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readwithbells's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.5
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s character work continues to be exceptional. She establishes complicated familial relationships quickly and easily and weaves a nice touch of magical realism to make the book a bit more fun. I really enjoyed the first half of this guy, but I found my enjoyment waning in the second half. It almost felt like she had plotted the beginning steps to get Casiopeia out of her hometown and she had the end figured out and was pantsing her way through the middle section. It was weirdly slow and I didn’t feel like I learned a lot or that the characters grew very much during that time at all. It also felt like the stakes were very low - their quest for the missing pieces was so easy! Took a lot of propulsion out of the story. I did really like the ending though and the Mayan mythology was definitely the best part of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Animal death and Gore
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
slow-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? No
4.0
Absolutely fantastic. I really enjoyed the overall ambiance of the book and the way it followed the structure of traditional folklore. All of the stylistic, writing aspects of it were spot on, and although the story was also good, it was the style that really spoke to me. I'm more and more impressed with Silvia Moreno-Garcia's stylistic range!
As a story, I enjoyed stepping into the world of Mexican folklore. The world was rich, but so too were the characters. There's a great conversation here about traditional male and female roles in the 1920s Yucatán. The characters had excellent internal struggles which I really appreciated and the relationship between the gods and mortals, the gods and their underlings, and the gods and one another were all interesting.
I'll be perfectly honest - this book was fantastic, but I wasn't able to mentally focus on it the way I wanted to by no fault of the author. I think if I'd been able to close my eyes, quiet my mind, and give the book my full attention, this would have been a 5-star read. As it is, it's one I'll likely revisit.
As a story, I enjoyed stepping into the world of Mexican folklore. The world was rich, but so too were the characters. There's a great conversation here about traditional male and female roles in the 1920s Yucatán. The characters had excellent internal struggles which I really appreciated and the relationship between the gods and mortals, the gods and their underlings, and the gods and one another were all interesting.
I'll be perfectly honest - this book was fantastic, but I wasn't able to mentally focus on it the way I wanted to by no fault of the author. I think if I'd been able to close my eyes, quiet my mind, and give the book my full attention, this would have been a 5-star read. As it is, it's one I'll likely revisit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Kidnapping
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.
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.
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: Death and Suicide
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: illness, colourism, ethnic racism, volcano, self-injury, insects, hurricane, earthquakespinkysaurus'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, Animal death, and Suicide
machenn's review
adventurous
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Death, and Blood
ginadapooh's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism
daniellekat's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I’m a big fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and this book did not disappoint. The writing was beautiful and I loved the traditional “two people on a quest” storytelling. The narrative wasn’t particularly surprising or novel but I really enjoyed the Mexican mythology throughout. I have been in a bit of a reading slump and this was exactly what I needed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Physical abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Body horror and Racism
lauramparis's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Blood
Minor: Physical abuse and Racism
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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Xenophobia, Blood, and Classism
Minor: Death of parent
divine529's review against another edition
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.
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
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder