Including elements of Latino, Mayan, and Aztec cultures, this series starter is fun! Supernatural stories are highly popular with my students and this title is a perfect fit. I like the natural use of Spanish words throughout the novel which can be easily figured out through context clues. The mix of mythology and mystery makes this a perfect choice for fans of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series.

Great Book. Love the mix of mythologies. Ren is a great character and I enjoyed learning more about her. Ah-Puch is a a great teen age god. Looking forward to book 2.

Storyline was not as gripping as some of the other’s in the Rick Riordan sponsored Myth genre. A girl, Renata, has inherited shadow magic from her mother Pacifica and now must stop the 7 Lords of Night from awakening.
I felt like I started in the middle and missed some of a previous storyline, it seems some of the characters are from her Storm Chaser series. TheLordsofNight #NetGalley

Since the Storm Runner series is already a colossal success with my students in our library, purchasing it was a no-brained. Reading it for myself was the real bonus. You know when an author can keep middle schoolers and adults hooked on following characters through multiple adventures, they are doing quite a bit right. Cervantes is fantastic.

Nothing beats a great sequel to an already loved book to motivate my students to read! Added this book to my classroom library and it quickly became a hit with my students that love mythology and fantasy. It even captured the eye of some other students, too, who have become J.C. Cervantes fans.

Thank you, Disney Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Lords of Night by J.C. Cervantes is a spin-off of the middle-grade Storm Runner series and I really liked it! This series follows Ren, a character I adored in the original series and I'm so glad she gets her own! Ren is a super powerful godborn whose destiny begins to reveal itself throughout this book. I loved seeing this world through Ren's perspective and her friendship with the god Ah Puch. The story really kept me guessing and also...THE ENDING. WHAT?!? Let's just say...it was unexpected for sure. LoN starts to bring together more Aztec lore along with the Mayan, and I found those aspects of the book especially fascinating. I truly can't wait for the next book to see what awaits these characters.

If this seems interesting to you, I absolutely recommend reading The Storm Runner series first. 1) They're good books and 2) It's super helpful to know what happened in those books as backstory to this one.

My fantasy-loving readers who are also into mythology and gods are going to love this series! I'll definitely be recommending it to them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Lords of Night is the beginning of a new series based off of the characters from The Storm Runner series. I would suggest reading the other series prior to reading this spin-off. The world building and character development continued to be on point. The pacing was well done. I look forward to adding this to my classroom library.

I loved this book so much. It reads almost like a direct continuation of the previous series (The Shadow Runner) just with a different protagonist. This increased my enjoyment as well because I think that Cervantes' narration style works much better with Ren than with Zane. I also loved where Cervantes took Ren's character, this bubbly, "Pollyanna-ish" girl who is also one of the most powerful godborns with the power of shadows that might make her travel down a dark path. I eagerly anticipate the sequel.

It pains me to no end to say I just could not finish this book. Normally I'm all about the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, but I just could not get into this one and I found myself having to re-read entire pages to remember what was happening and who the characters were. This is the first book I've read by this author. I don't want to write off this series though, since I am also getting over Covid and am having a hard time concentrating on anything, really. I'm not sure I can entirely fault the book. I received a digital ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publisher but was not able to get to it in the time allowed, so I ended up checking it out from my library. I may try to get it again to give it another try.

Perhaps because I hadn't read any of Cervantes' Storm Runner trilogy, that this was spun off from, I found the beginning a bit confusing and so had a hard time getting into the story. I also found the sheer number of Mezo-American gods had to keep track of. But I know that won't stop young readers. And, by the end I was caught up in the adventure. Recommended for Percy Jackson and Aru Shah fans.

I dove into The Lords of Night without knowing this is a secondary series. I think the initial confusion I experienced through the first fourth of the book would not have been so much for me if I had read the other series or at least read a synopsis. However, this didn't stop me from rooting for the main character and getting lost in a very strange and unsettling world. This is a great read for early high schoolers with lower reading levels, or upper elementary and middle schoolers.

The Lords of Night by J.C. Cervantes dives into Maya and Aztec mythology as Renata Santiago discovers the origins of her shadow bruja powers and is drawn into an ancient prophecy.

This book has quite the cliffhanger ending that I didn't expect, so I'm excited to see what happens in the sequel. But I did find the plotline a bit disconnected, with lots of new characters and unexplained powers. I liked seeing the growing bond between Ren and Al Puch, and the new characters Monty and Edison were fun additions.

Rating: 3.5/5

I think what I enjoyed about this book was Ren's relentless need for the truth. No matter what dangers there were in front of her, she did not stop asking questions, following the clues and confronting the bad guys. She becomes fiercely protective of her new her team, Edison, a half demon, and Monty an Aztec hunter, and will do anything to save their lives, including saying words that put the Night Prophecy in motion. I liked learning more about Aztec and Mayan gods and their mythology. The ending was one I would never expect and I am looking forward to reading book 2.
Thanks Net Galley and Disney Hyperion!

I hadn’t read the Stormrunner series, but have heard good reviews about J.C. Cervantes’ writing so I was excited to start The Lords of Night. The first chapter had me hooked. For readers who like adventure, intrigue, and well developed characters, this book does not disappoint. The plot and world are well crafted and easy to understand. I really enjoyed that this works as a stand-alone as many of readers hate waiting for the next in a series. This book satisfies both styles of readers which make it a welcomed addition to my library shelves. I’d love to see more standalone or spin off series of our favourite RRP books. Thank you for the advanced copy.

Picking up where Storm Runner series finished, 14-year-old Renata Santiago, daughter of Pacific, is struggling to return back to reality. Following a tip from an alien-sighting blog, Ren is led to a cornfield with a strange symbol etched into the ground. She soon discovers that it refers to the Lords of Night, a group of nine powerful Aztec gods that are linked to both good and bad fates and a group of rogue godborns may be behind it. Aided by her friends, Ah-Puch, Mayan God of Death, Edison, a teen demon hybrid, Montero, an old Aztec Hunter, Ren must hunt down the Cinco and stop their ungodly alliance before it’s too late. Will she succeed?

Full of madness, intrigue, and engaging adventure, fans will delight in the continuing of this character’s story. The plot is well-developed. The characters are relatable and entertaining. The author’s writing style is smooth and works well with the fantastical elements. Fans of Rick Riordan, Shadow Runner series, and mythology. Although you can read them out of order, it is recommended that readers read the prequel series first.

I quite enjoyed this novel. It follows The Storm Runner series, but also does well as a stand-alone novel, the beginning of a new set, Shadow Bruja, centered on Renata (Ren) Santiago, a character in the Storm Runner series who is now getting her own, well-deserved book series.

Ren is a godborn, the child of the Mayan goddess Pacific, but she is also a shadow bruja, a mage with power over shadows. The two are not usually found within a single person, and there is much about her heritage that Ren doesn’t know. Like other godborn, Ren has a duty to look for, and deal with, incursions of gods into the “real” world, and she takes her duty seriously. When a new danger appears, she goes to investigate, and finds a mystery that may, finally, give her more information about her father and the gift of shadow magic he bequeathed her… if she survives, that is.

Anyone who read The Storm Runner novels will want to read this one, Al through reading those first is not necessary to enjoy this novel. I can only hope that the next one will come out quickly!

Another exciting entry for this series focused on mythology. The Rick Riordan universe is a constant hit with my young readers, and JC Cervantes continues to please.

This was such a fun start to the spinoff series to the author's Stormrunner series. It's been over a year since I read that series, so my memory was a little rusty about the universe and who the characters were. In particular, Ah-Puch seemed so familiar and it took me a bit to realize that this was a spin-off series, since I didn't immediately remember who Ren was. But even if you didn't read the Stormrunner series, the author does a decent job of giving you the basics of this world so that you're not completely lost. I really like Ren in this story as she learns about her destiny and decides who she wants to be. I love that she is generally optimistic about things, although she spends a lot of time questioning whether she should be a leader. I love her team, especially Edison, although Marco and Monty sometimes got annoying. But overall, I think they're the right team for her.

Without going into detail, the basics of this series include Ren learning about her magic and her destiny all while fighting to keep the nine Night Lords (Aztec Gods) from wakening and overthrowing the Mayan gods (most of who are babies at this point--this is what remembering the events of the trilogy would have explained). Joining her are Edison, Montero, and Marco, my favorite being Edison. Ah-Puch is there as well, although as a baby god, his powers are limited. I like how his relationship with Ren develops in this book and I also like the different folks they meet along the way.

This was definitely a fun start to a new series and I can't wait to read the next one, especially because this one definitely left us hanging!

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.


This was clearly the start of a series (trilogy?) because

Renata Santiago is the most powerful godborn of them all, with her dad’s Mexica blood and her Mayan goddess mother’s DNA, together they give her the power over shadows and time. But she feels it is partly her fault that some of the gods lost their powers after their last challenge, especially her friend A.P. the god of death, darkness, and destruction (he’s not so bad once you get to know him), and is bound to restore them. When no one is available to help her with this mission to stop the Lords of Night from totally awakening and Renata herself becoming their queen, she decides to take a hybrid demon named Edison and Montero a Aztec hunter with her.
I have loved every Rick Riordan presents novel I have read and this is no exception. I love to learn about all the different places legends and lore, I have been stationed in or around many of these areas and never learned as much as I do now reading these books. This book is full of action with a few twists thrown in there to keep it interesting, I am sure this is a book that will keep you up well past your bedtime, it did me