Gods of Jade and Shadow

Set in 1920s Mexico, Gods of Jade and Shadow is a supernatural fantasy adventure based on Mayan mythology. It features a strong female protagonist, Casiopea Tun, who accidentally releases the Mayan god of death from imprisonment and gets involved in his journey for revenge. Casiopea wants to escape from her family environment, where she is bullied by her cousin and scorned by her grandfather.

The storyline takes the form of a quest. I enjoyed the use of Mayan mythology, which is not something I have seen much in the past. However, there is not much complexity here in terms of storyline, character development, or writing style. It seems more suited to a young adult audience. I liked the ending and found it reasonably entertaining.

Serving-girl and poor relation Casiopea Tun joins a Mayan God of the Dead in a romp across 1920s Mexico. She doesn't have a lot of agency. The god takes her to various demons and witches while questing for his missing body parts, meanwhile buying Casiopea fine frocks and staying in the best hotels. Of course he is a dapper and handsome god who looks good in a suit, and apart from forcing Casiopea along with him (she supports his lifeforce on 'Middleworld') is always polite company. So this fantasy becomes somewhat a 'romantasy'.

Quite an easy read, but a bit lightweight. I didn't get much of an impression of 1920s Mexico. Apart from a mention of Prohibition it could have been any time. Casiopea and the god never had to struggle for money, so they stayed in rich accommodation and travelled first class everywhere, so their surroundings were generally bland, though the author set the scene with various towns and cities they went through.

Overwrought and stilted language, and taking itself way too seriously.

This is a simply told story inspired by Mayan mythology. It begins with a basic Cinderella setup. Eighteen-year-old Casiopea Tun and her mother are forced by circumstances to live with the mother's wealthy family in a small town in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula in the 1920s. Casiopea is forced into servitude, especially to her grandfather and to her cousin Martin. Until the day, acting on overwhelming curiosity, she unlocks a large chest in her grandfather's bedroom. Expecting to find gold or jewels, she's stunned to discover a cache of old bones that reassemble themselves into the deposed god of the Underworld, Hun-Kame. When a shard from one of his bones becomes embedded in Casiopea's hand, she and the god are linked, with her life and his immortality in the balance. Thus begins their quest to find his remaining body parts (including an eye and a hand) and restore him to his throne.

Moreno-Garcia weaves a fantastic tale of gods, demons, and humans; dreams and nightmares; young love and sacrifice with her simple yet spellbinding prose. I would love to read a sequel.

Good story, well written, but not really my genre. Didn't realize it was by the author of Mexican Gothic, which I liked a lot more.

Set in Mexico during the Jazz age a girl runs away with a death god she freed from a chest in her Grandfather’s house. Casiopa and her mother are treated like servants by the rest of the extended family living her Grandfather’s house. One day when everyone is out she sneaks a look into a always locked chest and wakes the god imprisoned within when she is cut by a bone shard that is stuck in her hand. The god is now tethered to her and she leaves with him on a journey to have him defeat his brother and reclaim his throne in the Mayan underworld. Casiopa and Hun-Kame travel around Mexico and end up in the USA on his travels to find his missing parts and defeat his brother. A good quest storyline using Mayan mythology makes for a fun read.

This was good, don't know much about Mayan culture or myths. Found this to be extremely interesting.

?PLOT DETAILS ?
This book surprised me a lot; our Mexican mythology is impressive, and we don't appreciate it as we should. They should create more novels of this kind because if we already have Greek, Roman, and Nordic ones that we love, we should also have Mexican ones.
I was a super ultra mega hyper fan of how the story was approached, from how it was adapted to Mexico in the 1920s, and we traveled through different states of the country where customs and lifestyle vary from one region to another... I was a mega fan.
From how the topic of Mexican families was handled... how women were belittled and men received everything... I loved how Casiopea met the god Hun-camé (who could be considered like the version of Hades); I was amazed and became super ultra mega hyper fan of him, and obviously of the romance that develops between them... darling, you made a god fall in love!! Ahhhh!!! I am the biggest fan in the world.
One of the downsides I must mention is the names of the deities; they are somewhat difficult to identify or pronounce, at least in the audiobook, I found it harder than if I had read it physically. I really liked how we got to know other deities and sorcerers throughout the story, giving us a mini narrative about each one to provide context about who they are and their importance in the plot.
Without a doubt, this book could become a series in the style of Percy Jackson since there is so much to explore. Plus, when the god gave Casiopea the gift of speaking and understanding many languages... what better way to start her adventure... I really hope they continue it because I became super ultra mega hyper fan... I want to learn more about our culture in this style of writing... also, while listening to the audiobook, I researched a little more about the gods and events.. and without a doubt, the author did a great job with everything, as she respected the original very well and adapted it to her novel. I hope for more of this?

I give it 4.5⭐ (Translated from Spanish)

Wonderful and unique book. Loved it.

A young woman with nothing but determination to lead a fuller life inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a rematch between twin deities of the Mayan underworld Xibalba. Generally good pacing and the character of Casiopea Tun keep the book interesting, though it stumbles at the start with the introduction of Casiopea as the overworked mistreated poor relation, and could use a bit of trimming throughout. Still, good use is made of non-European mythology and the early 1920s setting is perfect for the story.

I had been meaning to read Silvia Moreno-Garcia for ages -- having looked for her name on the library shelves many times before giving in and trying to inter-library loan request a copy of Prime Meridian (and failing). So I was delighted that this book was easier to get ahold of.

I ended up picking this up during a readathon, which was probably a good thing. I had a bit of a rocky start reading this, mostly because I had built up some erroneous expectations about what this book was (I think mostly I expected it to be more "adult?"), so I almost abandoned it. But the readathon creates some extra pressure to stick with a book, so I persevered and ended up really enjoying it. The big cross-country quest, the complicated motivations that resists labeling characters simply "good" or "bad" (though there will be some you'll love to hate anyway), and Jazz Age Mexico as a fantastic setting with rich details.

I will definitely be reading more Moreno-Garcia!

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I bought a copy of this book for my Kindle.

Thoughts: I ended up setting this aside at 50%, I just had absolutely no interest in the characters or the story here. The story seemed a bit repetitive and the characters very shallow. I really enjoyed Moreno-Garcia's "Mexican Gothic". However, I have also read "Certain Dark Things" and "Velvet was the Night" and I didn't like either of those books. I think I can solidly say at this point that I am just not a fan of Moreno-Garcia's writing style. It always seems a bit simple and forced to me.

The story here follows Casiopea as she tries to escape her slave-like existence at her grandfather's house. She does so by accidentally releasing a Mayan god of death, Hun-Kame, who binds her to him and wants her to help find his missing body parts.

I love reading about different mythologies and was hoping to be drawn in by the mythology here. Unfortunately, the way the mythology was handled felt simple and sloppy and didn't help to offset the shallow, boring characters. The story was repetitive, basically Casiopea and Hun-Kamé (the god) are just running around talking to people while trying to collect his parts. The characters felt very one dimensional; Casiopea kind of blindly follows Hun-Kamé around and Hun-Kamé is incredibly immature, like a little child.

I kept having to force myself to sit down and read this. I finally realized I had absolutely no desire to learn anything more about this story, this world or the characters here and decided to set it aside.

My Summary (2/5): Overall I found this to be a very disappointing read. The subject matter sounded intriguing but it was handled in a shallow and sloppy way. The characters were one-dimensional and hard to care about and the plot was repetitive. At the halfway point I was completely ambivalent about the story and having to force myself to sit down and read this...so, I decided it was time to put it down and move on. Aside from "Mexican Gothic" I really haven't enjoyed any other Moreno-Garcia books I have read. So, I think it is time to stop picking up books from her. They always sound like books I might like but then the execution just isn't there.

4.5/5

This book was the most romantic yet also heart-breaking story I've read in a very long time. It wove it's tale so beautifully that I was sucked in and couldn't wait to finish. I'm always a sucker for mythology brought into the modern world by mortals meeting their old gods and remembering why humans loved them in the first place. And reminding the gods why they love humanity. It was a realistic fantasy with a realistic ending, but the romantic in me wanted a slightly happier ending. Haha. I wouldn't change it though, it was a beautifully written story. Highly recommend.

This was a put-downable book for me. I didn't wholly like the main characters; Cas is petulant but since it seems she's a child, this might actually be her simply acting her age.

This is a slow to start story about a girl and a God - there's some sort of revenge plot going on too but other than the two God Bros hating on one another, I was uncertain what real need there was for the human girl - aside from being a battery - there was. You could argue there's the existential quality of impermanence in the human life and that makes Hun-Kame realize his own temporary state which is why he is worried about Cas as she travels to Xibalba and is fighting off her traitorous cousin...but that might be reaching.

In the end, she simply...[spoilers]

So, not something I was impressed with myself; clearly others feel differently and that's great. I'd recommend for youngish readers (YA or NA) as it is sort of short and you could get through it in one go if you had the inclination.

**All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Not the ending I anticipated. Most excellent.

Casiopia's life in her dusty Mexican town has turned into being a servant for her grandfather and, even worse, her despicable cousin. So being kidnapped and on the road with the mystical god of death is a less distasteful adventure than she had imagined, in spite of her life being on the line. With a timeless tone and style, Moreno-Garcia's character building of a strong woman and her fabulous world building kept me going through this roaring twenties road trip style adventure in a mystical genre that is not my typical read. There is quite a buildup to the story's ending, which does not disappoint and ties up all the loose ends.

I really wanted to love this as I love all the elements that went into it, but the narrator somehow made it somewhat boring and my mind would wander.

Moreno-Garcia was trying to do something in the story where she explicitly foreshadowed what was going to happen (especially with regards to the romance), but there wasn't enough emotion in the actual happenings for me to care. An interesting idea that didn't quite work.

I really liked the race through Xilbaba, though.

I have trouble with magical realism and this book is no different. I just find the whole premise implausible and struggled to finish the book. None of the characters spoke to me.

this magic realism fantasy utilizes an interesting mix of genres: Mayan mythology (the Hero Twins and the Lords of Xibalba), set against a 1920s Mexican setting, and featuring a fairy tale heroic quest into the underworld on the Road to Xibalba. in atmosphere the writing achieves a kind of pulp feeling, with a nice sideline in evocative descriptive passages along the way. it all works together nicely to make an original and entertaining standalone work.

Picked up because I read another book by this author and wanted to see how she handled fairy tales based in South American folklore. (Hint: she handled them pretty well.)

Casiopea Tun longs for a bigger, better, freer life than the one she's currently living, doing drudgework for her powerful, unpleasant grandfather and dictatorial cousin while the rest of her family looks down on her an inferior poor relation. Then one day, she opens a locked box in her grandfather's room, releasing a Mayan death god who whisks her away on a quest of mythic proportions.

I'll admit, I wasn't entirely sure about this novel at first, as something about the writing seemed a little too stilted to me. But it won me over pretty quickly, and I think ultimately the style actually kind of fits with the mythic feel of the whole thing. It's very interesting mythology, too, as is the setting of 1920s Mexico, which I can't recall ever encountering in fiction before. And I came to be quite fond of the protagonist, who manages simultaneously to feel like a very real, ordinary person, but also like she absolutely belongs in the heroic role she finds herself having to play. At the end, I was sorry enough to have to say farewell to her that I find myself really hoping that we might eventually see a sequel for her.

Historical fantasy story about a young woman, Casiopea, who lives her life in service of her grandfather and only male cousin. Her low status originates from her native heritage from the other side of her family. Casiopea opens a secret chest owned by her grandfather, releasing a Mayan God. The story is fast paced with Caseopea and Hun-Kamé on a quest to restore the God, before confronting his brother who betrayed and imprisoned him. The writing is very engaging and I enjoyed learning about Mayan mythology. The book includes a glossary which helps readers who are unfamiliar with the culture. I found that some parts, particularly the ending, moved too quickly and I wanted more. I enjoyed Moreno-Garcia's writing and intend to read her other works.

While I was somewhat aware of Moreno-Garcia as a writer of fantasy, I'm not aware of having read anything of theirs before. This is a Mayan inspired high fantasy (although of the personal rather than political) with a protagonist who managed to be a hero because she knows the power of stories, and how they are meant to work.

Sub-themes of the value of family, the abuses of power that happen within them, and the value of forgiveness over vengeance.

There are some quite confronting scenes, and the gods are truly not human, even when the characters and/or reader might expect them to be more so.

The writing is superb, the plot tightly knit, and the world-building wondrous. The characters manage to (mostly) appeal, even though they aren't particularly nice people, and there is a clear delineation of the good as the side we are on and the bad as the side we are not.

A great, light modern myth or fairytale with a strong narrative voice. If you like these kinds of stories, this book is for you.

What I loved
- The setting: 1920s Mexico and Mayan mythology.
- All the classic fairytale elements: mean non-humans (and not-so-mean ones), a protagonist coming into her own, a rags-to-riches story, quests, humans coming in contact with a mythlogical world etc.
- The writing and narrative voice fit the mythological/fairytale theme very well.
- The fact that the classic fairytale elements were modernized.
- The heroine. I thought she was a believable and likeable character in a fairytale story.
- I had a feeling for how the story would end in general, but I kept guessing how they would get there, which I consider a plus.
- The ending. I suspect some people will not like it, but I loved it. Here's why: The gods are clearly depicted as not caring about humans and a happy end for the blossoming romance between Casiopeia and Hun-Kamé would have been her exchanging one bad master for another. I even think it is made pretty clear throughout the book that this would not be a happy ending for her. I love that the book ends with her out on her own, not with a lover, in the comapny of a colourful character that might become her friend, off on a road trip. That's a great, optimistic ending for me.

This story makes for a fun mix of fantasy and historical fiction. Of course, almost anything set during the Jazz Age will appeal to me, but this book also had a compelling story and I enjoyed watching the characters develop and sometimes behave unexpectedly. Overall, fun reading and I look forward to reading more from this author.

This turned out to be a bit underwhelming for me. I really did enjoy Casiopea and Hun-Kame as characters, Casiopea especially. She's honest, caring, and uncompromising, all wrapped up in sweetness. The way her relationship developed with Hun-Kame and the way he changed as he spent time with her was great. There was some mild pining and I was there for it. I also enjoyed the ending, and if there is ever a sequel, I'll pick it up. But something was off for me. Despite the setting and the whole, gods come to earth thing, it didn't really pull me in or feel atmospheric. The whole plot felt a little low-stakes to me, because I was never really worried for Casiopea either, so even when she was like, basically in the underworld, I didn't fear for her. I like Moreno-Garcia's writing style, I'm just not really sure why I wasn't wowed by this one like I expected to be. Definitely worth checking out if the plot interests you though.

This is my first exposure to Moreno-Garcia's writing and my only regret is that my TBR pile is going to be getting taller in the future. I like how the author does a good job of subverting conventional expectations but does so with a dry sense of humor. I like how her Jazz Age Mexico is as much a character as our heroine Casiopea Tun, or her scum-bag cousin and foil Martin Leyva. Of the last point I like a story where the antagonists also get a vote, and are just not straw men for the supposed rooting interest to knock down. Finally, I like the complexity of this novel in that you can read it as historical fiction, as a fairy tale for adults, as an epic quest, or, from the perspective of those who oppose Casiopea and the usurped Lord of Death, as a caper novel.

This book was ok to me. I found it to be after a while quite a slog. I think overall the reason I was kinda disappointed with it is because I didn't really feel they (Casiopea and Hun-Kame) had much to overcome. They went to places and got the pieces of himself that he needed without much trouble really. There were a few obstacles but they weren't long lived and didn't require much in the way of creative thinking to overcome them. For a premise that was amazing sounding I just kinda walked away with a "meh" feeling towards it at the end.

The Gods of Jade and Shadow certainly starts out as a fairly straight forward Cinderella re-telling. A young homely girl treated more as a servant in her wealthy grandfather's home then as a member of the family, one day stumbles upon the bones of Xibalba, the Mayan god of death. The old gods of Mexico have been forgotten but what little power they still possess is jealously held and fought over with humans playing as their pawns. Cassiopeia, the central character of the story, is linked to Xibalba physically but also spiritually because while her family is European her father was indigenous. Her unwittingly unlocking of Xilbala begins a quest across Mexico's Yucatan to restore Xibalba to his throne and her self discovery.

The atmospheric setting of the 1920's Mexico makes the story feel a bit more real. AN oppressive Catholic state mixed with the '20s anything goes attitude gave space for a subset of forgotten gods to still hold some power and fight it out amongst themselves. And a perfect backdrop for Cassiopeia, a native looking Mexican to find her place in a racist world where natives are considered of little to no value. There's a first love story here, but that isn't the driver here. It's through the journey and falling in love with a god that Cassiopeia is finally able to find her footing in her world. She will ultimately have to make a very grown-up and un cinderella-esque choice. And by the end, her choice is easy and unforced.

God of Jade and Shadow is a good book. A little slow-paced for my liking, but it was fun to explore Mexico's mythology and native culture, through a narrative story.