Gods of Jade and Shadow – Book Review

Title: Gods of Jade and Shadow

Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Number of Pages: 338 pages

Publisher: Del Rey

Publication Date: July 23, 2019

Purchase: Thriftbooks//Amazon//Book Depository

My Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

My Thoughts:

I’m happy that I finally decided to read it. There was a couple of reviews on here that pushed me to read it.

I loved Casiopea. She is probably one of my favorite characters. I loved that she refused to buckle under her family’s pressure. I was rooting for her and happy where she ended up. I also enjoyed all of the care that went into each character. There was never a feeling that any character was neglected or forgotten about.

I loved the Mayan mythology. You can tell how much research went into the world building. I wanted to learn more about this era. All of the myths were just interesting and left me wanting more.

It was beautifully written and fast paced. I really liked the multiple P.O.V.s. I enjoyed the romance aspects because it was not over the top and didn’t take away from the plot. I’m really glad that this is a standalone rather than a series.

I highly recommend checking this out.

Have you read this? If so, what were your thoughts?

Lets talk about it in the comments.