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audreyywood's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Despite all of this, it was an easy read with a mostly satisfying ending.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
darumachan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
- characters were either cliched not explored enough
- romance felt unnecessary and out of place -- almost as if an editor wanted it added in
- despite a lot of high-stakes situations and interesting-sounding challenges, I never felt really engaged -- the tension was just not there
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Self harm
Moderate: Religious bigotry
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Honestly my only struggle in this was the narration - I couldn't always distinguish character voices (and there were a few times it felt like one character voice carried over into another's dialogue? I had to replay scenes several times) and Casiopea felt so young to me because of how she's narrated that I was genuinely caught off guard by the romantic throughline. Again, I think in another format this would have been an even more enjoyable read, and I'm excited to read more by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia (this was my first!).
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
town_scar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
My main struggle was that some of the time transitions were jarring enough that I fell out of the story and got confused as to what was going on. This was largely in the first third of the book.
Nonetheless, it was a riveting story and a fantastic tale. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it has given me a far deeper appreciation of Mexico and it's many indigenous cultures.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy
ran_sophia's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying and Religious bigotry
Minor: Misogyny, Racism, and Death of parent
seadeepy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Classism
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexism, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual content
lisvaldez19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Religious bigotry
emily_mh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I did like the narrative voice as I found it unique and it had a fairytale-like quality to it. However, it came at the cost of feeling distanced from Casiopea and her inner-world. A final thing I didn't like about the book was how quickly Casiopea and Hun-Kamé fell in love. Even though we are told this happened slowly, they had only known each other for a few weeks so I just didn't find this believable.
Despite these negatives, there were a lot of positives too! I really enjoyed the opposing development of Casiopea and Hun Kamé, how they were switching from mortal to immortal or vice versa, and how they learned more about their initial state through the other's journey. I really liked where Casiopea ended up overall, too. Speaking of the ending, the last 50 pages were really fantastic - gripping and satisfying. And I really loved reading and learning about Mayan mythology too, like the duality of Xibalba that was cleverly reflected in so many other parts of the narrative.
Graphic: Death and Suicide
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: illness, colourism, ethnic racism, volcano, self-injury, insects, hurricane, earthquakecemeterygay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I'm just going to start with the few things I didn't care too much for in the book. I think the pacing at times was questionable and I really didn't care for Martin's chapters even though I understood why they were necessary. While Casiopea was a sympathetic main protagonist, I really wasn't that invested in her as a character. Hun-Kame and was really well-developed as a god with the correct amount of weight and drama given to him but I also just wasn't that invested in him. I am also just not a big fan of god/mortal relationships especially when the human is a teenager, it feels weird. While I do think this book handled that trope incredibly well, I'm still just not a big fan of it.
I just in general have very mixed feelings about the relationship. Silvia Moreno-Garcia's beautiful writing style lends itself so some very emotionally intense at times painful but other times very sweet moments in the relationship. The relationship plays out how it should and how honestly a relationship like that would turn out. As much as I don't like this trope, I think it does ultimately really help the themes of this book.
I think the way a lot of societal issues were talked about like religious guilt instilled by the Catholic church, anti-indigenous sentiment, colorism, etc. was incredibly well-done. I really enjoyed the Mexican Jazz Age aspect of this book and that setting helped not only with plot development but with bolstering the mood and themes of the story. The handling of Mayan storytelling and beliefs was also just incredibly well done and I really enjoyed how much of it was incorporated into the storytelling.
One of the highlights of this book id Moreno-Garcia's writing style. I love the lyrical storytelling that is very reminiscent of not just fairy tales and folklore but many oral traditions of storytelling. This style blended so beautifully with both the core plot as well as the themes of the book. I also loved the themes of compassion, humanity, forgiveness, and autonomy so deeply as well as the coming of age aspects of this story.
The best part of the story is honestly the final trial to the end. Not only does the ending deliver so wonderfully on the core themes of the story, there some beautiful writing moments that not only made me care about the main relationship but legitimately left me in tears. The ending alone means I cannot recommend this book enough to others.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Colonisation
CW: Religious Trauma/Guilt, Colorism, Chronic Illness and Terminal Illness are both magical in nature.angel_kiiss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I also was not a fan of the romance aspect. I think some authors forget that not all stories need romance, and this one definitely didn't. The romance between Casiopea and Hun'Kaman felt forced and as if the only reason they fell for each other was that their lives were now connected. Not once did I feel like there was anything actually there for her to fall in love with. We get told she's falling in love. In fact, we almost get told everything. This book is mostly telling not showing and the historical aspects felt shoved in rather than intertwined with the historical setting. We just happened to be in 1920s Mexico, but really it could have been any decade in some part of Southern Mexico. The time period only added to act as some filler in between plot events.
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, and Religious bigotry