Rick Riordan Presents: Dawn of the Jaguar

By: J.C. Cervantes

Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents the breathtaking finale to J. C. Cervantes's Maya-inspired Shadow Bruja duology, in which Ren makes a bargain for her life.

Shadow bruja Ren Santiago was relentlessly pursued by the evil Aztec Lords of Night, who claimed that she was destined to be their queen, a destiny she wasn’t willing to accept. So she chose death instead. Too bad death wasn’t the answer to her problems. Ren soon realizes she must return to the land of the living to make things right. Unfortunately, that means negotiating with Ixtab, queen of the underworld.

Ixtab offers her ten days aboveground in exchange for the discarded crown of jade and shadow. If Ren fails, she will return to the darkness for eternity. Ren agrees, knowing full well that she also has to save her friends Marco, Monty, and Edison and, while she's at it, put those pesky Lords of Night back to sleep forever. The only problem is, Ren lost her shadow magic and time rope when she lost her life.

How will Ren manage to accomplish what feels impossible? The answer lies not in manipulating shadows or time, but in recognizing the awesome power that has always been inside her.

J. C. Cervantes's trademark humor, incredibly high stakes, fascinating characters, and shocking plot twists are on full display in this epic conclusion of a binge-worthy duology.

©2023 J.C. Cervantes (P)2023 Disney Hyperion

Nice Story about Friendship and Discovering One’s Self.

This is a good listen. The conclusion is very satisfying. The story is well written and the narrator is very good.

Great listen

Well acted out and engaging story that brought to life the characters. A great way to learn about Aztec and Mayan gods.

Conflicted

I’m honestly not completely sure how I feel about this book. I didn’t much care for the first half, the pacing felt impatient, the rules of the Time Rope proved increasingly fast and loose, Pacific is virtually unrecognizable from the compassionate Goddess depicted in Zane’s books, for as undeniably cool as Ren’s new jaguar powers are I can’t say I prefer them to her “daughter of time shadow Bruja” combo, and that deal with Jade really made it feel as though she’d learned nothing from her previously godly dealings, her prior bargain with the Prince Lord especially. The second half is a fair bit better, however. Just about everything after arriving in the Land of Flowers is pretty much smooth sailing. Hence, I am conflicted. Dawn of the Jaguar wasn’t the slam dunk I had hoped the last(current) modern Mayan myth centered on my favorite Bruja would be. It’s definitely far from my favorite of the series… but when it’s all said and done, I didn’t completely hate my time, either. Sometimes it’s more about how you finish than you start, and for all of her stumbles, I would say Renata Santiago finished strong enough.