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A review by a_chickletz
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
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)