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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
i’m biased towards all these rick riordan presents stuff
This book definitely fit under the Rick Riordan Presents label because I was getting definite Latinx Percy Jackson vibes in this book.
Zane's always had trouble with bullies because one of his legs is shorter than the other. He got his mom to agree to homeschool him for a year, but now she's enrolled him in a Catholic school and he's dreading facing a new group of bullies. Instead, he meets Brooks, who turns out to be a narwal intent on helping him deal with his destiny - which is apparently to set free the evil Mayan god of the dead who's been imprisoned for a couple hundred years. Brooks's entry into his life is the catalyst for a race to prevent war among the gods and the end of the world.
This was a generally fun and snarky book that drew on Mayan mythology, which I was previously unfamiliar with. I enjoyed the way the gods and other supernatural figures were used throughout the book, though I obviously can't speak to their accuracy in any way.
There's a lot of interalized ableism in this book that is never really addressed. While it's not surprising that Zane would have a degree of hatred for his short leg, because that's what we're often taught by society, the fact that there's no attempt for Zane to practice more positive self-talk or any growth in how he views his leg was disappointing.
There was also an unfortunate amount of misogyny in the book. There was one character who had apparently been persistently asking a woman out for over a decade and was prepared to do it for the rest of time if necessary and refused to accept no as answer and he was treated as cute and romantic rather than super creepy. The extreme amount of emotional and physical labor that Zane's mother had to perform for her pro wrestling obsessed brother was also super unfortunate.
I initially quite liked this book, but the more I thought about it the more problems I had. I'm hoping that the sequel will improve on some of these points, but I'm not sure how quickly I'm going to be rushing out to read it.
Zane's always had trouble with bullies because one of his legs is shorter than the other. He got his mom to agree to homeschool him for a year, but now she's enrolled him in a Catholic school and he's dreading facing a new group of bullies. Instead, he meets Brooks, who turns out to be a narwal intent on helping him deal with his destiny - which is apparently to set free the evil Mayan god of the dead who's been imprisoned for a couple hundred years. Brooks's entry into his life is the catalyst for a race to prevent war among the gods and the end of the world.
This was a generally fun and snarky book that drew on Mayan mythology, which I was previously unfamiliar with. I enjoyed the way the gods and other supernatural figures were used throughout the book, though I obviously can't speak to their accuracy in any way.
There's a lot of interalized ableism in this book that is never really addressed. While it's not surprising that Zane would have a degree of hatred for his short leg, because that's what we're often taught by society, the fact that there's no attempt for Zane to practice more positive self-talk or any growth in how he views his leg was disappointing.
There was also an unfortunate amount of misogyny in the book. There was one character who had apparently been persistently asking a woman out for over a decade and was prepared to do it for the rest of time if necessary and refused to accept no as answer and he was treated as cute and romantic rather than super creepy. The extreme amount of emotional and physical labor that Zane's mother had to perform for her pro wrestling obsessed brother was also super unfortunate.
I initially quite liked this book, but the more I thought about it the more problems I had. I'm hoping that the sequel will improve on some of these points, but I'm not sure how quickly I'm going to be rushing out to read it.
"The Storm Runner" fuels my PJO obsession and brings so much nostalgia of reading PJO for the first time. it has a different story with a new set of characters that are all lovable. This book is amazing and i think should get more recognition for middle-grade books. Zane's inner dialogue just boosts my brain with serotonin. Can't wait to get my hands on the next book and see the characters digress.
Good, but not great. Too much plot in too little time, so I was struggling to keep up with characters, and their relationships had no time to develop. Also, I didn't love some of the discussion about disability. It seemed most of the time was spent mocking or being frustrated at his shorter leg, so the ending wasn't believable in the slightest. As someone with chronic conditions, I would love to have a magic cure-all, but that's not how it works. I want to see more disability and diversity of ability within literature, especially kid's lit, but this felt like the wrong way to go about it.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
funny
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Book one of the Storm Runner series.
I really liked this book it is always nice to read about a mythology that is not Greek or Roman. I really liked the characters especially Zane and Brooks I found them both to be easy to like characters their motivations were easy to understand. Zane is an easy to like character he is a boy judged for something that is not his fault who then finds out he is so much more than he ever dreamed. I really liked that he would go above and beyond for his dog Rosie I liked how that ended up. I really liked the plot it started with a boy and his dog with that boy losing his dog and finding things about himself he would never of put together on his own. So overall I really liked this book I will for sure read the sequel.
3.5 Stars. I felt like the characters and plot really fell flat.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
