Scan barcode
antonique_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
kurumipanda's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Blood
Moderate: Racism and Animal death
Minor: Confinement
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
jessicaludden's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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
5.0
“Unlucky Casiopea, born under a bad star, could not prevail.”
“Death, she walked next to Death, and Death wore the face of a man. So she spoke to Death like a man, raised her voice to him, she might even defy him, but of course he was no man.”
I loved everything about this book. The magic was super refreshing and the mythology and folklore was so interesting. I loved the romance obviously. The tension building up the entire time was so good. Hun-Kamé was so funny. I don’t even know if he was supposed to be funny but everything he said was so blunt and the way he didn’t get sarcasm at all was the best. I loved his dynamic with Casiopea and how we slowly got to see them fall in love as he became more mortal and slowly saw him start to joke and laugh with her. There was a really cool detail about reflections that was brought up a few times. Casiopea had walked in upset while Hun-Kumé was very stoic and calm and she was confused as to why he wasn’t reflecting her emotions. Later, her fear of losing her freedom was brought up and Hun-Kamé reflected her feelings by showing her sympathy and telling her he feels the same. I just loved getting to see them relate to each other. Reflections were also brought up with Hun-Kumé’s eyes. As he became more human, his eyes started having reflections.
“She was rendered in most vivid colors… his vision was already too clouded by Casiopea. When she’d spoken and he’d turned his head, his pupil reflected her and washed away the rest of the room.”
I like how Casiopea was really just a normal girl and she stayed a normal girl. She wasn’t some chosen hero, she was just a girl who opened a box and chose to be brave. I also liked the recurring idea of sacrifices. At the beginning of the book her mother had said, “Perhaps one day you will learn what it is to make sacrifices” and that’s exactly what happened for the rest of the book. Casiopea was constantly sacrifices things for Hun-Kamé and while it wasn’t her first choice to solve their problems, she learned that sacrifices came naturally to her when she cared about the person, or even the entire world. The ending threw me for a loop. I wasn’t expecting her to kill herself and I’m not entirely sure how that resulted in her winning the race but I’ll just say it was because of magic. I like how throughout the whole book Casiopea remained a kind and just person. She never wanted to cause harm to anyone else, even those who would’ve deserved it, and it was nice to see that rub off on Hun-Kamé. I was so sad when he became a god again, but the way his heart shriveled up and his love for her remained a part of Xibalba was so beautiful. Overall, I appreciated how she was able to feel that love, remember it, and go off to live her own dreams.
Favorite Quotes:
“…often the gods exist in a state of placid indifference. Their laughter, when it surfaces, is not born in the heart, but the head. Hun-Kamé’s laughter, however, had been cooked in the furnace of his heart. It was bright and vigorous.”
“She smiled. In return, he gave her a smidgen of a smile, so tiny she felt she might have to cup it in her hands to keep it safe, or the wind might blow it away.”
“‘I’m not useless,’ she assured herself more than him. ‘I can be brave.’”
“‘It is not that I think you a coward, Lady Tun, it is that I wish you no harm.’”
“The train pressed forward and the glasses tinkled and he looked at her as if he’d not truly seen her before. And maybe, he had not.”
“I’d like to count stars with you. I don’t know where I even got this idea, but it’s there.”
“He was afraid, like when he’d been a small child and thought monsters lurked under his bed; only now they did, and he assisted them.”
“You are gracious. I will be gracious, for your sake.”
“I like your daydreams, dear girl.”
“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.”
“But mortals descend into paroxysms quite often. And what was Hun-Kamé now but half a fool, his voice young, his eye almost bereft of shadows? He sighed and he yearned, and in that yearning lay a weakness to exploit.”
“I deal in illusions. It is my gift. But it’s not an illusions Who I am right this second with you. Do you understand? I cant say it any better. Remember me like this, if you choose to remember me at all.”
“I wish we could keep dancing too.”
“Give me a name and it will be yours and mine alone.”
“Gods don’t die and yet, at times, when I’ve sat next to you I thought I’d die, this pain in my chest that I can hardly understand except it’s you, caught there… Have you ever felt anything like that?”
“I want to dance with you, to the fastest music possible. I want to learn the names of stars. I want to swim in the ocean at night. I want to ride next to you in one of those automobiles and see where the roads go.”
“I wish you were a coward instead of a hero.”
“…as if demonstrating for Hun-Kamé what he could no longer demonstrate, so that Casiopea, instead of observing the cold face of a stranger as he’d warned her, beheld instead the appearance of the red flowers, like the ink of a love letter. The stars, when traced by the human eye, formed constellations, and the flowers, linked together, spoke to her, they said, ‘My love.’”
“Death, she walked next to Death, and Death wore the face of a man. So she spoke to Death like a man, raised her voice to him, she might even defy him, but of course he was no man.”
I loved everything about this book. The magic was super refreshing and the mythology and folklore was so interesting. I loved the romance obviously. The tension building up the entire time was so good. Hun-Kamé was so funny. I don’t even know if he was supposed to be funny but everything he said was so blunt and the way he didn’t get sarcasm at all was the best. I loved his dynamic with Casiopea and how we slowly got to see them fall in love as he became more mortal and slowly saw him start to joke and laugh with her. There was a really cool detail about reflections that was brought up a few times. Casiopea had walked in upset while Hun-Kumé was very stoic and calm and she was confused as to why he wasn’t reflecting her emotions. Later, her fear of losing her freedom was brought up and Hun-Kamé reflected her feelings by showing her sympathy and telling her he feels the same. I just loved getting to see them relate to each other. Reflections were also brought up with Hun-Kumé’s eyes. As he became more human, his eyes started having reflections.
“She was rendered in most vivid colors… his vision was already too clouded by Casiopea. When she’d spoken and he’d turned his head, his pupil reflected her and washed away the rest of the room.”
I like how Casiopea was really just a normal girl and she stayed a normal girl. She wasn’t some chosen hero, she was just a girl who opened a box and chose to be brave. I also liked the recurring idea of sacrifices. At the beginning of the book her mother had said, “Perhaps one day you will learn what it is to make sacrifices” and that’s exactly what happened for the rest of the book. Casiopea was constantly sacrifices things for Hun-Kamé and while it wasn’t her first choice to solve their problems, she learned that sacrifices came naturally to her when she cared about the person, or even the entire world. The ending threw me for a loop. I wasn’t expecting her to kill herself and I’m not entirely sure how that resulted in her winning the race but I’ll just say it was because of magic. I like how throughout the whole book Casiopea remained a kind and just person. She never wanted to cause harm to anyone else, even those who would’ve deserved it, and it was nice to see that rub off on Hun-Kamé. I was so sad when he became a god again, but the way his heart shriveled up and his love for her remained a part of Xibalba was so beautiful. Overall, I appreciated how she was able to feel that love, remember it, and go off to live her own dreams.
Favorite Quotes:
“…often the gods exist in a state of placid indifference. Their laughter, when it surfaces, is not born in the heart, but the head. Hun-Kamé’s laughter, however, had been cooked in the furnace of his heart. It was bright and vigorous.”
“She smiled. In return, he gave her a smidgen of a smile, so tiny she felt she might have to cup it in her hands to keep it safe, or the wind might blow it away.”
“‘I’m not useless,’ she assured herself more than him. ‘I can be brave.’”
“‘It is not that I think you a coward, Lady Tun, it is that I wish you no harm.’”
“The train pressed forward and the glasses tinkled and he looked at her as if he’d not truly seen her before. And maybe, he had not.”
“I’d like to count stars with you. I don’t know where I even got this idea, but it’s there.”
“He was afraid, like when he’d been a small child and thought monsters lurked under his bed; only now they did, and he assisted them.”
“You are gracious. I will be gracious, for your sake.”
“I like your daydreams, dear girl.”
“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.”
“But mortals descend into paroxysms quite often. And what was Hun-Kamé now but half a fool, his voice young, his eye almost bereft of shadows? He sighed and he yearned, and in that yearning lay a weakness to exploit.”
“I deal in illusions. It is my gift. But it’s not an illusions Who I am right this second with you. Do you understand? I cant say it any better. Remember me like this, if you choose to remember me at all.”
“I wish we could keep dancing too.”
“Give me a name and it will be yours and mine alone.”
“Gods don’t die and yet, at times, when I’ve sat next to you I thought I’d die, this pain in my chest that I can hardly understand except it’s you, caught there… Have you ever felt anything like that?”
“I want to dance with you, to the fastest music possible. I want to learn the names of stars. I want to swim in the ocean at night. I want to ride next to you in one of those automobiles and see where the roads go.”
“I wish you were a coward instead of a hero.”
“…as if demonstrating for Hun-Kamé what he could no longer demonstrate, so that Casiopea, instead of observing the cold face of a stranger as he’d warned her, beheld instead the appearance of the red flowers, like the ink of a love letter. The stars, when traced by the human eye, formed constellations, and the flowers, linked together, spoke to her, they said, ‘My love.’”
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore, Death, and Blood
abominablesnowaro's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Sexism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gaslighting, Cursing, Classism, Bullying, Blood, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Alcohol
jaedia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
sad
slow-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? Yes
4.0
Gods of Jade and Shadow is a very sleepy fantasy. I expected a little more action from a story about a god of death on a quest to reclaim his throne after brotherly betrayal, and there was a little, but mostly the story meanders through moments, quietly weaving its myth. I found it a very calm read. I had no anticipated that but it was really nice and while I felt some of its events could have had a little more 'oomph', maybe drawn out just a little bit longer, perhaps packed a little more emotion, by the end I was still in tears and kinda wanting to hear more from these characters.
This book is a slow burn for sure. And it is lovely.
This book is a slow burn for sure. And it is lovely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Self harm
Moderate: Racism and Gaslighting
cozylifewithabby's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.75
I really liked the Mayan mythology of this tale. Cassiopeia is a compelling main character and the adventures reminded me a little of a Mexican YA version of American Gods. I personally didn't like the ending, but I am sure many will. Overall, a good read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Sexism and Violence
sofipitch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
I really enjoyed this, it was a fun adventure. The ending is bittersweet but it's exactly what you would have expected from the characters. I really liked the characters, especially Han Kumé and watching him become more human, while Casiopea became more divine.
I enjoyed the mythology aspects, the fact that the characters are going on a mythology based roadtrip made me think of Percy Jackson (the similarities basically end there though). The description of creatures and fantastical places like Xibalba was fantastic, truly beautiful. I wish I were an artist, I'd love to make fanart for this book, it feels so richly imagined.
I enjoyed the mythology aspects, the fact that the characters are going on a mythology based roadtrip made me think of Percy Jackson (the similarities basically end there though). The description of creatures and fantastical places like Xibalba was fantastic, truly beautiful. I wish I were an artist, I'd love to make fanart for this book, it feels so richly imagined.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Confinement
cemeterygay's review against another edition
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.boba_n_books's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moreno-Garcia sure is the master of slow burn stories! Though I am not well-versed in Mayan mythology, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned quite a bit about Mayan mythology along the way. The concept and imagery of Xibalba was probably my favorite part. Moreno-Garcia is so good at crafting an atmosphere and pulling her readers in and not letting them go until the last page. I enjoyed this book a lot - the relationship between Casiopeia and Hun-Kamé and the dynamic between Casiopeia and her terrible cousin, Martín, were some other notable parts of the reading experience.
I recommend this book if you enjoy any type of mythology and adventure as well as fully immersive and atmospheric writing.
I recommend this book if you enjoy any type of mythology and adventure as well as fully immersive and atmospheric writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Death, and Blood