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A review by yourbookishbff
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
I enjoyed this, and plan to reread it at some point in print, as I think I would have enjoyed it even more in a different format (I read via audio). This is a dark fairytale blend of Mayan mythology and Jazz age flamboyance with a (kind of surprising?) romantic sub-plot and a lot of Cinderella-esque family drama. I appreciated the clear discussion of the racial caste system these characters are operating within and against, and the examination of anti-Indigenous racism. I most enjoyed this story in the third act, when it gets truly dark (not sure what that says about me, but I loved the drama and all of our new mythical creatures!).
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!).
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