B+

Gods of Jade and Shadow

Gods of Jade and Shadow is an exquisite wonder of a novel. Set in 1920s Mexico, Casiopea Tun accidentally frees the Mayan god of death from his prison when she unlocks a mysterious box in her grandfather’s room. Hun-Kamé’s power is limited until he recovers his missing jade necklace and missing body parts: his left eye, ear, and index finger. Unfortunately for Casiopea, a shard entered her body when she freed Hun-Kamé, tying them inseparably. Until he attains his full powers, his existence depends on drawing power from Casiopea to survive. For both their sakes, they need to find the missing objects or else risk Hun-Kamé killing Casiopea eventually. And so begins a fantastical cross-country road trip that will change both their lives forever.

My only complaint is that I didn’t enjoy it when the point-of-view switched to Casiopea’s cousin (I found him to be a far less interesting narrator than Casiopea). Despite this small criticism, I adored everything else. I’ve never wanted to sink into the pages of a book and reappear into the book’s setting so badly. Every line was crafted with the utmost care to create a vivid rendering of the Mexican Jazz Age and Mayan mythology. The stylistic choice to emphasize telling over showing heightens the fairytale quality.

Moreno-Garcia’s prose is a mirage: I objectively know that these are words on paper, but it feels like my grandmother is narrating Casiopea’s adventure to me. The words leap off the pages and straight into my ears. I read Gods of Jade and Shadow on paper, but I imagine that the “telling instead of showing” technique would translate remarkably well in an audiobook. So many cultures around the world (including the Maya) have a rich oral tradition, and this lush prose is an homage to that Mayan tradition.

I’ve been singing praises, but I have to end with one very important warning. The problem with being a dedicated romance reader is you have to wear a hazard suit when venturing out to other genres. It’s a cold, ruthless, and unforgiving world outside of Romancelandia. Whenever I spend too much time outside of the genre, I inevitably scurry back to bask in the warmth of the HEA. But every once in a blue moon, I find a non-romantic ending that I enjoy. Today is that blue moon.

Do not read this book with the expectation of a romantic HEA. Well-seasoned romance readers will want the main characters to end up together; they have undeniable chemistry and Arrogant Immortal/Headstrong Human Girl is a familiar pairing to us all. But I promise you that the non-romantic ending is satisfactory and perfectly fitting for this evocative 1920s Mexican fairytale. Adjust your expectations before reading, and you won’t feel betrayed at the end. There’s a touch of melancholy and longing that permeates the entire novel, but it ends with a premonition of hope. That’s all I can want in any fantasy novel.

– Aarya

The Mayan God of Death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore, for readers of The Song of Achilles and Uprooted.

Here we shall begin to tell a story: a tale of a throne lost, of monsters and magic. A tale of gods and of the shadow realm. But this, our story, it begins in our world, in the land of mortals.

It begins with a woman. For this story, it is her story. It begins with her.

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.

Mixing the excitement of the Roaring Twenties with Prehispanic mythology, Gods of Jade and Shadow is a vivid, wildly imaginative historical fantasy.