Synopsis (From Goodreads):

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.

Review:

I've always loved the Percy Jackson series by author Rick Riordan.  He found a way to bring the legends of Greek, and then Roman, mythology to life in a modern context.  One of the reasons this series was so wildly popular was because Greek and Roman myths have been a cornerstone of Western culture.  But there are plenty of cultures that also have legends of gods and mythical creatures.  So I was very excited to read Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.  It is structured much like Percy Jackson, where a character goes on a quest and meets various creatures out of mythology.  In this case, the culture was of Mexico.  With detailed world-building, a colorful cast of characters, and a surprising story, this was a wonderful book.

What I Liked:

World-Building:

It was deeply interesting to learn about the many different creatures in Mexican mythology.  As Casiopea searches for the missing pieces of the Mayan god of death, she meets gods and creatures of various abilities.  Each of them tell a part of a larger tale of Mexican mythology. 

This story also takes place in the 1920's.  There are lots of descriptions of all the beautiful clothing, lavish nightlife, and Jazz music of Mexico City.  For Casiopea, this must have been dazzling.

Characters:

Casiopea is almost a Cinderella-like character.  With her father dead, she and her mother must move in with her terrible grandfather and relatives in a small, rural town.  Her mother's family treat her like a servant, plus her cousin, Martin, seems to take extra pleasure in bullying her.  She has no future.  When she accidentally sets the Mayan god of death free, she jumps at the chance to leave her town.  I loved Casiopea's adventurous spirit, and kindness despite how cruel the world treats her.

Martin, her seemingly sadistic cousin, is complicated.  While he is a complete bully and misogynist, he is also dependent on his grandfather, which builds resentment and anger in her cousin.  I liked that the author tried to create a fully-formed character, and not just a caricature of a bad guy.

Story:

While the first part of novel is a quest to find the missing parts of the Mayan god, the second part pits Casiopea against her cousin, Martin.  They both must travel the dark road to reach a mythical city.  This was a really fun part of the book where we see the characters tested in a variety of ways.  Both Casiopea and Martin are forced to face their own shortcomings and asked them to make choices that aren't always in their best interests.

What I Was Mixed About: 

Narrator:

I wasn't very impressed with the narration by Yetta Gottsman.  I think it's because I felt like she just read it, and didn't really act it out.  Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish which character was speaking.  Perhaps I'm spoiled, but the joy of audiobooks is hearing them acted out.  So I think some of the emotional punch was missing in this audiobook.

Rating: 

Release Date:  July 23rd, 2019

Author:  Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Genre:  YA Fantasy

Audio Publisher:  Random House Audio

Narrator:  Yetta Gottesman

Audio Length:   11 Hours, 4 Minutes

Print Publisher:  Del Rey

Page Length:  338 Pages

Source:  Public Library

Format:  Audiobook

Recommendation:  A Mexican novel of mythology reminiscent of Percy Jackson.  Full of wonderful world-building and an exciting story.