A female-forward fantasy rooted in Mayan mythology? Set in Jazz Age Mexico? With a well-constructed glossary of even more fascinating information?

Yes, please!

I'm not sure whether to describe this as a beautifully told Mesoamerican fairy tale, or a Joseph Campbell-style Hero's Journey with a young woman as the hero. It works just as well either way. When "poor relation" Casiopea Tun accidentally frees an imprisoned Mayan death god from her tyrannical grandfather's keeping, she finds herself on a quest very little in her circumscribed life has prepared her for. (Not that there really is any way to prepare for a trip to Xibalba, come to think of it . . . )

How she and the death god Hun-Kamé cope with their increasingly complicated relationship is a story in itself, intensely romantic but never over the top. Casiopea is not a modern kick-A fantasy heroine, but a believable member of her society discovering that society's limits just won't work for her any longer.

Recommended for world mythology enthusiasts, fantasy readers looking to expand their horizons, or anyone in search of a late-summer read they'll still be thinking about come fall.

Gods of Jade and Shadow
5 stars
ALL THE STARS!!!! This book is perfect!!! Mayan Gods with Mexican Culture and History. It was amazing, vivid, joyful, fast-paced and perfectly described! I didn’t want this fantastic journey to end. I need to own this book and read everything by this author! 10/10 recommend!!!

Moreno-Garcia has woven a fantastic, tantalizing story that links 1920's-era Mexico with the ancient mythology of the Yucatan Peninsula. The storytelling is superb and the protagonist, Casiopea, is sympathetic and finely drawn. Other characters are less compelling, but this is Casiopea's story, after all. To top it off, the setting and prose are both incredibly beautiful!

This was a wonderful book and I’m sad it took me forever to read it! I ended up reading Mexican Gothic first and they’re both amazing. I’ll definitely read more from this author in the future!

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno Garcia is a beautiful story, full of duality. Both bitter and sweet, fully fantastical, and yet firmly grounded in reality, full of Mayan deities and Jazz age Mexican humans, demons and magical creatures and tedious chores and impossible dreams. Moreno-Garcia allows us to hope impossible dreams along with the gods and humans who dream them, even though we know we cannot have them, and to break our hearts a little with theirs when we cannot have them. I’ve struggled to read consistently in this year of our pandemic 2020, but read this pretty consistently once I started, and found myself fully engrossed every time I picked it back up.

The world building is rich yet not tedious. The author manages to introduce readers to Mayan mythology and Jazz Age Mexico in vivid, rich detail that never bogs down or bores, never dumps lengthy passages of information on the reader. Instead, we learn as we are are compelled to follow, much like the practical dreamer Casiopea is, one of the twin Mayan gods of Death, Hun-Kame, as he seeks to reclaim his stolen throne in the Underworld. Along the way we experience both rural and urban Jazz Age Mexican culture, and see the effects of American culture on it, with flappers and music and technology. We meet demons and undead and monsters and flawed humans. Everyone is flawed and complex in this story, from Casiopea’s cruel and selfish family, to undead seductresses, to corrupt wizards, to friendly demons, to traitorous deities, to Casiopea herself. No one is perfectly good or perfectly evil, and the story is richer for it.

The relationship that builds between Casiopea and Hun-kame is electrifying and beautiful and sweet and sad. No human can truly love the god of death, can they? Nor can a god of death return that love. And yet we hope, because their relationship is so beautiful and so real. I feared the ending of this story, because bittersweet stories aren’t my usual preference, but like the rest of this book, the ending was perfect, everything it should be, deeply satisfying and perfectly aligned with the rest of the story.

In a year when I struggle to read, and often find myself underwhelmed by even much-anticipated books, Gods of Jade and Shadow stands out from the crowd as a fantastic book. Effortlessly diverse, beautifully written, deeply emotional, and always engaging. I am extremely grateful to #NetGalley and Random House Publishing for sharing a free digital #advancedcopy of #GodsofJadeandShadow with me in exchange for my honest review. I highly recommend this book.

Gods of Jade and Shadow is not a genre that I typically read. It was an interesting Story about mythical brothers who are competing to rule and the lengths they will go to to achieve their successes. I sometimes found it difficult to tell the brothers apart and I struggled to finish the book. I rate this book 3 stars.

4.5/5
A fantasy built on Mayan mythology & Mexican history. Rich and imaginative; boasts a cleverly tangled plot that journeys from Xibalba to Baja. Loved Hun-Kamé and Casiopea. Even enjoyed Vucub-Kamé’s stylish villainy. This was a unique and interesting fantasy; memorable in the right way.

I was very invested in the characters and the storyline. I loved that was set in Mexico and focused on Mayan mythology/Gods. However, I felt like the trajectory of the story was predictable and written more like a YA novel than for adults. Overall, enjoyable

I received this book as an eARC in exchange for an honest review via Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Netgalley.

This book was such a fun ride! It blended together history, and fantasy while in adding a dash of gods of Mayan myth, and it was all the better for it! The beginning of the book was slow, and I wasn't really a fan but it picked up fairly quickly. Casiopea was a great lead and full of strength and spunk. Totally recommend!

I was really looking forward to reading this book, but I had a hard time getting into it. A bit fantasy, a bit mythology, it just fell flat for me.

read this book for GBC, I really didn't think I would like it as I don't have a great love of Fantasy or mythology. I did enjoy it as there I learnt a bit about Mexican culture while I was reading the book.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Gods of Jade and Shadow transports the reader to art Deco Mexico. The setting is vibrant and lush. In a cinderella- like tale, we follow our heroine through a meta-physical quest to save a God. While the quest felt overly long, the novel was redeemed by a charming and somewhat unexpected ending.

It was a solid mythological recapturing that swayed in time with the fun romp of the 1920s. The love story was compelling but did not remove the control from the main character, which was refreshing.

This is so wonderfully authentic and real and I love it. Once the story gets going, you're drawn in until the end.

"Gods of Jade and Shadow" was an interesting experience. I appreciated exploring a narrative from a mythology I'm not familiar with. I'm looking forward to Moreno-Garcia's future work!

Thank you NetGalley for this review copy of Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Gods of Jade and Shadow is a wildly creative and immersive young adult fantasy set in southern Mexico in the 1920’s. Teenage Casiopea is a “Cinderella type” character who is forced her serve her wealthy maternal grandfather (and other relatives) is his home as a punishment for her her father’s low birth. She is unaware that her grandfather is holding the spirit of a Mayan death god hostage in a box in his home and by accidentally releasing it she will change the trajectory her life forever. The reader travels with Casiopea and the god Hun-Kamé through Mexico (and beyond) as he outwits his enemies and gathers what he needs to retrieve his throne.

Although this novel has tropes reminiscent of European Myths and folklore (Cinderella, Persephone) it also adds a much needed injection of #ownvoices storytelling by Moreno-Garcia. The setting of 1920’s Mexico and Mayan gods is a fresh take on the young adult fantasy genre that is often overstuffed with European rehashed fairy tales. I enjoyed the quick wit of the characters and the pacing of the story was perfect. Casiopea’s plight as an unmarried young lady in the 1920’s in a conservative area of Mexico felt well-researched and historically accurate.

I give Gods of Jade and Shadow four stars and recommend it to fantasy readers of all ages.

“Words are seeds, Casiopea. With words you embroider narratives, and the narratives breed myths, and there’s power in the myth. Yes, the things you name have power, he said.” I really tried to get into this book back in January but I just couldn’t. This book has a lot of elements I have found I dislike in a book, there’s an overabundance of details (call back to my story of “sometimes pale is just pale, mate!”), there’s a lot of showing instead of telling, and I really struggle with that because there doesn’t seem to leave room for the readers to get to where the writers want them to go. I’m naming all of those things to let you know that yes, the book did have all these elements and despite all of this, I really liked it.

This was all due to Casiopea Tun! It took me about 80 pages to really get into the elements of the story and once I stopped resisting our guide, I was able to be transported back to the 1920s, to Mexico, and to the story of a woman who saw the stars and knew she wanted more out of life.

Casiopea was willful, strong, smart, kind, and the adventure she undertakes allows her to witness life as she’s always dreamed. Casiopea just wants the freedom to call and dictate her own life and journey! There’re so many elements of this book that resonated with me, including not calling things out into the universe, because this naming gives things power, and can bring things to fruition. As in many adventure stories, Casiopea’s life is changed one day when she opens a forbidden box, finds bones inside, and a shard of a bone is embedded into her skin.

This event connects her to Hun-Kame, the Lord of Xibalba and Mayan god of death. She must accompany him in retrieving parts of himself throughout Mexico, to confront his twin brother, Vucub-Kume, and reclaim his throne.  It is a story that is sure to stay with you. It is a reminder that Gods and men would do well to not believe all myths and to never underestimate a woman! I truly highly recommend it. Persevere, the story will be worth your investment in it!

Casiopea unwittingly frees and binds herself to the Mayan god of death, Hun-Kamé, from his imprisonment constructed by his twin brother Vucub-Kamé. In order for Hun-Kamé to take back lordship of Xibalba, he and Casiopea must travel across Mexico to collect items of significance to Hun-Kamé. Casiopea faces her own family drama, as her cousin Martín helps the rival god keep his crown. This novel takes you from Yucatán, to Veracruz, Mexico City, El Paso, Tijuana, and finally to Xibalba- the underworld. As the reader experiences Mexico in the 1920s, it is also a new experience for Casiopea who had never left her home in Yucatán. She finds strength and independence that she helps determine the outcome of an ancient feud.

A fascinating story founded on Aztec and Mexican mythology, I enjoyed it tremendously. The characters were well written and fleshed out, and I came to care deeply for them. Well done and a book I would highly recommend, especially for those looking for a truly unique story.