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bluejayreads's review against another edition
I was originally going to do a Review Short for this one, but it turns out I have a whole review’s worth of thoughts after all. Mainly because I am just so disappointed in this book.
The concept is fantastic. I love stories of old gods who aren’t worshiped or believed in anymore who have to get help from mortals to stop the evil machinations of other old gods, and that’s essentially what this is. It’s also featuring Mayan gods and set in 1920s Mexico – a mythology and setting that I haven’t read much about (I don’t think I’ve ever read something set in 1920s Mexico, actually). The concepts are great and the plot is solid. It’s everything else that left much to be desired.
Mainly because there isn’t anything else. The people are cardboard cutouts bouncing along as the plot demands. The plot itself plods along, not exactly slow but never changing pace. There are no twists and no obstacles to give it texture, it never speeds up to drive tension, and it never slows down to leave room for character and setting. I spent over six hours with these characters, and the only things I know about them are things that were told to me by other characters or the narrator. (The narrator also looks down on Casiopea because she’s young, which was very irritating.) I spent six hours in 1920s Mexico, but all I know about it is “flappers, but it’s hot outside.” The plot seemed determined to force its way forward at the same pace regardless of anything else.
I loved the gods and how much the story shows of them, but they were still cardboard puppets forced along to the constant plodding of the plot. There were demons and ghosts and spirits and the Mayan underworld and fascinating ideas about the spacial limitations of deities, but I had to grasp for those interesting bits as the plot pushed me past. It glossed over all of the interesting parts that might have given it flavor – Mexican, Mayan, 1920s, mythological, or anything else – in favor of a relentlessly monotonous pace. Even with the threat of death for the protagonist and bad things for humanity if the antagonist won, I couldn’t bring myself to care.
I so wanted more from this. I wanted it to bring together 1920s Mexico and Mayan myth into something rich and magical and bursting with mood and atmosphere. I wanted a world I could sink my teeth into – and I think if I’d gotten that, I could have forgiven flat characters. I might have even been able to forgive a lackluster world if the characters were compelling and had personality and chemistry, even though the world was what I really wanted out of this story. But this book has neither, and the plot is far too straightforward to be interesting. As great as the ideas are and as much as I wanted to like this book, I just couldn’t find a reason to care.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood
cemeterygay's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
It took me a bit to get my thoughts together about this book. Overall, I really enjoyed but the ending was significantly better than the rest of the book.
I'm just going to start with the few things I didn't care too much for in the book. I think the pacing at times was questionable and I really didn't care for Martin's chapters even though I understood why they were necessary. While Casiopea was a sympathetic main protagonist, I really wasn't that invested in her as a character. Hun-Kame and was really well-developed as a god with the correct amount of weight and drama given to him but I also just wasn't that invested in him. I am also just not a big fan of god/mortal relationships especially when the human is a teenager, it feels weird. While I do think this book handled that trope incredibly well, I'm still just not a big fan of it.
I just in general have very mixed feelings about the relationship. Silvia Moreno-Garcia's beautiful writing style lends itself so some very emotionally intense at times painful but other times very sweet moments in the relationship. The relationship plays out how it should and how honestly a relationship like that would turn out. As much as I don't like this trope, I think it does ultimately really help the themes of this book.
I think the way a lot of societal issues were talked about like religious guilt instilled by the Catholic church, anti-indigenous sentiment, colorism, etc. was incredibly well-done. I really enjoyed the Mexican Jazz Age aspect of this book and that setting helped not only with plot development but with bolstering the mood and themes of the story. The handling of Mayan storytelling and beliefs was also just incredibly well done and I really enjoyed how much of it was incorporated into the storytelling.
One of the highlights of this book id Moreno-Garcia's writing style. I love the lyrical storytelling that is very reminiscent of not just fairy tales and folklore but many oral traditions of storytelling. This style blended so beautifully with both the core plot as well as the themes of the book. I also loved the themes of compassion, humanity, forgiveness, and autonomy so deeply as well as the coming of age aspects of this story.
The best part of the story is honestly the final trial to the end. Not only does the ending deliver so wonderfully on the core themes of the story, there some beautiful writing moments that not only made me care about the main relationship but legitimately left me in tears. The ending alone means I cannot recommend this book enough to others.
I'm just going to start with the few things I didn't care too much for in the book. I think the pacing at times was questionable and I really didn't care for Martin's chapters even though I understood why they were necessary. While Casiopea was a sympathetic main protagonist, I really wasn't that invested in her as a character. Hun-Kame and was really well-developed as a god with the correct amount of weight and drama given to him but I also just wasn't that invested in him. I am also just not a big fan of god/mortal relationships especially when the human is a teenager, it feels weird. While I do think this book handled that trope incredibly well, I'm still just not a big fan of it.
I just in general have very mixed feelings about the relationship. Silvia Moreno-Garcia's beautiful writing style lends itself so some very emotionally intense at times painful but other times very sweet moments in the relationship. The relationship plays out how it should and how honestly a relationship like that would turn out. As much as I don't like this trope, I think it does ultimately really help the themes of this book.
I think the way a lot of societal issues were talked about like religious guilt instilled by the Catholic church, anti-indigenous sentiment, colorism, etc. was incredibly well-done. I really enjoyed the Mexican Jazz Age aspect of this book and that setting helped not only with plot development but with bolstering the mood and themes of the story. The handling of Mayan storytelling and beliefs was also just incredibly well done and I really enjoyed how much of it was incorporated into the storytelling.
One of the highlights of this book id Moreno-Garcia's writing style. I love the lyrical storytelling that is very reminiscent of not just fairy tales and folklore but many oral traditions of storytelling. This style blended so beautifully with both the core plot as well as the themes of the book. I also loved the themes of compassion, humanity, forgiveness, and autonomy so deeply as well as the coming of age aspects of this story.
The best part of the story is honestly the final trial to the end. Not only does the ending deliver so wonderfully on the core themes of the story, there some beautiful writing moments that not only made me care about the main relationship but legitimately left me in tears. The ending alone means I cannot recommend this book enough to others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Classism, Murder, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Colonisation
CW: Religious Trauma/Guilt, Colorism, Chronic Illness and Terminal Illness are both magical in nature.vittorioseg's review against another edition
I didn't get into the world. The way Sivia describe the setting and the characters, for all its fairy tale conception, its incredibly dry. I didn't feel excitement or enjoyment, just this travelologue who was droning about for they paycheck. it was never a story for me, just a bunch of descriptions tied together through bland dialogue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Colonisation, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Blood and Body horror
elizlizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
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
4.5
This is my first book by SMG and I'm in love with the way she writes, this is exactly what I would've wanted to read as a teen obsessed with urban fantasy. It's obvious and appreciated that the author did her research before writing, plus the love story is woven so beautifully with the actual plot that it's compelling without taking over the action. The ending is bittersweet but so, so satisfactory and the characters and character growth is beyond anything I've read in a while. 5 stars!
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Revisiting after a recent re-read (2022): It is a brilliant story and I love the ending, although the timeline and flow of the story could've done with some editing to make it run seamlessly.
As for the romance, I still think there's something there but at times it can feel forced especially because it tends to fade to the background when not needed for plot purposes. I also think it tends to conflate love with lust but eh that's just me being nitpicky.
I would still recommend it and think it's great for people who like urban fantasy but would like to see other mythologies represented.
----------------------
Revisiting after a recent re-read (2022): It is a brilliant story and I love the ending, although the timeline and flow of the story could've done with some editing to make it run seamlessly.
As for the romance, I still think there's something there but at times it can feel forced especially because it tends to fade to the background when not needed for plot purposes. I also think it tends to conflate love with lust but eh that's just me being nitpicky.
I would still recommend it and think it's great for people who like urban fantasy but would like to see other mythologies represented.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Blood, Murder, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
obviousthings's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This story really feels like a myth in novel form. It was a refreshing change (in both setting and tone) from a lot of the fantasy books I've read lately, and although I was a bit unsure about it in the middle, the ending really tied it all together for me. Another strong point is the imagery, which is quite vivid - Vucub-Kamé is going to stick with me for a while. The story is about gods on the surface, but it has a lot to do with family, family conflicts, and duty.
I think if you enjoyed The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, you might like this book, and vice versa. The two stories are similar in a lot of ways (although quite different in others). I would also definitely recommend Gods of Jade and Shadow if you're interested in gods and mythology, although it's worth noting that I'm not, in particular, and I still enjoyed it :)
I think if you enjoyed The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, you might like this book, and vice versa. The two stories are similar in a lot of ways (although quite different in others). I would also definitely recommend Gods of Jade and Shadow if you're interested in gods and mythology, although it's worth noting that I'm not, in particular, and I still enjoyed it :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Body horror
Minor: Terminal illness
zombiezami's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It took me a long time to get through this. I tried with an ebook several times, and even though I purchased the audiobook, I still had a hard time. It's not so much that I disliked; I didn't I think this book would have done better for me in a visual medium, maybe as a graphic novel or even a tv show or movie. There was so much imagery that I wish I could just see instead of hearing it described. I was very interested in the mythology presented, and I liked Cassiopeia as a character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexism, Misogyny, Body horror, Death, Animal death, Gore, Violence, and Racism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse
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