Gods of Jade and Shadow - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Genre: Mythological Fiction, Dark Fantasy.

Rating: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A nice blend of Mayan mythology and dark fantasy. Will suit the YA Fantasy audience as well as older readers. Just wish it had toned down the descriptions.

Note: The author has made it clear that this isn't a YA story but an adult fiction. But the writing style and the character development gives me strong YA vibes. There's nothing in the content that can't be read by the YA target age group of 12-18.

Story:

1927. Eighteen year old Casiopea Tun slogs like a maid at her maternal grandfather’s place where she has been staying with her mother after her dad’s death. She dreams of a life from away from that small town and drudgery. One day, she opens a strange chest in her grandfather’s room and ends up accidentally freeing the spirit of Hun- Kamé, the Mayan God of Death, who in turn erolls her to join him on his quest of recovering the throne of Xibalba, the Mayan underworld, from his cunning twin, Vucub-Kamé. Thus begins Casiopea’s adventure through various Mexican cities and other-worldly realms, with a God for company and interactions with strange beings along the way.

Where the book worked for me:

😍 The character development is outstanding. I especially enjoyed how the author keeps all the main characters grey rather than pointing directly and saying “this is your villain” and “this is your hero”.

😍 Casiopea won my heart. How can I not love a character who declares, "Life may not be fair, but I must be fair"; that’s my motto in life! This is how female lead characters ought to be written.

😍 The storyline is pretty unusual, though a part of it reminded me of the initial issues of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comic series, both having an eternal being awoken after many decades now searching for his long-lost artefacts. I liked the blend of reality and fantasy.

😍 This is the first book I have read that is set in Mexico and the author does wonderful justice to the country, using the locations, the culture, the language and the beliefs to good use. The story has a very authentic feel to it despite being a fantasy.

😍 This is also the first book I have read that incorporates Mayan mythology into the storyline. Could we have some more of this please? The market is saturated with Greek myth stories/retellings; high time we get to read more about other cultures too. (PS: You don’t need to be aware of Mayan myths to enjoy the story better. The author details out whatever you need to know.)

😍 I loved the fantastical elements – the various gods and creatures are rendered so well that they enhance the basic writing style. I wish I could go into details about some of these otherworldly beings, but best you discover them yourself through this book.

😍 If you know me, you know I hate stories where romance is forced into the narrative without reason. Here, there is an undertone of romance but it doesn’t overpower the main plot at any time and doesn’t feel shoehorned.

😍 Loved the ending. It’s perfect for the story. (For that matter, I also loved the first line of the book – what an awesome way of establishing Casiopea’s character!)

😍 Within the façade of fantasy and mythology, it will be very easy to miss out on the hard themes covered in the book. It covers many pertinent issues such as gender discrimination, societal pressures to adhere to the norm, and misuse of religious text by some church priests.

Where the book could have worked better for me:

😑 The writing style didn't keep me hooked. I could easily keep the book aside and when I returned to it, I had to force myself to read until I got back into the groove.

😑 There’s an overload of locale and architectural descriptions, which I skimmed over after about the 30% mark.

😑 The above also causes the pacing to be uneven. The initial 20% and the final 15-20% go at a steady pace; the rest keeps shuffling between fast and slow.

To be honest, my rating was either a 3.5 or a 3.75 for most of the book. The fabulous climax nudged me upward. Definitely recommended for YA fantasy lovers. Adult readers of mythological fantasy might also enjoy this to a great extent.