Gods of Jade and Shadows

Gods of Jade and Shadows- Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Del Ray
Release Date: July 23, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: 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.

__________________________________________________________

Casiopea Tun is the poor relation of the wealthiest family in a small town in southern Mexico.  She resents every cruelty aimed at her, and dreams of escaping to live a life of her own.  What she doesn't expect is to accidentally free a trapped god and travel with him on a cross-country quest to return him to the throne stolen by his brother.  From small dusty towns in the Yucatan to the bright lights of Mexico City to the shadowy realm of the Mayan underworld, Casiopea's greatest journey may be the realm of the mortal, and immortal, heart.

Gods of Jade and Shadow is a book for anyone who loves fantasy and loves to imagine the crossing paths of ancient gods and the modern world.  Here the modern world is Jazz Age Mexico, with short hair, fast cars, and bright lights; while the ancient world is Xibalba, the Mayan Underworld, and the struggle between twin brothers Hun-Kamé and Vucub-Kamé, the Gods of Death.  Moreno-Garcia uses a beautiful, almost lyric, style of writing that reminded me of hearing classic myths and fairy tales spoken aloud.  She paints the world in brilliant colors of jewels and shadows and you can feel the heat of the sun and the dust of Casiopea's travels on your skin.  Casiopea delights in seeing the exciting world outside of her tiny village and the reader- and Hun-Kamé- cannot help but share in her innocent delight.  We also easily share in her terror as Hun-Kamé draws her further in his quest to regain his throne and she faces sorcerers and ghosts straight out of horror stories.

Above all, Gods of Jade and Shadow is a story about building your own world and choosing your own path, even when you are sure that you have no choices.  Casiopea learns who she is and her own inner strength in ways that are both heart-breaking and heart-filling.  A story full of duality every step of the way, it had me smiling and crying, fearful and hopeful, and seeing the characters and their worlds change along with the adventure was completely wonderful.  

It would not be wrong to call this a modern classic, and a must-read tale for fantasy lovers, those who love myths and legends, from Beauty and the Beast to The Odyssey to Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review