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booksemmahasread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Sexism and Classism
Moderate: Bullying and Child abuse
Minor: Violence, Death of parent, and Blood
audreyywood's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Despite all of this, it was an easy read with a mostly satisfying ending.
Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry
dreadspawn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Suicide, Death, Animal death, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent and Racism
readingelli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Human sacrificestormeno's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Blood and Suicide
Minor: Violence
rockysoap's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
Minor: Classism, Death, Suicide, and Violence
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
- 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
“In the world of the living, one must live.”
Premise:
We follow the hero's journey of Casiopea Tun (third person limited POV), a girl from a small town Uukumil in southern Mexico who lives at the beck and call of her begrudging grandfather Carilio and her envious cousin, Martín. While perusing her grandfather's things, accidentally releases the god of death Hun-Kamé from his imprisonment, becomes bound to him, and must travel with him to find the rest of his body parts so he can reclaim his throne in Xibalba. He will also have to confront his twin, Vucub-Kamé.
On this journey across 1920's Mexico, Casiopea meets many Mayan gods and tricksters, and all of this is inspired by mythology of the Mayan cosmos! There is a bit of a deadline with this quest though, as the reason Casiopea needs to go with Hun-Kamé is because he is feeding off of her lifeforce (there's an implanted bone shard in her hand), so they must complete this quest before he fully drains all of her life force! Sheesh!
Thoughts:
SMG is hit-or-miss for me usually, but this one has landed moreso in the middle for me! There is so much that I loved! I had so much fun with the general premise of the hero's journey and this quest-based adventure with unlikely travel partners. It was so goofy, the banter was delectable, and I really enjoyed the characterization of both Casiopea and Hun-Kamé! They challenged each other, and Casiopea especially embarked not only on this physical journey, but an internal coming-of-age. She has been mistreated and is exhausted of it, only to recognize that even the villains in her story are figuring their shit out too.
Look, I'm not out here batting for and defending her dusty crusty cousin lol. Martín is ultimately just some guy, but I appreciated Casiopea's dynamic with him, and how that evolved so much by the end. It felt authentic and relatable - don't we all struggle with family dynamics and feeling ostracized or like the outcast at different eras in our lives? I *know* everyone's biological and chosen families are different, but I do think universally, people can relate on how complex family can be.
The setting of the cities across Mexico (Veracruz, Mexico City, El Paso, Baja, etc), as well as the underworld, were immersive and littered with gorgeous prose. I don't think anyone can say SMG is a lazy or vague writer; I could totally imagine the places she was describing, and I think this would be such a good book to adapt for tv as a limited series or a film!
Quotations that stood out to me:
“She longed. Not for one specific thing but for everything; she had longed for a long time. He’d made this longing worse: it followed her quietly, this awkward feeling under her skin.”
“Young, as you are young. Look at you, like the dawn,” he said. “You can’t understand, of course, but one day you’ll want to be new again,” he continued. “You’ll wish to return to this moment of perfection when you were the embodiment of all promises.”
“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,” he said.
“He’d fallen in love slowly and quietly, and it was a quiet sort of love, full of phrases left unsaid, laced with dreams. He had imagined himself a man for her, and he allowed her to see the extent of this man, and he gave her this speck of heart, which was a man, to hold for a moment before taking it back the second before it faded.”
“Life had taught her to be untrusting. Dreamers and romantics like her father did not fare well, and though she had dreamed in Uukumil, she’d done so quietly, in secret.”
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Death, Suicide, Misogyny, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
- 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
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!).
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
liesthemoontells's review against another edition
- 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
Good for fans of The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, or Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
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
libellumartinae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
alright, onto better stuff and a more coherent review: this book was delightful.
the romance, the adventure, the ethics. it had it all in a wonderful context of Mexico in the roaring twenties and I feel like there's always some difficulty when handling historical urban fantasy but somehow Silvia Moreno-Garcia always manages to actually amaze me by introducing the context in a fable-like way that explains it perfectly.
the only thing I didn't fully enjoy, was the pacing at the beginning of the chapters and the way she handled the switch of the characters, hence the absence of perfection.
in conclusion, read this book PLSSSSS.
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, and Violence