Kiran thought she had a normal life. Until on her twelfth birthday she finds out she's an Indian princess. How does she find this out? When her parents are captured and two princes crash into her yard to help her. Her whole life is thrown upside down when she is told that she was adopted when her birth mother sent her to Earth so she could escape the clutches of her father - the Serpent King. Kiran is introduced to a whole new world with magic and fantasy creatures. This book was filled with adventure and lots of surprises along the way. One of my favorite parts about this book was the uniqueness of the concept. I learned a lot of new things about Japanese mythology and culture. Some of the words were unfamiliar to me, but I eventually figured out what they meant. Overall, this is a pretty good middle grade read. I would caution younger readers that there are some darker action scenes, specifically those that involve the Rackosh, the Serpent King and the demons. Because of those scenes, I would rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.
The Serpent's Secret (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #1)
By Sayantani DasGupta
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 4 - 8 | Grade 6 | n/a | 5.2 | 63503 |
INTERDIMENSIONAL DEMON SLAYER
(Only she doesn't know it yet.)
On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Kiranmala is just a regular sixth grader living in Parsippany, New Jersey . . . until her parents mysteriously vanish and a drooling rakkhosh demon slams through her kitchen, determined to eat her alive. Turns out there might be some truth to her parents' fantastical stories-like how Kiranmala is a real Indian princess and how she comes from a secret place not of this world.
To complicate matters, two crush-worthy princes ring her doorbell, insisting they've come to rescue her. Suddenly, Kiran is swept into another dimension full of magic, winged horses, moving maps, and annoying, talking birds. There she must solve riddles and battle demons all while avoiding the Serpent King of the underworld and the Rakkhoshi Queen in order to find her parents and basically save New Jersey, her entire world, and everything beyond it . . .
Book Reviews (28)
This book is awesome! As she grows up Kiranmala is told stories of Rackosh and told she is a princess which she doesn't believe until on her birthday her parents disappear and 2 princes show up and so does a Rackosh. The princes Lal and Neel "save her" from the Rackosh and take her to there home to help her find her parents. Along the way Neel and Kiranmala have to save Lal and their friend Mati and as they do they have to defeat Rackosh and The Serpent King. I recommend this book to anyone who loves magic and friendship!
In The Serpents Secret, Kiranmala is celebrating her 12th birthday, despite having who she thinks are the weirdest parents in the world. They are always calling her a princess and telling her stories about their heritage. Suddenly, she is attacked by a Rakkosh, and two princes swoop in to "save the day". Kiranmala is whisked away into a strange, magical world, where she is confronted by all sorts of monsters! I would personally recommend this book to anyone . It's full of excitement, and magic. So if you are into that kind of thing, Kiranmala And The Kingdom Beyond is right up your alley!
The Serpent's Secret: Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond is an incredible book! Kiranmala is a seemingly regular 6th grader with Indian heritage who has seemingly regular parents who love to embarrass her. Kiran's parents have always told her that Kiran was a real Indian princess who was the daughter of an underworld serpent king and a moon maiden whom they had found floating in a clay pot down the river of dreams, and about deadly rakkosh demons that princes would slay. But none of those stories were actually real, right? How could they be? But on Kiran's 12th birthday, which is also Halloween, everything changes. Kiran notices that her parents aren't home when she gets back from school, and they always had made a point to be home for her birthday! She thought that maybe it was a joke, until she saw a birthday card on the floor. She opens it and reads the mysterious message from her parents about "trusting princes" and "not letting rakkosh in the house." But before she has time to let that process in her mind, she hears a knock at the door. She had forgotten that it was Halloween! As she opened the door to greet the trick-or-treaters, she gets a surprise: two handsome princes, Lal and Neel, who claim that they are going to take her to find her parents. Were these the princes that her parents had mentioned in the card? But the surprises didn't stop there. As she steps outside, she hears a crash behind her... a rakkosh!? With help from the princes, she stops the rakkosh from eating them before she is whisked away on flying horses, whom Kiran instantly loves! Kiran is beginning to realize the stories she had heard were actually true! They fly into another dimension, where the princes were from, to get Kiran's parents back. But when they get back to the castle, Lal and his stable-hand friend Mati are suddenly transformed into gold and silver spheres by an evil rakkoshi queen! Kiran and Neel journey through the dimension following a prophecy from an oracle bird to find Kiran's parents and free Lal and Mati. With encounters with the underworld serpent king and many rakkosh, it's a crazy journey. But will Kiran find her parents and free Lal and Mati? One thing's for sure, it'll be an unforgettable adventure! This book was AMAZING! I loved it so much! The author Sayantani DasGupta was a very descriptive and interesting author. I learned a lot about Indian culture and folk stories, and was hooked from the beginning to the end of this awesome book! This book was filled with adventure, action, and suspense with a tad of romance added in for a great combination for this extremely good novel! I recommend this ages 4th grade and up. I can't wait for the next book to come out! 5/5 star rating!
Rakkhosh, Serpent Kings, Moon Maidens, twin princes from a land universes away, and a girl from New Jersey who THOUGHT her biggest obstacle was getting through middle school without crying. This book was new, fresh, and revolutionary! Sayantani Dasgupta has made an unforgettable addition to the world of books! You'll fly through it like Kiran and Neel fly through the sky on pakkhiraj horses and practically drive you mad waiting for the next book to come out!
''But it wasn't until that fateful twelfth birthday that I really understood why.''- Kiranmala was just a regular sixth grader living in Parsippany, New Jersey growing with awesome stories about rakkhosh. Then, on her birthday, also the same day of Halloween, she came home to find that her strange and different parents were gone. They had left a note for her when she came back from school. The handwriting was very unlike her mom's precise handwriting. It mentioned ''Whatever you do, do not let any rakkhosh into the house. It also mentioned that a magical spell protected them all has been broken, and to trust the princes. Kiran couldn't believe her parents would forget her on her special day.. and where did they go, anyway? But they left her cookies for the trick-or-treaters, "nut and gluten-free, lactose-free milk obtained humanely from free-range cows." Classic. Then, the trick-or-treaters come. Her second guests surprised her. They were actual princes. Soon enough after the confusion, the rakkhosh come into her house from the back. It turns out these princes know where her parents are and are willing to help her save them. Will Kiran trust them and help to get her parents back? This book is amazing, and it reminds me of the Percy Jackson series. I rate this book 5/5 and recommend it to action readers, Percy Jackson readers, and mythical fiction readers. I think the author really put effort into this book, and the introduction got me hooked. I think that ages 9 and up would love this book.
"Neel! Help me," Kiran cried just as her head went under the river in the valley of demons. Kinranmala - nicknamed Kiran - refused to believe that her parents weren't home on her birthday. They never even went to work on her birthday. She heard someone knocking on the front door and then it to two handsome young boys. She never expected them to tell her that she was a princess and that these boys were princes or that her parents were kidnapped by dangerous creatures. Almost immediately, Kiran sets off on an adventure of a lifetime. After a series of killing monsters finally reaches her parents saving them just in time. But in the process, one of the poor brothers, Lal, went missing into the unknown. Will Prince Neel and Princess Kiran be able to bring him back? Sayantani DasGupta's The Serpent's Secret is an amazing combination of Soman Chainani's The School of Good and Evil and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series. You will be internally screaming and tearing your hair out at every turn just when you think things are getting better. Overall, this book earns an A for romance and everything beyond that.
Thus is cool!!!!