A review by leahfoko
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

I really liked this book. I haven’t read a book with Mayan mythology used like this before and I thought it was really unique and fun. I loved the setting of Mexico in the 20s. I thought the parallels with Hun Kame and Vucub Kame and Martín and Cassiopea were really interesting, and the portrayal of jealousy and spite being able to unnecessarily develop into hate to be really interesting. That we often hate others for what they show us about ourselves that we don’t like. I thought the discussions about class differences and public opinion towards independent women was interesting. I liked that the romance was not an essential part of the story and mostly contributed to helping develop the characters’ growth as individuals rather than being about the relationship really. That Cassiopea humanized Hun Kame and he helped her to gain confidence and self autonomy, and they both learned something about themselves but Cassiopea still got to go off on her own and live out her independent dreams in the end. I thought that was beautifully done, and I am living for the idea of Loray and Cassiopea just going off on adventures together. I want a spin off book about that LOL. I felt that the pacing was a little slow at times with them just going to a new city and getting a new piece of Hun Kame and then immediately leaving to the next, it kind of bled together as a bit of the same concept over and over, which is my only complaint about the book. Overall, really interesting concept and characters done in a really unique way. 
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