gods of jade and shadow: mexican mythology
- paigenherbooks
- Jun 7, 2022
- 5 min read
4/5
Silvia Moreno-Garcia sure knows how to write a compelling, engaging, and wildly entertaining story. Gods of Jade and Shadow was such a profound book and I am so happy that I picked it up. Reading this book gave me such Percy Jackson vibes that I was just enthralled from page one. I loved it.
Synopsis: Set in an alternate Jazz Age Mexico, where gods and monsters from Mayan mythology walk the Earth and war with each other for dominion over Xibalba, the land of death.
First
Some backstory.
Our spritely main character opens a chest and out jumps a bunch of bones that create themselves into Hun-Kame, a Mayan Death god. Due to this Casiopea has a bone shard from said god logged in her finger. A circulation where she is being drained of her mortality while giving her a god glow and vice versa for Mr. bag of bones. The two set off to collect the rest of his body parts (his eyes, ear, and finger) so he can resume his rightful rule of the Mayan underworld. Oh and it's the Jazz ear in Mexico. Aka this was an enthralling story that had me from page one.
Casiopeia Tun.
She was honestly such a perfect female lead character. You guys know by now that I consider myself an "old feminist" meaning I am for women's rights (duh) but I think that most people writing "strong" female leads make them so annoying and over masculine at times that they just simply piss me off.
Like why can't we celebrate femininity?
I could go on a whole rant and maybe later I'll post my deep theological and methodical thinking on modern day feminism...but for now back to Casiopeia . I loved her. Her character arc was perfect to me. She was a strong female lead done SO WELL. She wasn't meek or mild mannered but she just didn't annoy me. She was strong willed and brave, she wanted to be in love and was a romantic, she loved to read and dream. But she could work and stand up to anyone. I felt so connected to her character. I know we would be the best of friends.
We watch Casiopeia go through the story and really learn her own. She realizes that everything everyone has told her doesn't have to dictate her life. Cutting her hair short like the flappers (we are in the jazz ear eeeee!) isn't going to send her to hell. Or laughing or simply enjoying being a girl. She's allowed to have crushes and nice things and she learns this. Watching her character go from having to obey her cranky dusty grandfather and Martin (ugh) her pretentious cousin, to seeing her blossom and come into her own with the help of Hun-Kame was beautiful. I think the author really encapsulated the growing up of a young woman. We all have shared experiences--it's just a fact of life, and Casiopeia growing up within her journey was truly beautiful.
Then there's Hun-Kame.
I am obsessed with his character.
Is it because he is a slightly mysterious aloof but kind in small moments character...and not to mention the god of death? yes 100% correct on the obsession there for those reasons.
I loved him.
I liked how he himself also had a great character progression and growth as well. I often find that with retellings the gods or divine beings don't change much. It's always the "hero" participating in the hero's journey. But I loved this uno reverse moment where we see the god of the story change. Hun-Kame goes from being this vengeful angry god to a just and kind man. I loved seeing him interact with human emotions and mortality throughout the story and seeing him respond to things that Casiopeia was doing. Their interactions were so sweet! This leads me to the slow-burn romance this book gave us. Holy moly I didn't think it would ever happen and then it did! and then SPOILER it was ripped away cruelly. I just sat and stared at my wall. I will continue on this thought later but just wow. The romance was the perfect amount in my opinion. It was so innocent and sweet. Casiopeia didn't know if Hun-Kame would feel the same and we watch through (mostly) Casiopeia eyes as we see him start to fall for her.
I ate it up and took a nap after because it was SO good.
Then there's Martin.
I didn't like Martin and I know that was the whole reason for the creation of his character but wow talk about freaking annoying. I did enjoy seeing some things from his perspective to gain some more knowledge on the other side of what was going on in the story. But he was just a cry baby to me.
Like I have no remorse for bullies so I did not feel bad for him at all.
Vucub-Kamé, Hun Kame's twin brother was an interesting character.
He was mischievous and angry. I liked how he was very different from his brother, who is most of the time very calm-deadly calm. He was a good antagonist though I wouldn't think of him per se as scary. More of what he wanted the hero to do was frightening.
Overall, the characters were all interesting and intriguing. None of them felt too flat for me either. Even the small side characters felt round and full of life.
Now, the overall plot and the content of the book. This was also expertly done in my opinion. One thing I didn't think I was going to enjoy but I actually did was the little history that the author wove into the story. Our main characters travel quite a bit and every time they were somewhere knew I felt like I was actually there. That I was breathing in the same air as Casiopeia and that I knew the deep and ancient history that was running through the streets. It really helped to ground the reader to the surroundings while also learning something.
The pacing of the book was really well done as well. Nothing felt too rushed or unfinished in my opinion. It was very organic and natural.
Now...back to the romance and kinda the end of the story. So my fellow readers if you don't want any major spoilers please leave and return when you've read it. (I find this so funny that I do this now, because when I started my little blog I was so set on just including all spoilers, but now I feel bad hahaha) anyway...
The ending of the story was so beautiful but honestly kinda sad and haunting. Not only does Casiopeia refuse Hun-Kame's offer of staying together with him as a mortal, but she kills herself to save him. On the Black Road-which was such an interesting concept, I need to research it some more! She truly sacrificed how she felt for what was right.
I almost cried.
When they kissed in the ocean and he asked her to give him a name ohhhhh how I wanted her to just let it out. But Casiopeia is a strong woman who knows what needs to be done. I love though that Hun-Kame gives mercy to his brother as well all because of how much he has learned and been inspired by Casiopeia.
But wow.
The fact that they will never see each other again and both are so in love was so sad. It was so heart-wrenching. Though being the character that Casiopeia is she gets up after a good night of crying and sleep and starts her next adventure. Which I enjoyed. It was a truly bittersweet ending but fitting in a way. It was realistic as a story about Mayan death gods can be. It is a love story that I will hold with me, that I know for sure.
Ugh this book. I loved it. It was just so good to be quite honest. Casiopeia was done so well as was the rest of the crafting of the story. It was truly unique and Silvia Moreno-Garcia did a splendid job. Highly recommend to all. Especially if you love slow romances, bittersweet endings, and retellings!
happy reading amigos,
xoxo
paige :)
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