Worth A Read Yes
Length 338
Quick Review Casiopea Tun lives an unextraordinary life as a maid in her grandfather’s house in a small town when she meets a Mayan God of Death and starts on an adventure.
I just got home from a fabulous trip to North Carolina and New Orleans. I read Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia in a day partially because I had the time. This is the perfect book to take on vacation: full of adventure and intrigue.
Set in 1927 small town Mexico, Casiopea Tun is eighteen, hates her life, and dreams of life in the city. Her family is the richest in town, but she lives like a servant waiting on them hand and foot. She has a particularly hateful relationship with her twenty year old cousin, Martín. He is the heir to the family fortune and takes delight in ordering Casiopea around. After an incident, Casiopea is left home alone. She opens a chest in her grandfather’s room and accidentally lets out the bones of the God Hun-Kamé, Lord of Shadows, rightful Lord of Xibalba. God Hun-Kamé is dependent on Casiopea’s blood until he completes several tasks, so they leave town together.
I enjoyed the story very much, and the ending was not dissatisfying. Gods of Jade and Shadow is very quotable with a decent amount of humor. Moreno-Garcia does a good job of misleading the reader without actually misleading, like a magician. There are three points of view: Casiopea’s, Martín’s, and Vucub-Kamé’s. Moreno-Garcia also gives historical context and background when needed because most readers are probably not familiar with Mexican history, unfortunately. There is a lot of telling why people are feeling, doing, being certain ways when the actions and dialogues tell enough. It feels like I’m being spoon fed with airplane noises.
There is very little push back from Casiopea, who is Catholic, about a rival religion and God’s existence. Unrealistic is the best way to describe this. The characters fall into starkly good and bad categories. There is little complexity in emotions, characters, interactions, etc. Oversimplification of humanity is a grave mistake in my book.
Gods of Jade and Shadow is an interesting read. There are some negatives, but the story is interesting. I like reading books from a different ethnic background. I’m glad I got to relax on the beach reading this one.
Memorable Quotes
“She was reasonable enough to recognize that many other young women lived in equally drab, equally small towns.”
“Seldom was he the cause of his own misfortune.”
“…once glorious, then ruined, as all earthly things must be ruined…”
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Title: Gods of Jade and Shadow
Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Publisher: Del Rey (Random House)
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9780525620754
