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beachyv's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- 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
..... absolutely not.... I have to go to work tomorrow 🥲
It would've been a 5 star but that ending personally attacked me.
It would've been a 5 star but that ending personally attacked me.
penguin_emperor_of_the_north's review against another edition
4.0
Gods of Jade and Shadow felt like a fairy tale travelogue. The story goes from scene to scene and place to place, punctuated by traveling scenes. From the Yucatan to Mexico City to El Paso to Tijuana. At each location, the two main characters hunt down one of Hun-Kame's missing body parts and encountering critters from (I presume) Mayan mythology.
The encounters themselves were a lot of what made this flee like a fairy tale. Like they aren't detailed battles like in some fantasy series but rather abrupt affairs that get resolved with a sort of fairy tale or poetic kind of logic. Except that time, that was kind of hardcore.
Unexpectedly, I think that Cas and Hun's relationship was my favorite part. They start out aloof and detached but grow closer on their travels and the final resolution was very good and felt very true to the story. I was all geared up to groan at the resolution but it was quite good.
Finally, the Mayan mythology aspect was cool. Bar one, I think everything in this book came from Mayan (maybe Yucatan or south Mexican?) folklore which lent a different feel. I'm a little delighted that fantasy drawing on non-Tolkienn roots is getting more popular.
One 'fun' part of the mythological aspect was in the description of the underworld. How the rich Mayans buried properly get to live in the City but the others are stuck floundering in the wilderness. It reminded me of Egyptian mummies and how that always made me wonder what would happen to the dead who weren't embalmed, without grave goods and without the proper rituals. Definitely lent a darker ambiance to the underworld.
The encounters themselves were a lot of what made this flee like a fairy tale. Like they aren't detailed battles like in some fantasy series but rather abrupt affairs that get resolved with a sort of fairy tale or poetic kind of logic. Except that time
Spoiler
when Cas stabbed a goat in the faceUnexpectedly, I think that Cas and Hun's relationship was my favorite part. They start out aloof and detached but grow closer on their travels and the final resolution was very good and felt very true to the story. I was all geared up to groan at the resolution but it was quite good.
Finally, the Mayan mythology aspect was cool. Bar one, I think everything in this book came from Mayan (maybe Yucatan or south Mexican?) folklore which lent a different feel. I'm a little delighted that fantasy drawing on non-Tolkienn roots is getting more popular.
One 'fun' part of the mythological aspect was in the description of the underworld. How the rich Mayans buried properly get to live in the City but the others are stuck floundering in the wilderness. It reminded me of Egyptian mummies and how that always made me wonder what would happen to the dead who weren't embalmed, without grave goods and without the proper rituals. Definitely lent a darker ambiance to the underworld.
greengirl9's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
cinderellareader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
oliviahoffmann's review against another edition
3.0
This book felt very flat to me. Granted, I wasn’t in the best headspace while reading it, but altogether it lacked dimension.
yars_reading_corner's review against another edition
1.0
Gods of Jade and Shadow explores Mayan mythology with a modern twist as fantasy books of this genre often do, as in incorporating the characters into modern life while maintaining main distinguishing features of their personality and sometimes referring back to stories, events and places in said myth.
It was hard to grasp the pronunciations and (pre-spaniard colonial) names at first but the audiobook really helps, and watching the short videos on TEDed and See U History channels on youtube before reading this somewhat eased the understanding.
I am once again disappointed for I expected so much more from this book, it has been on and off my longterm TBR for so long. It had a rather weak plotline but I appreciate the lack of sm*t, although, if you're planning on reading this do look up the CONTENT WARNINGS as there are many...many. Classic Mayan thing
It was hard to grasp the pronunciations and (pre-spaniard colonial) names at first but the audiobook really helps, and watching the short videos on TEDed and See U History channels on youtube before reading this somewhat eased the understanding.
I am once again disappointed for I expected so much more from this book, it has been on and off my longterm TBR for so long. It had a rather weak plotline but I appreciate the lack of sm*t, although, if you're planning on reading this do look up the CONTENT WARNINGS as there are many...many. Classic Mayan thing
a_chickletz's review against another edition
5.0
This book will ruin me and it will ruin me too.
Once upon a time there was a girl. A girl who was known to be a bastard's daughter and lived with her mother in a hacienda in Mexico. Her cruel, rich uncle and her cousin treat her like a slave. She keeps under her pillow clippings of things she desires once she runs away - a haircut like one of the ladies wear, to ride an automobile, to fall in love with a Hollywood star beauty male, and, to dance.
On a day in which she is kept home and forced to do a chore, she comes across a box. Opening the box (because she hopes for coin to run away with) there is a pile of bones. A shard of a bone lodges into her hand and the bones rearrange themselves to take the shape of a man. Not just any man, the Mexican Lord of the Death. His jealous twin brother has entrapped hm in the box for several decades with the help of her grandfather. He is rude, arrogant, and since her life force is bound to him, she and him must travel the Southern states/Mexico to find pieces of his body that have been given to people working with his twin brother.
There is a catch. The longer the bone stays lodged in her hand it drains her life force and gives it to the God of Death. If the God of Death does not recover all the pieces of his body he will become mortal and she will die. If they succeed, then he will return to the land of the dead and she will be rewarded with everything she ever wanted. But our kind girl doesn't want anything, she has desires, but nothing that the God of Death can give her. As the book goes on, you find out that the girl may just find that the one thing that she wants will kill her.
This is a gorgeous romance. It is a quick read in the sense it flows beautifully. Each chapter does not linger. It tells what it needs to convey and jumps into the next part of the tale. There is so much inspiration from some familiar fairy tales but also from Mexican folklore. I hand it to Silvia for creating such a diverse, gorgeous tale.
As I said, this story made me cry. I cannot tell you why because it is the joy of finishing the story to the end. Each chapter spent with the heroine and the Lord of Death was gorgeous. The more that he takes on her life-force, the more he lingers with her, he changes from an arrogant immortal to a mortal boy who shows kindness and humility. Once someone who had no dreams wants to share the same dreams that she, a nobody, would find so commonplace.
The brother meanwhile has enlisted her cousin to fetch her and to keep her from completing the task that the Lord of the Death has started.
So, if you love romances, fantasy, and stories with strong protagonists, this is the book for you.
(Music to Listen to: Hadestown ; Movies it reminded me of: Labyrinth/Mirrormask)
Once upon a time there was a girl. A girl who was known to be a bastard's daughter and lived with her mother in a hacienda in Mexico. Her cruel, rich uncle and her cousin treat her like a slave. She keeps under her pillow clippings of things she desires once she runs away - a haircut like one of the ladies wear, to ride an automobile, to fall in love with a Hollywood star beauty male, and, to dance.
On a day in which she is kept home and forced to do a chore, she comes across a box. Opening the box (because she hopes for coin to run away with) there is a pile of bones. A shard of a bone lodges into her hand and the bones rearrange themselves to take the shape of a man. Not just any man, the Mexican Lord of the Death. His jealous twin brother has entrapped hm in the box for several decades with the help of her grandfather. He is rude, arrogant, and since her life force is bound to him, she and him must travel the Southern states/Mexico to find pieces of his body that have been given to people working with his twin brother.
There is a catch. The longer the bone stays lodged in her hand it drains her life force and gives it to the God of Death. If the God of Death does not recover all the pieces of his body he will become mortal and she will die. If they succeed, then he will return to the land of the dead and she will be rewarded with everything she ever wanted. But our kind girl doesn't want anything, she has desires, but nothing that the God of Death can give her. As the book goes on, you find out that the girl may just find that the one thing that she wants will kill her.
This is a gorgeous romance. It is a quick read in the sense it flows beautifully. Each chapter does not linger. It tells what it needs to convey and jumps into the next part of the tale. There is so much inspiration from some familiar fairy tales but also from Mexican folklore. I hand it to Silvia for creating such a diverse, gorgeous tale.
As I said, this story made me cry. I cannot tell you why because it is the joy of finishing the story to the end. Each chapter spent with the heroine and the Lord of Death was gorgeous. The more that he takes on her life-force, the more he lingers with her, he changes from an arrogant immortal to a mortal boy who shows kindness and humility. Once someone who had no dreams wants to share the same dreams that she, a nobody, would find so commonplace.
The brother meanwhile has enlisted her cousin to fetch her and to keep her from completing the task that the Lord of the Death has started.
So, if you love romances, fantasy, and stories with strong protagonists, this is the book for you.
(Music to Listen to: Hadestown ; Movies it reminded me of: Labyrinth/Mirrormask)
jesscath18's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.25