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onceuponanisabel
Y'all. I'm finding it pretty hard to express how much I loved this book. I have kind of a complicated relationship with books that take place primarily in flashbacks (in this book, future Tea tells her story to someone else, which is the narrative of the book), and I think it's a storytelling technique that's overused and easy to get wrong. But oh boy, did Rin Chupeco get it right. The future storyline was agonizingly slow (a few paragraphs at the end of every chapter) but it was so dark and different from the main story that I'm just absolutely dying to see how the two finally connect. The world-building was so, so beautiful. The plot was at once very familiar (it's a "mc goes to magic school" book in the most basic sense, so a lot of the beats follow that kind of pattern) but then also extremely interesting and engaging.
To be honest, I'm not sure what about this book sets it apart for me from all of the other books that fall into this pretty specific category. (MC discovers powers, goes to magic school, is extra strong, starts a relationship with someone above their station, subplot becomes a fight at the end)
It was just...so good. I'm not sure what else to say except that everyone who likes YA fantasy should read it and love it as much as I did.
To be honest, I'm not sure what about this book sets it apart for me from all of the other books that fall into this pretty specific category. (MC discovers powers, goes to magic school, is extra strong, starts a relationship with someone above their station, subplot becomes a fight at the end)
It was just...so good. I'm not sure what else to say except that everyone who likes YA fantasy should read it and love it as much as I did.
Gods of Jade and Shadow is the story of Casiopea, a poor girl abused by her relations who wants nothing more than to escape their cruelty and experience the world. She gets this opportunity when she discovers the bones of Hun-Kamé, a Mayan god, one of the Lords of Xibalba, in her grandfather's study. In freeing him, she binds the two together, and they set off on a quest to recover Hun-Kame's lost possessions and restore him to power.
It is a delightful romp through 1920s Mexico, and I really enjoyed learning more about Mayan gods as the unlikely pair interact with others from the Mayan pantheon on their journey. The pacing was excellent, and I never felt bored or disinterested. Casiopea was a wonderful heroine, and Hun-Kamé made for an interesting example of Moreno-Garcia's interpretation of Mayan gods. I really enjoyed the dynamic between the two, especially in the beginning.
However, (this might be just a little spoiler-y, for which I apologize, but I can't not talk about this) the relationship between Casiopea and Hun-Kamé made me just a little bit uncomfortable. Casiopea is an 18-year-old girl, and she is bound to serve Hun-Kamé on pain of death through no doing of her own. There's clearly a large power imbalance in the relationship, and when their allyship begins to move towards a romance, it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. It felt very Beauty and the Beast to me and it's just not something I'm a big fan of.
However, I really really liked the way that the book ended, especially that it didn't fall into any of the obvious endings that I was anticipating with a twinge of disappointment. The imagery was beautiful, the setting lush, and the adventure engaging. I definitely, absolutely recommend this book to literally anyone, but especially those who, like me, loved Percy Jackson and all of the "Gods are walking the Earth" books when we were young, and want something along the same vein but more adult. This book fills that gap wonderfully and with ease.
ARC provided via NetGalley.
It is a delightful romp through 1920s Mexico, and I really enjoyed learning more about Mayan gods as the unlikely pair interact with others from the Mayan pantheon on their journey. The pacing was excellent, and I never felt bored or disinterested. Casiopea was a wonderful heroine, and Hun-Kamé made for an interesting example of Moreno-Garcia's interpretation of Mayan gods. I really enjoyed the dynamic between the two, especially in the beginning.
However, (this might be just a little spoiler-y, for which I apologize, but I can't not talk about this) the relationship between Casiopea and Hun-Kamé made me just a little bit uncomfortable. Casiopea is an 18-year-old girl, and she is bound to serve Hun-Kamé on pain of death through no doing of her own. There's clearly a large power imbalance in the relationship, and when their allyship begins to move towards a romance, it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. It felt very Beauty and the Beast to me and it's just not something I'm a big fan of.
However, I really really liked the way that the book ended, especially that it didn't fall into any of the obvious endings that I was anticipating with a twinge of disappointment. The imagery was beautiful, the setting lush, and the adventure engaging. I definitely, absolutely recommend this book to literally anyone, but especially those who, like me, loved Percy Jackson and all of the "Gods are walking the Earth" books when we were young, and want something along the same vein but more adult. This book fills that gap wonderfully and with ease.
ARC provided via NetGalley.
