Reviews with content warning for Violence - Gods of Jade and Shadow

Quick to start the plot moving, which is much appreciated, with world building built between the chapters. Theres a nod to a Shakespeare style of formatting the story, which once I picked up on it was much easier to understand the storytelling layout. Great book, looking forward to reading more of this author's works.

Content Warnings

akincses1992's review

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I think it was very interesting. It’s kind of like a mythological odyssey. Kind of fairytale like. There’s also a lot to learn about the culture and the mythology so it’s in its own way educational.

Content Warnings

briannad4's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

emily_mh's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

divine529's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

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

I had a hard time with this book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. The best word I can use to describe my feelings for this book is apathy.

I read another Garcia book awhile ago and I loved that one a lot, but this one gave me a hard time, which surprised me.

This is a dual perspective book and follows our protagonists Casiopea (our main protagonist) and her cousin Martin. Casiopea accidentally awakes the Mayan god of death, Hun-Kame and gets a bone shard embedded in her hand, and if she wants to live, they have to embark on a quest to get him back on his throne and defeat his brother who did this to him. Along the way they encounter many different demons and ghosts and gods and things go from there.

Generally, I wasn't connected to any part of this book. The writing was good, the plot was ok and the characters were just not relatable to me and I didn't emotionally connect to them. I liked the historical and mythological aspects of the book the most I think.

The last 5-6 chapters were absolutely fantastic and I was fully engaged and invested in them, I just wish more of the book was that way for me.

All in all, a bit disappointing, but would recommend people try it anyway.

Content Warnings

nicnevin's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

antonique_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

More...