dreams, he is also a bit of a nerd, which honestly just makes me think he suits Aru even better. He is always taking pictures of everything around him and is trying to ensure all the girls get along and takes special care to make sure they accept Brynne. I love his characterization, and am interested to see where the books take him going forward (also that end reveal? Delicious.)
Brynne is our second new character, and I love her. Maybe not as much as I love Mini, but that's a high bar. Brynne is crazy strong, super accomplished, and has the appetite of an absolute beast (in a good way). She actually reminds me of my favorite Shadowrun character I've ever created, so I may be a bit biased here. Any way, despite how absolutely epic she is, she suffers from a lot of self esteem and abandonment issues, and I think that twist on her character is fantastic. It's easy to make an absolute unit that is arrogant and dismissive (and indeed Brynne starts off in this very way), but as the story goes forward, you realize that a lot of that is just an act, and what she wants is to be accepted. Just like Aru and Mini.
All in all, I'm really loving this series. Of all the RRP series I've read, I think this is in my top three. This and The Storm Runner (which went absolutely off the rails and I cannot wait for the spin off). What I'm saying is, if you can't read all the RRP books - and that's understandable there are a lot of them - I highly recommend this series be one of the ones you do read.