Gods of Jade and Shadow

I bought this book because enthusiastic reviews described it as a combination of 1920s Jazz Age Mexico and Mayan myths, which would make for an interesting story about the clash of tradition and faith versus individual freedom in post-Revolution Mexico. Unfortunately, this is just a generic young adult romance, with the Mexican setting contributing only some exotic names to the cliched characters. The hero, Casiopeia, is a Cinderella figure stuck in a small rural town. She meets a Mayan deity who, of course, is tall, dark and handsome. After the obligatory \”ugly duckling\” makeover (haircut, fancy clothes and jewelry), they fall in love and then, after a couple of passionate kisses, he leaves her. The end. So where in this story is anything unique about Jazz Age Mexico or Mayan myths? Does Casiopeia take advantage of her freedom to become an artist like Frida Kahlo? Does she dream of advocating for women\’s rights like Mara del Refugio Garca? Does she want to contribute to the modernization of Mexico, like architect Mara Luisa Dehesa Gmez Faras? Nope. She wins the love of the guy from Central Casting and thus \”wins\” the story. Sad to see that this arc is still considered to be the best that a female character can hope for.

Mexico in the 1920s could have been an ugly, wicked setting. Seen through uncaring eyes, told with a tongue that relished harsh realities. This could have been a novel of Mexico\’s ruin at the beginning of the 20th century, a young woman\’s journey through kingdoms of dust and smoke, the ancient mythos a psychosis taking over her mind like a cancer. Instead, Silvia Moreno-Garcia wrote something purer. A road trip, a quest, not a modern Quixote tilting at windmills but a young woman walking with gods through the unfamiliar worlds of Mexico and Xibalba, from the Yucatan to Tiajuana. Ordinary people enmeshed in the extraordinary, but to them, that\’s just how the world is. The 1920s saw the rise of Mayan Revival architecture, when ancient forms could be re-imagined in concrete and plaster. Not so much a looking-back as a bringing-the-past-forward, out of the ruins and into daily life, where people could see and interact with it for real, instead of in some dusty history or locked away in a museum. For me at least, GODS Of JADE AND SHADOW seeks to capture that spirit of bringing the old into the present. Grounding it in what is and might be rather than just was. The reader follows along for the ride. Whatever your idea might be of Mexico during Prohibition in the United States – or Mexico today – let go of your kingdoms of dust and smoke and live for a while in Silvia Moreno-Garcia\’s Mexico of hope and weirdness, on the road with gods of jade and shadow, to taste the waters of the Pacific and see if they taste any different.

(Spoiler Free) Casiopea is a girl who dreams of the stars and freedom, but she\’s stuck in her small town in Yucatan, Mexico. One day, she opens a wooden chest, and accidentally unleashes Hun-Kam, an ancient Maya god of death who had been trapped and betrayed by his brother. She\’s fierce and he\’s broody and together they embark on a journey to reclaim Hun-Kam\’s kingdom. The characters in this book were so solid and layered. They constantly break the conventions that their archetypes traditionally fall into. By doing this, Moreno-Garcia creates a well rounded and nuanced narrative driven by its characters. The antagonists are slightly more wooden, but they are given the backstory to their actions, and I really enjoyed the final showdown between Casiopea and her \”enemy\”, her cousin, Martin. Our main protagonist, Casiopea shines. She\’s strong, vulnerable and unapologetically herself. I loved reading from her perspective and she has quickly become one of my favorite characters in literature. Casiopea is a girl who feels so much that it spills into Hun- Kam. They are both so, so lonely and have been for so long that their relationship feels tragically poetic. It\’s one of the strongest points in the novel. Moreno-Garcia is an expert at building tension and slow burn bittersweet angst. This story pulls from the Popol Vuh and Maya mythology and I am so happy to read Latinx rep from an ownvoices author. Although this book takes place in the 1920\’s , as a Xicana, it felt so warm to read about characters going on journeys in places ( the Baja California scenes!) and eat food that I am familiar with( I\’m talking about the bolillo dipped in coffee scene se me hizo agua la boca). Silvia Moreno-Garcia continues to be a bright voice in the Latinx SFF communtiy and I can\’t wait to see what\’s next!

Stayed awake thinking about it long after I should have been asleep. This book takes us and its heroine, on a journey to discover her true self; from despair, through the underworld, and into a new world entirely. Inspired by the Popol Vuh, this book covered territory I was unfamiliar with, but had apparently caught glimpses of in other fantasy works (Kamazotz, for example). This book dives straight into Mexican culture and mythology, and was an utter delight from start to finish. Casiopea is a heroine to treasure.

Full review at templetongate.net. I pre-ordered the hardcover as soon as possible, but was also lucky in reading it early thanks to Net Galley. Silvia continues to be one of my current favorite authors, she hasn\’t disappointed me yet. The only reason I\’m not giving this 5 stars is the slow beginning, which starts out like a variation on Cinderella, but then it becomes so much more. A intelligent young woman, a poor relation forced to be mostly a maid in her grandfather\’s house, gets the chance to transcend her life when she discovers the trapped Mayan god Hun-Kam. Together they travel across Jazz Age Mexico to reclaim his throne from his deceitful brother. It\’s refreshing to get a break from the typical European-centric fantasy tropes, and I can\’t wait to see where Silvia takes us next.

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