#he seems like the most obnoxious idiot to ever walk out of the Yucatán and I love him for it

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

So I finished Gods if Jade and Shadow and it was a fun read. Very much a Fairy Tale, and I say that in a positive light.

[spoilers below]

I will say, I went through the tag on here and people were going on about the ending tearing up their hearts and I personally don’t get it. Like, it was a perfectly expected ending. Nothing shocked or surprised me about it. And that’s not a bad thing! Means the story was well constructed.

But idk guys. Cassiopeia is eighteen. I think it’s a good thing the first guy she fell in love with, after leaving a shit family situation in a small town where she was sheltered from the world, ended and now she’s able to go out and really live her life.

And honestly? Her driving off with a French Demon to New Orleans is so much better than being Persephone 2.0 but Mayan.

Things I liked:

I loved how Hun-Kamé was written. Definitely a well rendered god of the dead/underworld, I felt

The playing with Mayan mythology was cool and caters to my love of myth making and folklore

Traveling around late 1920s Mexico with Cassiopeia and Hun-Kamé was a lot of fun

The romance was understated and believable from Cassiopeia’s point of view. Totally on point. Personally don’t know what a god of the underworld sees in a sheltered 18 year old from a small town but idk I guess you do you, Hun-Kamé

I loved the bit at the end between Hun-Kamé and Vucu-Kamé with the mountain of resentment eroding away; that was a great scene

Here for the giant salamanders - actually everyone’s animal companions were great

Cast of characters was great - all the people they meet are fun and engaging

Well paced plot, it’s not a character driven book by any means so the plot needs to keep going and it does

I did like Martín’s hatred that Cassiopeia was the favoured grandchild even though Cirilo treated everyone like shit. Like that dynamic of “this old man is abusive and terrible but I still want to be his favourite and have him love me more than you” felt very real

The description of the gods was good. Especially the focus on their eyes and how inhuman they are, I really liked that

Things I didn’t like or felt could have been done better:

I felt that the world was underused. This is jazz age Mexico! There was a lot of potential and I didn’t feel as immersed in the world as I could have been

The plot was fun and interesting enough to keep me reading but it was entirely predictable. But, it is a playing on a fairy tale/old legend motifs so I suppose that makes sense from a narrative decision

I wanted more suspense and tension of whether or not they were going to succeed

Kind of wanted proper brujeria showing up more than it did (this is purely personal, not anything against the book)

Wanted more backstory on her father and also what the fuck her grandfather was up to other than helping gods of the dead stage coups against their twin brothers, as one does

Martín was a fine antagonist/foil to Cassiopeia but I felt he needed to be built out a little more.

Cassiopeia felt a little too perfect - her temper and her attitude never really got them into trouble and like idk I wanted more from her

I will say I like character driven things so this could just be a personal taste thing

My hot takes:

Martín, being a useless, cowardly, arrogant asshole shitweasel was, naturally, my favourite character and I’m rooting for him in Guadalajara. Go make that sweet sweet cash money and avoid your shitty grandfather

This was the best ending for Cassiopeia and I think her ending up with Hun-Kamé would have been depressing. She’s much better off with her new bff, the shifty French demon who makes bad jokes

The shifty French demon, Loray, is my other fave character

Vucu-Kamé did nothing wrong and he was right to stage a coup against his brother. Hun-Kamé, I do like him as a character, but he seems like a bit of a loser. Go reclaim the power of your former glory days, Vucu-Kamé, I believe in you

I forget if Vucu-Kamé got his jade ring back from Martín. If he didn’t I’m 100% sure Martín calls him up when he’s in a tight spot and is like “OH MOST GRACIOUS AND POWERFUL AND WONDERFUL LORD OF XIBALBA i owe Juan two hundred pesos. Can you uh…cover my gambling debt again?” Sacrifices a goat to him. Vucu-Kamé is like, “Gods fine. But only because you flatter my ego.”

Vucu-Kamé: what did I do to deserve such useless mortal servants?

Hun-Kamé: maybe try fewer coups in the future?

Vucu-Kamé: that has absolutely nothing to do with the bad luck of being saddled with Martín Layva as a servant 

Hun-Kamé: yeah I definitely got the good cousin, out of the two

Cassiopeia is an absolute nightmare driver, no one can convince me otherwise. Loray regrets teaching her

Anyway - it’s a fun and fast read and I generally recommend it if you’re looking for a good, easy romp to read over a weekend or something