Reviews - Gods of Jade and Shadow

9.16k reviews for:

Gods of Jade and Shadow

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

3.9 AVERAGE

chloebrewzerv's review against another edition

1.5

adventurous slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

larissaurus_bix's review against another edition

4.5

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: No

chrisfrommaine's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

foxarcada's review against another edition

3.5

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

orallech's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous mysterious

frannotfranny's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

amybraunauthor's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark informative inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

GODS OF JADE AND SHADOW is an imaginative, magical, bloody story steeped in Mayan folklore that stays true to its legends. It’s a fresh story that pulls readers in and takes them on a memorable adventure to another realm.

The main character, Casiopea, is all but a servant to her family, though she dreams of a bigger, better life. She unexpectedly releases a Mayan death god and must help him reclaim his throne before her life is drained away. Casiopea is a fun, bold character who rolls with the adventure and adapts as it changes. Hun-Kame acts basically exactly as a god would act: bold and powerful but not quite sure about those weird little humans. They have a fun bond, even if it moved pretty quick.

The setting is a lot of fun and it was really interesting to see the different deities and creatures interact with it. The visuals are well described and mesh so well with Mayan mythology. This was actually my favourite part of the story, since the Maya have an incredible culture and it was wonderful to see it beautifully told. Even with the endless talk of decapitations.

I joke, but I really did enjoy the imagination and prose Moreno-Garcia put into this story. It was a little slow in places, at least until the end, and the story didn’t quite catch me the way the synopsis did (I wasn’t a fan of Martin, at all, even at the end), but I still enjoyed myself. Recommended for anyone who loves historical fantasy and mythology!