Cece Rios
#1104.34 adjusted 4.22 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2021–2024 Reading commitment Medium Kaela Rivera Last reviewed 2026-11-01
Overview
Cece Rios is a middle-grade fantasy trilogy by Kaela Rivera, published by HarperCollins Children's Books between 2021 and 2024. It is set in Tierra del Sol, a world drawing on Aztec, Mayan and Mexican folklore, where people fear the criaturas, magical creatures that prey on humans. Cece Rios, twelve and then thirteen, enters the world of dark witches called brujas to save her sister Juana from El Sombrerón, and in later books faces the king of fears and her aunt, the queen of Devil's Alley. Desert of Souls, King of Fears and Queen of Brujas follow in order, and the third book closes the trilogy.
Mythic fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
Cece Rios Kaela Rivera
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls | 2021 | 1 | core | 4.32 (1,700 ratings) |
 | Cece Rios and the King of Fears | 2022 | 2 | core | 4.39 (317 ratings) |
 | Cece Rios and the Queen of Brujas | 2024 | 3 | core | 4.51 (140 ratings) |
A girl in a folklore-inspired world uses forbidden magic to save her sister and then her town from dark powers.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Cece Rios? Cece Rios's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for Cece Rios? Publication order, starting with Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Cece Rios finished? Complete (2021–2024).
- How much reading does Cece Rios take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books).
- How is Cece Rios ranked? #110 in this site's official ranking, based on 2,157 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #110?
Ranked #110 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.34 across 3 core books.
- A smaller readership (2,157 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #109, The Poppy War (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Top-tier rated · 3 books · Complete · 2k ratings · Ranks #110 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length mythic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls (2021)
- Cece Rios and the King of Fears (2022)
- Cece Rios and the Queen of Brujas (2024)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.34 across 2,157 ratings on 3 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: 22 universes, among them The Ordered and Reflections of Eterna; four candidates ruled out accepted 2026-11-01
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Kirkus Reviews, Desert of Souls Tier 2
- Kirkus Reviews, King of Fears Tier 2
- Kirkus Reviews, Queen of Brujas Tier 2
- Pande Literary, Kaela Rivera Tier 2
- Bookroo series page Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-01
Rule: Core Canon = the three Cece Rios novels, Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls (2021) to Cece Rios and the Queen of Brujas (2024); Rivera's separate standalone The Hungry Forest is excluded.