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A review by justinekorson
The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes
3.0
I am not a sensitivity reader, nor do I have a physical disability like Zane does in this story but some of the language in this story (specifically about Zane’s physical disability as well as descriptions of characters looks/features) did not sit right with me.
The MC, Zane, has one leg that is shorter than the other and so he uses a cane to walk. The way he talked about himself and his physical disability sounded, to me, very degrading. There were even times where Zane’s limp was “fixed” magically throughout the story which only made his inner self-hate more prominent when he talked about using his cane. Toward the end of the book, it even sounded like his limp was going to be “fixed” permanently by magic. This didn’t end up being the case (and I did read the first few chapters of the sequel to confirm this) but Zane still has a magical cane that can be used to make his limp “disappear”. He stated that he only uses this feature if he has to run anywhere (and that he feels more comfortable with his physical disability now) but I still didn’t like this conclusion. It also bothers me that across all three books, Zane is never depicted with a cane on the cover drawings. When I first started reading it, having known very little about the books to being with, I would’ve never guessed that he even had a cane
When I went to look up the author to see how they wrote a character with a physical disability, I found an interview where Cervantes said that while they don’t have a disability they’ve worked with children who have. They also stated that they had a special education teacher who works with kids with disabilities read the novel to make sure Zane was being portrayed correctly. In my opinion, this was NOT enough insight into physical disabilities for Cervantes to write this character. This book would’ve benefitted greatly from ACTUAL sensitivity readers who have the same kind of physical disability that Zane has. I tried to look for reviews of people with physical disabilities that might feel the same way I did about it but I couldn’t find any. Since I don’t have a physical disability I don’t know if my thoughts or feelings in this matter are as valid but the language felt too harmful not to note.
Other than that, the physical descriptions of characters that weren’t part of Zane’s family or circle of friends were described in ways that made normal features sound ugly. I don’t remember the exact quote but he described someone’s dreadlocks as “haven’t been washed in centuries” which I felt was a horrible stereotype that a lot of Black people with dreadlocks face because their hair looks “unclean” and “dirty” to people when that’s not the case. There were more instances than just this one but this was the one that stuck out the most and took me so far out of the narrative I wanted to stop reading.
Overall I did find the plot to be interesting and I did like learning about the Mayan Gods and other creatures so I wanted the rating to reflect that. If anyone else feels the same way I do about Zane’s physical disability or the descriptions of characters let me know.
The MC, Zane, has one leg that is shorter than the other and so he uses a cane to walk. The way he talked about himself and his physical disability sounded, to me, very degrading. There were even times where Zane’s limp was “fixed” magically throughout the story which only made his inner self-hate more prominent when he talked about using his cane. Toward the end of the book, it even sounded like his limp was going to be “fixed” permanently by magic. This didn’t end up being the case (and I did read the first few chapters of the sequel to confirm this) but Zane still has a magical cane that can be used to make his limp “disappear”. He stated that he only uses this feature if he has to run anywhere (and that he feels more comfortable with his physical disability now) but I still didn’t like this conclusion. It also bothers me that across all three books, Zane is never depicted with a cane on the cover drawings. When I first started reading it, having known very little about the books to being with, I would’ve never guessed that he even had a cane
When I went to look up the author to see how they wrote a character with a physical disability, I found an interview where Cervantes said that while they don’t have a disability they’ve worked with children who have. They also stated that they had a special education teacher who works with kids with disabilities read the novel to make sure Zane was being portrayed correctly. In my opinion, this was NOT enough insight into physical disabilities for Cervantes to write this character. This book would’ve benefitted greatly from ACTUAL sensitivity readers who have the same kind of physical disability that Zane has. I tried to look for reviews of people with physical disabilities that might feel the same way I did about it but I couldn’t find any. Since I don’t have a physical disability I don’t know if my thoughts or feelings in this matter are as valid but the language felt too harmful not to note.
Other than that, the physical descriptions of characters that weren’t part of Zane’s family or circle of friends were described in ways that made normal features sound ugly. I don’t remember the exact quote but he described someone’s dreadlocks as “haven’t been washed in centuries” which I felt was a horrible stereotype that a lot of Black people with dreadlocks face because their hair looks “unclean” and “dirty” to people when that’s not the case. There were more instances than just this one but this was the one that stuck out the most and took me so far out of the narrative I wanted to stop reading.
Overall I did find the plot to be interesting and I did like learning about the Mayan Gods and other creatures so I wanted the rating to reflect that. If anyone else feels the same way I do about Zane’s physical disability or the descriptions of characters let me know.