Gods of Jade and Shadow
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore. The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own. Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true. In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld. Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780525620754
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This story is based in Mayan mythology and read like a myth which is a bit unfortunate for me as I am more drawn to retellings that have good character development.
I loved the cultural richness and the concepts. Particularly the parts about symbolism being important. Also being set in the 20s was interesting and added a bit of zest, but I never really got invested in the way I wanted. I wish I had been more engaged in the relationships. Things felt a bit underdeveloped.
The quest narrative is tried and true, but also a bit tired. Each element of the journey was predicable and although there was a bit of choice it never really felt like it was ever going to ever be anything than what it was. There was no real tension.
I understand why people love this, but it was just alright for me. Not bad, but not great.
0DNF
There’s nothing wrong with this book per say, I just couldn’t connect with it at all. The setting is interesting and unique, and that’s what appealed to me. I think the marketing is a little off, as it is described as a historical fantasy, with complex relationships between gods and humans. But really it’s a YA fantastical retelling of a fairy tale, that happens to be set in 1920’s South America, and is really about the human girl and the god falling in love. I know that isn’t much of a distinction but basically the book is not what I expected.
It also doesn’t help that I’ve read lots of books recently which begin very similar downtrodden young female protagonists and Casiopea feels very wooden and one note so far.
I might try this again another time as I think there’s a lot of potential here, but I just haven’t vibed with it at all.
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