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A review by chaosandbooks
The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
3.0
I've been trying to diversify my shelf and read legends/myths/lore from other cultures, especially since the market is a bit saturated with Greek mythology. I thought this would be a good choice and I was pleased with it! The Serpent's Secret is rich in Indian culture, especially Bengali, and was a delightful and refreshing experience.
Kiran is a headstrong princess who is shocked to find out so when her family's lives and her life are put in danger. This is a pretty classic move, but so much more fun when the backstory is revealed. My biggest issue with Kiran is that she's branded as the independent warrior princess and in reality is not really. She's actually quite emotionally strong and intelligent, which I think is just as important with female role models so I'm not sure why the audience is led to believe otherwise. It was a bit annoying at times that she constantly judged the people around her and her inner monologue was repetitive. I know this is a middle grade read, but I think a lot of this could have been solved with finer editing.
The two princes become her travel companions as she attempts to save her parents. Neel and Lal serve as complete opposites and we end up spending much more time with Neel in the end. That's fine, although I wish more time had been given to Lal who is only present for a brief amount of time. The same can be said of Mati.
The adventure itself is quite fun, with a variety of characters/demons. The Serpent King is set up as the big villain although he plays a smaller role with a promising future. This was a bit dismaying given the title, although in hindsight I suppose it makes more sense. Although it is a bit of a marketing misdirection. That being said, there was never a dull moment in the plot itself.
The dialogue is quite believable for the age of the characters and they do in fact act like kids so I appreciated that. My one complaint is that there is a lot of forced humor throughout the book that made for plenty of awkward moments. Most of it could have been done away with or refined for better jokes.
All in all, this was a fun and interesting fantasy read to kick off what I'm sure is a series that gets better as it develops. I plan on reading the rest to see how things go!
Kiran is a headstrong princess who is shocked to find out so when her family's lives and her life are put in danger. This is a pretty classic move, but so much more fun when the backstory is revealed. My biggest issue with Kiran is that she's branded as the independent warrior princess and in reality is not really. She's actually quite emotionally strong and intelligent, which I think is just as important with female role models so I'm not sure why the audience is led to believe otherwise. It was a bit annoying at times that she constantly judged the people around her and her inner monologue was repetitive. I know this is a middle grade read, but I think a lot of this could have been solved with finer editing.
The two princes become her travel companions as she attempts to save her parents. Neel and Lal serve as complete opposites and we end up spending much more time with Neel in the end. That's fine, although I wish more time had been given to Lal who is only present for a brief amount of time. The same can be said of Mati.
The adventure itself is quite fun, with a variety of characters/demons. The Serpent King is set up as the big villain although he plays a smaller role with a promising future. This was a bit dismaying given the title, although in hindsight I suppose it makes more sense. Although it is a bit of a marketing misdirection. That being said, there was never a dull moment in the plot itself.
The dialogue is quite believable for the age of the characters and they do in fact act like kids so I appreciated that. My one complaint is that there is a lot of forced humor throughout the book that made for plenty of awkward moments. Most of it could have been done away with or refined for better jokes.
All in all, this was a fun and interesting fantasy read to kick off what I'm sure is a series that gets better as it develops. I plan on reading the rest to see how things go!