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Gods of Jade and Shadow (2019)

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Other authors: Daniel Pelavin (Cover artist)

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,130757,434 (3.81)87
Fantasy. Fiction. Mythology. Historical Fiction. HTML:The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark, one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore.
??A spellbinding fairy tale rooted in Mexican mythology . . Gods of Jade and Shadow is a magical fairy tale about identity, freedom, and love, and it's like nothing you've read before.???Bustle
NEBULA AWARD FINALIST ? NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR ? Tordotcom ? The New York Public Library ? BookRiot
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.
Praise for Gods of Jade and Shadow
??A dark, dazzling fairy tale . . . a whirlwind tour of a 1920s Mexico vivid with jazz, the memories of revolution, and gods, demons, and magic.???NPR
??Snappy dialog, stellar worldbuilding, lyrical prose, and a slow-burn romance make this a standout. . . . Purchase where Naomi Novik, Nnedi Okorafor, and N. K. Jemisin are popular.???Library Journal (starred review)
??A magical novel of duality, tradition, and change . . . Moreno-Garcia??s seamless blend of mythology and history provides a ripe setting for Casiopea??s stellar journey of self-discovery, which culminates in a dramatic denouement. Readers will gladly immerse themselves in Moreno-Garcia??s rich and complex tale of desperate hopes and complicated relati
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» See also 87 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 73 (next | show all)
Those of us who read a lot of fiction often enjoy the world we’ve visited, usually mourn the end of a tale in our way, and then move on to the next adventure that awaits us. Every so often, however, the bits and pieces of one of those worlds is so clearly laid out for us, touches us in just the right way that those bits and pieces become lodged in our psyche.
The names and concepts rattle around in our heads, becoming personal reference points and ever so subtly shift our sense of the world. They make us consider what strange things might lie in old chests, or what longings may hide in young hearts.
GOD OF JADE AND SHADOW has been one of those books for me. Beyond its solid work as a tightly-woven narrative, the book provides beautiful passages and allusions that frankly I wish I could pull off.
I’ll be honest, I stared at the hard bound copy in my local bookshop for months, ultimately buying it for my Kindle, but now I’ve read it, this one belongs on my bookshelf as well. ( )
  Lefthandrob | Mar 9, 2024 |
Magic realism meets Mexican history meets Mayan mythology meets Cinderella during the Roaring 20s in an epic quest in which the hero, Casiopea Tun, is a half-indigenous, poor relation pressed into service in the larger, wealthy Levya family. One day, she is left behind while the rest of the family, including her mean cousin (the heir-apparent) and her cantankerous grandfather, go on an annual outing, and she finds keys to a mysterious wooden box in her grandfather’s room, which she opens. In so doing, she frees the Mayan god of death, Hun-Kamé, who has been beheaded and trapped there by his twin brother, Vucub-Kamé, and because a shard of his bone lodges in her hand, she becomes bound to him in his quest to seek revenge and reclaim his throne as the ruler of Xilbaba, an underworld filled with hungry ghosts, blood sacrifice, and despair. I found the story dragged in places, but the last third was riveting. Beautiful writing. ( )
  bschweiger | Feb 4, 2024 |
Overwrought and stilted language, and taking itself way too seriously. ( )
  amberwitch | Sep 3, 2023 |
Brilliantly written. ( )
  KristinDiBum | Jul 21, 2023 |
(3=I liked it.)
This is a sweet story and a quick read. I really enjoyed the reimagining of mythology and the kick-ass heroine. I also appreciated how well it avoids the cliches of this type of tale. I think I would have enjoyed it around 12/13 when I was thoroughly interested in everyone's myths. Bookmarking for my nephew for someday. ( )
  Kiramke | Jun 27, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 73 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Moreno-Garcia, Silviaprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Pelavin, DanielCover artistsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Gottesman, YettaNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
But what the lords wished was that they should not discover their names.

- Popol Vuh, translated into English by
Delia Goetz and Sylvanus Griswold Morley
from the work by Adrian Recinos
Dedication
Para mis abuelas, Goyita y Rosa. Otros mundos, otros sueños.
First words
Some people are born under a lucky star, while others have their misfortune telegraphed by the position of the planets.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fantasy. Fiction. Mythology. Historical Fiction. HTML:The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark, one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore.
??A spellbinding fairy tale rooted in Mexican mythology . . . Gods of Jade and Shadow is a magical fairy tale about identity, freedom, and love, and it's like nothing you've read before.???Bustle
NEBULA AWARD FINALIST ? NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR ? Tordotcom ? The New York Public Library ? BookRiot
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.
Praise for Gods of Jade and Shadow
??A dark, dazzling fairy tale . . . a whirlwind tour of a 1920s Mexico vivid with jazz, the memories of revolution, and gods, demons, and magic.???NPR
??Snappy dialog, stellar worldbuilding, lyrical prose, and a slow-burn romance make this a standout. . . . Purchase where Naomi Novik, Nnedi Okorafor, and N. K. Jemisin are popular.???Library Journal (starred review)
??A magical novel of duality, tradition, and change . . . Moreno-Garcia??s seamless blend of mythology and history provides a ripe setting for Casiopea??s stellar journey of self-discovery, which culminates in a dramatic denouement. Readers will gladly immerse themselves in Moreno-Garcia??s rich and complex tale of desperate hopes and complicated relati

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