Gods of Jade and Shadow - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

"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."

This is my first book by Moreno - Garcia. I have heard a lot about her work, especially as I am some one who enjoys the rather nebulous category of magic realism. I must say that I enjoyed the way that Moreno - Garcia writes, with some truly wonderful descriptions and prose, however I found the characterisation and plot deeply lacking. 

Gods of Jade and Shadow had a great beginning. Martin, Casiopea, and her grandfather were all initially well depicted, and then I just wanted to go to sleep. It began to get tedious VERY early on in the story, and I was bored before she even introduced Hun-Kame, the Mayan God of Death. He brought about some respite from the slow movement, but not for long. The jazz era twist was a great idea but it leant nothing really to the story, it didn't further the plot or the conflict in Casiopea. 

I wanted so much more from this. I wanted to know more about the culture, the magic, folklore, stories of the Mayan culture. I wanted to explore the social dynamics of 1920's Mexico. What was it like? What was it like to be indigenous? Did some people keep their old religion or had it been completely lost to Catholicism? How did the flapper movement seem to a highly religious people? It wasn't a horrible book, but it definitely do justice to the wealth of Mayan or Mexican culture. 

I understand why many people think that this is a YA rather than an Adult book as it certainly reads like a YA, with the plot skimming over much of the deeper themes that I was expecting. I was hoping/ expecting the book to explore the conflict between Cassiopeia's identities and religion. I wish this had been further explored, more of Casiopea questioning her upbringing and the Catholic way of doing things when confronted with a Pagan god. How would their moral be similar or different? I wanted Casiopea to have more conflict around her mixed identity and come to realise how beautiful her indigenous heritage is through her interactions with Hun - Kame. However none of this is ever explored leaving the characters feeling flat and the plot had no emotional stakes whatsoever. I couldn't care for these characters or become invested in their journey. 

However all that said, I would give Moreno-Garcia's work another go as I enjoyed her writing style.

Age Rating 15+. Some light familial bullying.