Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

15 reviews

rockysoap's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Like others have said, I found this book slow in the beginning, which was fine with me because I was listening to it to fall asleep at night. But somewhere around halfway, it suddenly picked up and I became very invested. The world building in particular was captivating. The ending didn't work for me, but not because it was bad - it was just a personal preference thing. Overall, I enjoyed it and I'm glad I gave it a chance. I would gladly read this author again (although I might try to vet the story's ending first).

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Minor: Classism, Death, Suicide, and Violence

liesthemoontells's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Thoughtful, lyrical, and charming. A beautiful fantasy infused with a cultural background and mythology that many western readers may not be aware of, but written in a way that was engaging and accessible to newcomers, and with a gorgeous ending. A very welcome entry into the "reimagined Death God" subgenre.

Good for fans of The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, or Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Classism, Colonisation, Misogyny, Suicide, Blood, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

town_scar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a beautifully written myth and tale. It's use of prose was outstanding and it painted beautiful (and delightfully horrifying) images in my mind.

My main struggle was that some of the time transitions were jarring enough that I fell out of the story and got confused as to what was going on. This was largely in the first third of the book. 

Nonetheless, it was a riveting story and a fantastic tale. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it has given me a far deeper appreciation of Mexico and it's many indigenous cultures. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Sexism, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Classism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy

libraryofmoss's review

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is quickly winning a position among my favorite contemporary authors. I love how she writes strong, curious, and caring women leads and how I feel immersed in the environment she creates. I went in not knowing much about Mayan culture or stories and enjoyed going along for the ride. Adventurous and emotional but manages to stay light and hopeful.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Suicide

heatherjchin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, War, Blood, Suicide, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, and Death

Moderate: Gore, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Colonisation, Self harm, and Grief

emily_mh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Unfortunately I didn't super enjoy my time with this one. This is a quest narrative but it didn't do the job as one for me. I think the beauty of a quest narrative is that you don't really know where it's going - as a reader you have knowledge of an end point and an initial plan, but something will throw the hero off course to keep you on your toes. However, the narrative followed the initial plan in a really linear and repetitive way, with only minor obstacles for Casiopea and Hun-Kamé (until the end). 

I did like the narrative voice as I found it unique and it had a fairytale-like quality to it. However, it came at the cost of feeling distanced from Casiopea and her inner-world. A final thing I didn't like about the book was how quickly Casiopea and Hun-Kamé fell in love. Even though we are told this happened slowly, they had only known each other for a few weeks so I just didn't find this believable.

So I was especially frustrated that they were both so close to throwing in the towel because of this love.

Also, I really don't like the immortal/mortal trope especially as Casiopea is only 18. 

Despite these negatives, there were a lot of positives too! I really enjoyed the opposing development of Casiopea and Hun Kamé, how they were switching from mortal to immortal or vice versa, and how they learned more about their initial state through the other's journey. I really liked where Casiopea ended up overall, too. Speaking of the ending, the last 50 pages were really fantastic - gripping and satisfying. And I really loved reading and learning about Mayan mythology too, like the duality of Xibalba that was cleverly reflected in so many other parts of the narrative. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Death

Moderate: Cursing, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Confinement, Racism, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Gun violence, Colonisation, Slavery, Deportation, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Classism, Gore, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Physical abuse, Death of parent, War, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Self harm, Body shaming, Ableism, Sexism, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: illness, colourism, ethnic racism, volcano, self-injury, insects, hurricane, earthquake

spinkysaurus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicide, and Animal death

saltycoffee's review

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Death of parent

nicnevin's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A mesmerising blend of myth and magic set in 1920s Mexico. It felt alive, bold and vivid depictions of different places both real and not. 

Sometimes I struggled with the main character in terms of her own agency but it blooms near the end. It did not end how I thought bit felt the better for it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Torture, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

vkitoria's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death