A review by re_leyendo
The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes

4.0

I enjoyed this book. Learning more about world mythologies is always exciting. Out of the two books in the Riordan Presents series, I like this one less though. I love this mythology more than Indian mythology, but the book was less enjoyable than Aru Shah. I had some trouble getting into it, and the humor wasn’t as unique and sarcastic as I thought it would be. Also, some of the world’s rules were plain confusing. I didn’t know when something would work a certain way, like with someone’s powers for example. But my main problem was the pacing. I think the book could’ve been a bit shorter than it is, and it had a very slow pacing at first. The first hundred pages or so were introducing you to the world, but little happened in them. Other than that, I enjoyed the writing. It was simple and a bit funny. But it also included words in Maya and Spanish, which made it feel a bit more genuine as the main character and his family seem to be Latinos. The story was a bit convoluted, but it was definitely enjoyable. I liked the plot, and I definitely like where it is going. But there were some things that lingered a bit and slowed the pacing.
On to the characters. I kind of didn’t like Brooks. I don’t know it if was because Zane had such a big crush on her but looking at her through his eyes sort of annoyed me. I liked that she was a nawal, and that she could shapeshift. Her attitude was super sassy, and it was nice to see someone so badass and willing to fight for her loved ones. I liked Hondo, he did feel like the cool uncle. I’m interested to see his thoughts on the supernatural world he now lives in. Jazz is pretty much neutral to me. Zane was… an odd protagonist. I mean, he was a true dumbass most of the time. He had zero idea of what he was doing, and it felt more like things happened to him than him making things happen. He is not a hero. Not now. But he will be one. I liked that he decided to be courageous, most protagonists are that way. But he looked at his fate and even though he was scared he decided to go through it. His morals won through. I think he has a long way to go, he didn’t seem to have all that much character development. But he did grow up a bit. It was odd to read about a hero with a disability, but it was very nice to see him overcome that fact and still kick ass. The one thing that I hated about him, that made me want to punch him, was his initial obsession with- beware, there will be spoilers ahead- getting his dog back. He would not shut up about it and it kind of annoyed me. I mean, I get it. But he didn’t mention Rosie once in the middle of the story, almost like he forgot. I would’ve preferred a more toned down need to get his dog back that appeared throughout the book. The characters that take the cake for me were the Maya gods. Ah’Puch was genuinely creepy, and the rest of the gods were super interesting. Despite me having some problems with pacing or any other thing, what made me really enjoy this book was learning about the Maya pantheon. I must say, the Old World thing is still confusing, but I overthink these things. Getting to know the different personalities of the gods and how they fitted into the world was brilliant. It always made me perk up and read more closely. It definitely improved my enjoyment of the book. That is why I can give it four stars with ease.