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A review by safiyabintsaleh
The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes
4.0
First things first: am I the only one who noticed how many similarities this book had with PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS? Major and minor things. For example, the attack at the diner with the demons was similar to the diner scene in PERCY JACKSON, and of course the whole plot with a parent who broke an oath and triggered a massive, world-ending prophecy + kept the whole thing a secret was also very, very similar to PERCY JACKSON (among many other things). I feel like it's probably not plagiarism or copying because this book is from Rick Riordan's imprint and as far as I've heard, he's involved with every book under it, so I felt that maybe he's aware of these things and if it was a problem, then he or someone else in the team would've pointed it out.
That being said, it unfortunately did affect my overall judgement of the book. I was painfully aware of the differences between the similar aspects in THE STORM RUNNER and PERCY JACKSON and as much as I wish I could leave an unbiased review, I can't. THE STORM RUNNER was good, but it missed the chance to really blow me out of the water. Maybe if there was no comparison then these things wouldn't have been so obvious to me.
Aside from all that, THE STORM RUNNER was enjoyable enough. I don't like comparing books, but since it's from the same imprint, I will say that it was a lot more engaging than ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME in some places. Not all, but some. I loved the cast, especially Zane, Hondo, and Jazz. I liked that the cast was more or less restricted, because it opened up a lot of space for the main cast to really come to life and develop. At the same time, it did drag the beginning down a lot. It felt empty and bland with no other people (especially without other kids, which I felt was needed). It took me a while to get past the first half.
That being said, the second half was much, much better. It was easier to read and more interesting, but there was still something off-putting about it. I was completely invested in Zane, but I didn't find any of his enemies to be particularly terrifying or interesting. I skimmed a lot of the fights and stuck to reading Zane's internal narration most of the time, which was much, much more fun to read. I also didn't appreciate the vague way Ah-Puch died (did he really?) or the massive info-dump resolution at the end, which I felt left too many loose ends. I understand there's a sequel to pick up where this book leaves off, but I still wanted a sense of completion after finishing this book.
I'm giving this book four stars because I really love the concept and I adore Zane (I want to protect him forever) and I will try to give the sequel a read when it's out, but I definitely had difficulty making it through this book for a lot of reasons and I'm docking a star because of it. If anyone has the patience to read a long MG, I definitely recommend it! It's rare to see such diverse MG out there, and I really hope this series does well!
That being said, it unfortunately did affect my overall judgement of the book. I was painfully aware of the differences between the similar aspects in THE STORM RUNNER and PERCY JACKSON and as much as I wish I could leave an unbiased review, I can't. THE STORM RUNNER was good, but it missed the chance to really blow me out of the water. Maybe if there was no comparison then these things wouldn't have been so obvious to me.
Aside from all that, THE STORM RUNNER was enjoyable enough. I don't like comparing books, but since it's from the same imprint, I will say that it was a lot more engaging than ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME in some places. Not all, but some. I loved the cast, especially Zane, Hondo, and Jazz. I liked that the cast was more or less restricted, because it opened up a lot of space for the main cast to really come to life and develop. At the same time, it did drag the beginning down a lot. It felt empty and bland with no other people (especially without other kids, which I felt was needed). It took me a while to get past the first half.
That being said, the second half was much, much better. It was easier to read and more interesting, but there was still something off-putting about it. I was completely invested in Zane, but I didn't find any of his enemies to be particularly terrifying or interesting. I skimmed a lot of the fights and stuck to reading Zane's internal narration most of the time, which was much, much more fun to read. I also didn't appreciate the vague way Ah-Puch died (did he really?) or the massive info-dump resolution at the end, which I felt left too many loose ends. I understand there's a sequel to pick up where this book leaves off, but I still wanted a sense of completion after finishing this book.
I'm giving this book four stars because I really love the concept and I adore Zane (I want to protect him forever) and I will try to give the sequel a read when it's out, but I definitely had difficulty making it through this book for a lot of reasons and I'm docking a star because of it. If anyone has the patience to read a long MG, I definitely recommend it! It's rare to see such diverse MG out there, and I really hope this series does well!