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leahfoko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Sexism, Colonisation, and Classism
allisonmspiers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Blood
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, and Colonisation
heatherjchin's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, and Gaslighting
Minor: Self harm, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Colonisation
kappafrog'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
Minor: Body horror, Cursing, Misogyny, Cannibalism, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
vegabela's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
emily_mh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I did like the narrative voice as I found it unique and it had a fairytale-like quality to it. However, it came at the cost of feeling distanced from Casiopea and her inner-world. A final thing I didn't like about the book was how quickly Casiopea and Hun-Kamé fell in love. Even though we are told this happened slowly, they had only known each other for a few weeks so I just didn't find this believable.
Despite these negatives, there were a lot of positives too! I really enjoyed the opposing development of Casiopea and Hun Kamé, how they were switching from mortal to immortal or vice versa, and how they learned more about their initial state through the other's journey. I really liked where Casiopea ended up overall, too. Speaking of the ending, the last 50 pages were really fantastic - gripping and satisfying. And I really loved reading and learning about Mayan mythology too, like the duality of Xibalba that was cleverly reflected in so many other parts of the narrative.
Graphic: Death and Suicide
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: illness, colourism, ethnic racism, volcano, self-injury, insects, hurricane, earthquakecemeterygay's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
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.tahsintries's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, and Colonisation
theirgracegrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Slavery, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
erica_palmisano's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Colonisation