Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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.

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This book was the perfect mix for an escape. Set in the 1920's it featured ancient lore, impending doom, apocalyptic future catastrophes, and an impromptu runaway adventure. It's the escape we all need from this disastrous year (ok yes, there was mentions of an apocalyptic future in this book but like, it takes place back in the '20s....and.... it's fictional, so we can brush right over that fact yeah? yeah). A very different type of adventure from Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic but even more lovely. 

Casiopea Tun has faced a life of misfortune in her small town in southern Mexico, a servant to her cruel family she dreams of leaving and having an adventure of her own. What she doesn't expect is for that adventure to come in the form of a death god on a quest to re-take the underworld. Hun-Kamé, the death god that Casiopea accidentally releases, is also nothing like she expected, and, throughout their journey together to take back the underworld from his brother Vucub-Kamé, they become more important to each other than they could have ever predicted. 

I loved this book greatly because it was a good old fashioned adventure novel. There was a quest, a hero, obstacles to overcome, an evil villain, and a theme of love threaded through. It was so enjoyable and I think it would make an excellent movie. The plot was amazing, I personally found no fault with it. It truly was built up like your typical adventure story but with Mayan lore I'd never heard of before and in a way that was entirely unique to this book. Not only was there action and excitement, but wonder in the simplest things life has to offer, things we take for granted quite often in day-to-day life such as the hustle and bustle of a big new city or the soulful sounds of music in the night.

The main themes of the story were heart-wrenching and perfect, it truly was a book focused on forgiveness and sacrifice. Casiopea has a rough childhood, her family doesn't appreciate her and are at times impossibly cruel, yet instead of growing up filled with hate and resentment, she learns how to forgive and how to move on. Revenge isn't a word in her vocabulary, she doesn't see the point in dwelling on who has hurt her and instead looks to the future, to what life could be like if she left behind all the bad feelings. She also learns throughout the tale how important sacrifice is and that sometimes, even if all you want and all you think you deserve in the world is happiness, especially after facing so many trials, it doesn't mean you are allotted to get that happiness, and sometimes, to save what you love, you have to willingly give up those dreams without regret or second thoughts.

The only major problem I had with this book was some of the characterizations. There was just so much plot that it didn't feel like I really got to know any of the characters. They felt a bit shallow. The book is mainly through Casiopea's point of view and I didn't feel like I knew her as a character very well. Casiopea and Hun-Kamé have a very interesting dynamic and relationship but it could have been so much greater if I felt I actually knew these characters better, it felt as though their real thoughts and feelings were skimmed over quite often. It wasn't until the end that I felt like we really dove into that dynamic a little more clearly. So I guess, my only problem is that I was left wanting with these characters, I loved the story so much that I wanted to understand the main players a little better.

It was a phenomenal read and honestly the perfect escape. If you're into adventure or mythology, or both, it's definitely a must-read. I enjoyed this author's other book Mexican Gothic but Gods of Jade and Shadow far surpassed it in my opinion. She's definitely an author I will continue to revisit. 5 Star read for sure!

If you want to check out my review of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's other work: Mexican Gothic, click here.