BooktubeSFF Awards discussion

Hi all I'm Elena from Booktube Channel Elena Reads Books and I will be leading the read along for Aru Shah and the end of time this month. you are welcome to read however you want but please remember not to include spoilers unless they are hidden. I'm excited to finally get to this one and hear what everyone else thinks along the way.R

Woo! I just finished this one! I definitely do not recommend the audiobook, but I'm curious to hear what other people think of this one especially people who have read Percy Jackson. It has very similar beats to The Lightning Thief with an added Zazu/Mushu-like character.

I did feel like there were too many lines pulled directly from pop culture, but I generally liked the story and main characters, Aru and Mini. Mini was my favorite because I know people just like her in real life. Some of my friends speak Gujarati as well, so it was cool to see that included. I know only very basic stuff about some of the Hindu deities, so I was eating up all the stories woven into this.

Connor, why don’t you recommend the audiobook? I got it from my library and that’s how I was planning to read it!

I'm 100 pages in to this and glad I went with the hardcopy by the sounds of it Connor. I am finding this pretty mediocre and it reminds me in style and tone to Rick Riordan books so it doesn't surprise me that he has blurbed the front cover. I think if it continues this will be an average 3 star (enjoy it while you read it but forget straight after) book

Ok so I'm now up to the 200 page mark and I find myself enjoying it more now that the story has got going a little more. I'm enjoying the relationship that is building between Are and Mini and hearing all about the different gods and stories. I do feel a little overwhelmed by the stories as I have little to no knowledge of them and so it is a lot to take in and I feel I would benefit from knowing these stories in full. In some ways things like that frustrate me as it means I don't have the background knowledge to get the most out of the story but in another way I like that it make me want to go and read up more on these once I've finished.

I am about 100 pages in, and think it's pretty good. It's well paced and has a light tone that fits the material and characters well.

Ok so I have just finished this and I am giving it a 3 star rating. I can see why it made the shortlist given the voters love of Rick Riordan books as it definitely gives me the Percy Jackson vibes with the witty banter and the children of gods quest thing but as someone who finds those books a little formulaic and lacking in variety I found this a little grating at times and so wouldn't be a series I would continue with unfortunately.

I DNF’ed this after about 200 pages. I don’t usually read middle grade novels and I think that was the main issue for me, I just felt like it was aimed at someone much younger than myself (which it was!).

Connor wrote: "I definitely do not recommend the audiobook, but I'm curious to hear what other people think of this one especially people who have read Percy Jackson."

I'm going to be restarting this very soon, but in print. I tried listening to the audiobook last year and simply couldn't take it. There was something about the narrator that didn't work, almost like the characters sound constantly whiny or shrill, when I didn't think it would come across that way in print.

So now I have the ebook and am quite excited to restart it. I haven't read anything with Hindu mythology in years and I don't know much of the legends and myths.

I’m listening to the audiobook for this one. The beginning is definitely cringeworthy, but I think the audiobook gets better toward the middle.

I agree with Conner about the pop culture references. They kind of annoy me. This one feels pretty clique to me, but I’m still enjoying the plot.

I finished it, and thought it was OK. I'm never really sure how to rate middle grade. Aru and Mini are fine as characters, but I didn't think the story was all that interesting. I didn't notice that many pop culture references. I am interested to see that criticism, since it was one of my complaints with Rick Riordan, who I think is on my permanent black list at this point.

I'm just starting this. I tried listening to the audio a few months ago and didn't really like Aru, maybe reading physically will be better :)

I'm starting this tomorrow!

So I'm about 50 pages in, and so far I'm not engaged by the story at all. I don't really like Aru - she may grow on me, but I like Mini! The plot hasn't really started yet, mostly just the introduction of the quest, so hopefully I become more engaged as I read!

This was a cute read but I think because am a 29 year old reading it I didn’t connect with the story as much. I found the mythology that this story was based on was interesting but it felt just like a redone version of Percy Jackson to me.

I just finished this, and it was okay. I ended up enjoying the story but it took a bit for me to get into. I like the two other contenders much more for the middle grade category.

Just finished this! It wasn't my favorite, as the humor didn't click with me for the most part. I would say this is a younger middle grade book for sure. It was ok for me! I seriously doubt that it will get my vote in this category.