Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

20 reviews

ladyhunbun's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed a lot about this book, to be honest I think something about the audiobook/narration made it hard for me to fall in love with but I can understand why others might. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, and Body horror

yourbookishbff'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? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this, and plan to reread it at some point in print, as I think I would have enjoyed it even more in a different format (I read via audio). This is a dark fairytale blend of Mayan mythology and Jazz age flamboyance with a (kind of surprising?) romantic sub-plot and a lot of Cinderella-esque family drama. I appreciated the clear discussion of the racial caste system these characters are operating within and against, and the examination of anti-Indigenous racism. I most enjoyed this story in the third act, when it gets truly dark (not sure what that says about me, but I loved the drama and all of our new mythical creatures!). 

Honestly my only struggle in this was the narration - I couldn't always distinguish character voices (and there were a few times it felt like one character voice carried over into another's dialogue? I had to replay scenes several times) and Casiopea felt so young to me because of how she's narrated that I was genuinely caught off guard by the romantic throughline. Again, I think in another format this would have been an even more enjoyable read, and I'm excited to read more by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia (this was my first!). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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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

flaminggecko's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal death, Abandonment, and Death

star crossed lovers, suicide as plot device, self-sacrifice, Cinderella trope

micaelamariem's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

This was a great read, inspired by Mayan mythology which I got to learn more about as I parsed my way through this. I love the themes of narrative and myths and accepting and/or changing destiny. I love the slow burn. I love the bittersweet ending. I love the descriptions of everywhere in 1920s Mexico contrasted with Xibalba. I love the healing journey the characters go through to end the cycle of trauma. There’s just so much here to love. It took me a while to get into it but that was just a me thing because I was so busy. Once I forced myself to be still, I really loved this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Bullying, Racism, Sexism, Animal death, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, and Suicide

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. 

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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

lady_valhella's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Colonisation, Blood, Classism, Death, Violence, Animal death, and Gaslighting

There is a rivalry between twin brothers and something like a rivalry between a female and male cousin. There is business partnership that is maybe a little toxic. Ok a lot toxic.

The suicide is a sacrifice of ones self to save the deity from becoming mortal and loosing their throne of the underworld. The god resurrects the sacrificed individual but it does happen and it is a bit graphic

. The adventure is fun and the dynamics of the relationship is also fun to watch unfold.

leahfoko's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

I really liked this book. I haven’t read a book with Mayan mythology used like this before and I thought it was really unique and fun. I loved the setting of Mexico in the 20s. I thought the parallels with Hun Kame and Vucub Kame and Martín and Cassiopea were really interesting, and the portrayal of jealousy and spite being able to unnecessarily develop into hate to be really interesting. That we often hate others for what they show us about ourselves that we don’t like. I thought the discussions about class differences and public opinion towards independent women was interesting. I liked that the romance was not an essential part of the story and mostly contributed to helping develop the characters’ growth as individuals rather than being about the relationship really. That Cassiopea humanized Hun Kame and he helped her to gain confidence and self autonomy, and they both learned something about themselves but Cassiopea still got to go off on her own and live out her independent dreams in the end. I thought that was beautifully done, and I am living for the idea of Loray and Cassiopea just going off on adventures together. I want a spin off book about that LOL. I felt that the pacing was a little slow at times with them just going to a new city and getting a new piece of Hun Kame and then immediately leaving to the next, it kind of bled together as a bit of the same concept over and over, which is my only complaint about the book. Overall, really interesting concept and characters done in a really unique way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Sexism, Colonisation, and Classism

allisonmspiers's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Stalking, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Physical abuse, Gore, Sexual harassment, Murder, Classism, Child abuse, Bullying, Sexism, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Colonisation, Ableism, Death of parent, Torture, Grief, Sexual content, and Racism

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

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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