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A review by chaptersofmads
Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality by Roshani Chokshi
3.5
“There is more than one kind of darkness, and none is darker than doubt, for the light required to illuminate it belongs not to a jewel or a flame, but your very soul.”
A nice conclusion to a really fun middle grade series.
In terms of using middle grade fantasy to teach about complicated emotions, no one is doing it like Roshani Chokshi. There were so many moments in this series where she deftly explained/sorted through a character's emotions in a way that would make kids feel seen/understood and this installment is no different.
The core of this novel is Aru not truly knowing what she's fighting for anymore or if there's even any reason for her to fight at all. There are lot of other things that go into it, but throughout the story she's consistently been shown that the world isn't quite as easily divided as she had once assumed.
For a finale, I felt like this fell a bit flat. The pacing felt a bit slow and I never felt the urgency of this being the final book where everything finally comes to a head. In fact, the final battles felt kind of lackluster compared to previous installments.
That isn't to say this was a bad finale or that we receive no closure, because that's not the case. There are a lot of bittersweet moments sprinkled in and I do appreciate the fact I didn't feel like the author was beating me in the head with the 'remember! everything is ending! look at where they started! remember the first time they met each other?' stick that a lot of authors use because that's my mortal enemy lol.
It just felt a bit... empty, for the last book, I guess?
I will say! (without spoilers) I loved the creative choices made about certain characters at the end. It was messy and painful, while ultimately hope-filled and I was so happy to see that was the direction it went in.
Overall, like I said, this was a nice conclusion. This is genuinely a really good middle grade series and I completely recommend it to anyone looking for a good series for a kid in their life (or that just wants to revisit the nostalgic vibes of MG fantasy.)
A nice conclusion to a really fun middle grade series.
In terms of using middle grade fantasy to teach about complicated emotions, no one is doing it like Roshani Chokshi. There were so many moments in this series where she deftly explained/sorted through a character's emotions in a way that would make kids feel seen/understood and this installment is no different.
The core of this novel is Aru not truly knowing what she's fighting for anymore or if there's even any reason for her to fight at all. There are lot of other things that go into it, but throughout the story she's consistently been shown that the world isn't quite as easily divided as she had once assumed.
For a finale, I felt like this fell a bit flat. The pacing felt a bit slow and I never felt the urgency of this being the final book where everything finally comes to a head. In fact, the final battles felt kind of lackluster compared to previous installments.
That isn't to say this was a bad finale or that we receive no closure, because that's not the case. There are a lot of bittersweet moments sprinkled in and I do appreciate the fact I didn't feel like the author was beating me in the head with the 'remember! everything is ending! look at where they started! remember the first time they met each other?' stick that a lot of authors use because that's my mortal enemy lol.
It just felt a bit... empty, for the last book, I guess?
I will say! (without spoilers) I loved the creative choices made about certain characters at the end. It was messy and painful, while ultimately hope-filled and I was so happy to see that was the direction it went in.
Overall, like I said, this was a nice conclusion. This is genuinely a really good middle grade series and I completely recommend it to anyone looking for a good series for a kid in their life (or that just wants to revisit the nostalgic vibes of MG fantasy.)