Gods of Jade and Shadow

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Paperback, 384 pages

Published Feb. 18, 2020 by Del Rey, Del Rey Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-525-62077-8

(12 reviews)

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 …

4 editions

infryq reviewed Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A fairy tale about justice

4 stars

This is a story told in dream logic, where you believe the impossible things that are right in front of you because to deny them would just waste everyone's time. The protagonist is unflinchingly practical, and learns to use her temper to her advantage. The antagonist is an embodiment of the petulant powerful who fear being laughed at, and find that that somehow justifies the disproportionate misery they inflict on others. The setting is a concentrated infusion of off-axis 1920s that seeps into every crevice of the narrative. Beautifully delivered.