Reviews - Gods of Jade and Shadow

9.17k reviews for:

Gods of Jade and Shadow

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

3.9 AVERAGE

krballard's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

coyfanatic's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious 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: Yes

julies_reading's review against another edition

1.0

There wasnt anything I liked about this book. I would give it a 2 star because I can understand why other people could like it, but I didnt like the writing or the characters and all the other things weren’t special. I feel like i should give this copy away but I dont know which of my friends would appreciate it more.

+interesting premise
-uninteresting characters
-annoying writing style
-predictable plot
-unable to capture readers attention

n_mutanu16's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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

anaisqsn's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous fast-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

“Words are seeds, Casiopea. With words you embroider narratives, and the narratives breed myths, and there's power in the myth. Yes, the things you name have power.”

I was drawn to Gods of Jade and Shadow thanks to my interest in lesser-known mythologies. It is a thrilling and adventurous tale with a lot of potential, but it was a little too fast-paced for me.

Many, many things happen in the span of 300 pages. The main characters cross a literal country, with the means of transport of the 1920s. The events follow one another with a surprisingly fast pace, and it leaves little to no room for character development. IMO, the book would benefit from a few hundred more pages to develop Casiopea and Hun-Kame's personalities further; they felt a little too shallow.

The main duo advances from city to city with such facility that I found myself not caring much about their quest. If they had succeeded so easily until then, they would surely triumph again, right? Even what was supposed to be tense moments flew by, as if none of the main characters were ever hurt or scared. The plot felt very stiff: it was just a series of events that happened to be lived by the same characters, but with no link whatsoever.

It is a shame, because I loved the story! I wish the author had gone into more detail about the characters' feelings, their whereabouts, the fights, the different demons and spirits...

>> 70% - 3.5/5

Content Warnings

believeinappletater's review against another edition

5.0

What a fun, fantastical romp through Mayan myths and culture. Mythology of all kind fascinates me and the author wove a wonderful tale sprinkled with Mayan mythology.

Cassiopeia is a headstrong and defiant teenager living with her extended family after the passing of her father. Her aunts, uncles and grandfather look down on her and her mother for her mother's choice in a partner. Martin, her cousin, has been a constant thorn in her side bullying her since her arrival. After a chance encounter with a wooden chest and a set of bones, Cassiopeia's life changes dramatically.
Well written and interesting read. I recommend it for anyone that likes mythology, stories of main characters feeling out of place in their life and fantastical adventures.

SPOILER

Please tell me we will get a second novel or short stories about Cassiopeia and Loray's traveling automobile adventures!!!!!

solargarden_'s review against another edition

3.0

this was too fast-paced for my taste, but i know some people really enjoy this kind of pacing.

however i do think the romance here was very weak. i didn’t get any sense of chemistry between the two main characters until the very end, and even then it wasn’t much. also, there was SO much infodumping. i really loved getting to learn about these deities and the history, but it felt like reading a textbook sometimes with the amount of explanation that went on.