Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Quartet, #1)

by Roshani Chokshi

Or sometimes it was just because someone had peed next to her. That was the worst.

This book would be so much stronger and better without cheap lines like this peppered throughout. I feel like an editor told the author she needed to make the story "funnier" and we ended up with interruping, off-key lines like this one stuffed into moments where they 1) don't fit well and 2) diminish the power of the story being told. It's a shame.

and also for the season premiere and finale of Game of Thrones.”

This story would be so much better if it didn't keep debasing itself with stupid lines like this. Plus, this book is clearly aimed at younger MG readers, so this joke isn't even going to land with them. Again, I sense editorial pressure at work here.