BOOK: Gods of Jade and Shadow (2019)

 Disclaimer: Spoilers of the book Gods of Jade and Shadow, but only after the warning. All of this is just my opinion based on my experiences reading it. I hope you enjoy!

• Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Series: --
• Publisher: Del Rey
• Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mythology, Romance. 

Summary: The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore.

The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own.

Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.

In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.

(From Goodreads)

Intro and Short Review

To be completely fair, I was getting tired of fantasy books. With my goal to read at least 24 books in 2021, I resorted to fiction because I like escapism and the news already let me depressed enough everyday. And it's not like I don't like fantasy, on the contrary, but the more I read the more everything was looking the same. Of course, there were some amazing ones that I really enjoyed, but honestly, European and American fantasy books are getting overrated. 

And by that I mean the three major topics that I can't get rid of anywhere I go, which are Greek mythology, faeries and D&D magic. Because there are a lot of different cultures in Europe and in the United States, but they're not what's hype so why should anyone care, amirite? (That's irony, obviously. I would love to read a book about Romanian folklore, for example). I still love books with those themes, but change is good sometimes.

So Gods of Jade and Shadow appeared at the right moment. I think it was recommended to me in a Tik Tok (yeah, I know, I'm surprised too) and I gave it a go. And my God, what a good decision. Everything felt new and magical and amazing, and once again my spirits were lifted and I truly enjoyed reading once again.

It is by no means perfect, and I believe many will not find it as good as I did because every experience is different, but overall it passed through my pain-in-the-ass test of quality, so I consider it a win for myself. The two main characters are well developed and interesting, the story is not a new formula but it manages to maintain our attention through the whole book, and of course, the Mayan mythology is the icing on the cake. Combine everything with a historical setting and there you have it, a nice reading experience for everyone that likes supernatural elements.

Gods of Jade and Shadow is a short book, without continuation, and while it isn't very heavy on the drama and the suspense, it's still a story worth reading if you want a change of pace and of routine. It gets a solid 8/10 for me.

Warning! Spoilers below!

Characters

Interesting and well developed female main characters are hard to find in fantasy books. The most common types you will get are either blank canvases for self-insert or "I'm not like the other girls because I do manly stuff", and after reading so many books with protagonists like this I started to get a bit wary.

My first guess about Casiopea Tun was that she was going to be the "girl power" type: a woman that has seen some rough times and fights the patriarchy to be free. You know, the usual. But what I got felt more... real. Not to say that this trope can't be well done or whatever, but usually a feminist character becomes some sort of caricature of an ideology instead of a real person, someone that's badass just to appeal to younger girls and that's it.

But Casiopea is much more tentative, and much more fitting for 1920's Mexico. Despite not caring a lot about appearances at first and fighting back her asshole family from time to time, she is still held back by the traditions of her small, isolated town in Yucatán. The battle between what she knew and what she learned along the way made up most of her development as a character, which feels very real and shows a lot of the struggles of women in that setting. Her character is very much a representation of 20th century Mexico, a mixture of bits of Mayan influence with the old conservative ways of the Spanish colonizers and the newer cultural dominance of the United States. Divided by different heritages, shackled to the past but also progressing quickly, and at a loss of what to do. 

Even so, she still has depth besides these traits, and I rooted for her since the beginning. Just like a lot of protagonists we know and love, she has big dreams and a lot of hope, but she also has a straightforwardness I haven't really seen in main characters until now. The way she quickly assessed her situation and made logical decisions after releasing a fucking Mayan god from a chest, without even having a breakdown or anything, took me by surprise so much that I had to laugh out loud. Even so, she's still only human, and like any other she had a lot of doubts and problems along her journey, but that just made her more relatable and contrasted the cold personality of her companion.

Speaking of him, Hun-Kamé was definitely not what I expected, at all. The only book I read with a god as a main character was the Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan, but I wasn't sure if this book would have the same "modern" take. Still, he started off the way I thought a god of death would act, unaware and uncaring about mortal problems and only interested in getting back his throne. But as they travel through Mexico, I saw an immortal being of legends quickly — and sometimes even painfully — become more and more human, and there's something endearing in this that I can't quite explain.

I personally think the author dealt very well with the way Hun-Kamé was portrayed. There was a clear separation between what his human heart was doing and what he would be like when he became complete again, which was refreshing, but that didn't prevent him from feeling things and embracing his mortality. It was definitely a lot better than if he had stayed the same stoic and aloof guy during the whole book; in the beginning I was indifferent to him, but close to the ending he became one of my favorite characters. 

Which was a very good thing, considering the focus of the book was the relationship between him and Casiopea. And I fell in love for their dynamic very, very quickly. They both contradict and complete one another, and the evolution of their banter from a way to pass time to a real friendship was the cutest thing ever. Despite not understanding why she does things sometimes, Hun-Kamé is always respectful and never makes fun of Casiopea, and they both trust in each other with their lives. Casiopea learns from Hun-Kamé that taking matters in your own hands is not a bad thing, and Hun-Kamé learns from Casiopea that forgiving is not a sign of weakness. Ugh, they're so sweet I have to stop myself from just saying the moments I liked the most. 

I wasn't sure if there would be something between the two of them, seeing as the book made quite clear that Hun-Kamé wasn't going to be like that forever, but I was satisfied with the way things happened. When I say I don't care about romance in fiction, what I mean is the shallow type that exists mostly to attract attention and because apparently people think every book should have a romantic subplot. But in Gods of Jade and Shadow, we slowly fall in love with the characters just as they fall for each other, and when the storm hits and things must end, we are left bittersweet and uncertain, but in a good way. Their relationship evolved naturally and didn't get in the way of the plot, and that made me love it much more than I ever expected to.

But besides the two protagonists, the small cast of secondary characters was still interesting, even though they weren't developed nearly as much. Loray was very charming, and I would definitely read a book about his adventures with Casiopea if it ever gets released. Vucub-Kamé and Martin were pretty solid antagonists, with their own objectives and reasons. I specially liked Martin's POVs, they increased a lot my opinion about him and made him feel a lot more real. 

Overall, this book did its best with the amount of pages it had, and the characters turned up very well. It's in my opinion the strongest appeal, and while maybe some characters might've been more memorable if they were more developed, it didn't really interfere in my experience. 

Story and Worldbuilding

The narrative of Gods of Jade in Shadow is surprisingly simple, considering it is about mythology. It's straightforward and without a lot of puzzles or hurdles, but still manages to be interesting. From what I saw on Goodreads, a lot of people were disappointed by this aspect of the book, but I can't really blame on them, or on anyone specifically. I understand that for people who don't have a lot of contact with Mayan mythology or even Mexico in general, the plot felt very convenient and kind of detached; there wasn't a whole lot of details about some things and everything happened quickly.

But for those who started reading expecting an epic tale like European-style books than it's kind of their own fault lol. This is not even me defending the book because I liked it, it's just a fact: Mayan legends (and other "not-mainstream" folklores too) are told very differently than European ones, and Gods of Jade and Shadow is just a retelling of a famous legend. It's directly stated on the book multiple times, even, so if people read the whole book and still expected an Iliad or something, then there's not much anyone can do about that.

So for me, the plot wasn't at all a letdown. If anything, it reminded me of tales I was told as a child, and it was amazing to read something that wasn't Greek, Norse or Egyptian mythology for once. I enjoyed the way supernatural forces blended with our "real world" setting, making every place a bit more magical. I learned a lot about Mexico too, and it was fun to keep googling about the cities they passed through.

The bits and pieces of Mayan culture kept me hooked throughout the whole book, and I appreciated the use of symbolism a lot. From the well placed metaphors to the recurring themes, everything was refreshing and captivating. The last part in Xibalba was very interesting and well described, being the most mythology-oriented part of the whole story, so while I was eager to finish the book I still took my time to read it, and it was worth it. 

I think it still would've been good if some worldbuilding aspects were more developed, but because the focus is mostly on Casiopea and Hun-Kamé's adventure it didn't matter that much in the end. Still a good experience. 

Technical Details and Final Thoughts

I think that Gods of Jade and Shadow could have used some more hundred pages to really deliver a more vivid description of the settings and supernatural beings. As I said above, I completely understand if people thought it was underwhelming, so because I already had a solid image of Mexico in my head, I think I filled the gaps where it needed. The fast pace and development didn't really throw me off, but slowing things a bit would've helped for sure.

But even with the gaps, I enjoyed a lot the way the story was told. It felt like listening to something my grandmother would say, and even though the language wasn't that refined or flourished, it left a good impact where it mattered. 

Even though it feels short, Gods of Jade and Shadow is a very nice book, and was a very needed refreshment from the same old stuff I always read. Despite living in a country relatively far from Mexico and not being part of the Spanish side of Latin America, I felt at home in this book, and I would definitely recommend it for people looking for a different type of fiction.