Review – Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Title Gods of Jade and Shadow

Author Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Description from Amazon

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 darkness of the Mayan underworld.

Initial Thoughts

I saw this book at Book Con 2019 in one of those Book Bars but didn’t actually grab a copy of it. It looked good, but I can’t say I was super disappointed that I didn’t get a copy. But, I did put it on my radar for release date. A few months later, I grabbed a copy at Barnes and Noble (post release date), and decided to dive in.

Some Things I Liked

• Jazz Age setting. I loved the time period. And, I loved that this was historical fiction with a sprinkle of fantasy.
• Gods and mortals. I do love a good story about mythology and the Meso-American themes in this book were so much fun to read about.
• Strong female lead. I love Casiopea’s character. She was unapologetic and spoke her mind. It was refreshing to read about a character like that in the 1920s.

One Thing I Didn’t Like

• The ending. I wasn’t a fan of the ending. I can get over it if someone tells me there is going to be a sequel. If no sequel, this ending was incredibly disappointing.

Series Value

I would love a sequel to this book. No such book has been announced as of yet, but I would love to go back to this world. It was lush and captivating and I loved all of the characters.

Final Thoughts

This book was a great story. The ending fell flat for me but I hope that this can be redeemed in a sequel. There were a lot of elements that I really enjoyed and I think there is a ton of potential for a series here.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

• The Seventh Sun by Lan Forbes – if you enjoyed the Meso-American culture in this book and liked the story of gods and mortals, give this upcoming release by Lani Forbes a try.
• Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa – if you liked the journey to save the world from demons elements of Gods of Jade and Shadow check out this series by Julie Kagawa. Book three is coming out in March 2020.