Gods of Jade and Shadow

From the moment I spotted the phrase “the Mayan god of death in the Jazz Age,” I knew I needed to get my hands on Gods of Jade and Shadow. I’ve always been a fan of historical fantasy, and there’s little I love more than seeing ancient figures thrown into a more modern world. Add in a stunning cover, hints of a rags-to-riches protagonist, and a journey to the Underworld? I was sold.

But this wondrously written book is so much more than that. The story follows Casiopea Tun, who, in an attempt to escape her grandfather’s home, inadvertently links up with a Mayan god eager to take back his throne. Soon she finds herself on a death-defying adventure, and experiencing the equally terrifying prospect of first love.

This is both a classic fairy tale—the mysterious box, the alluring figure offering the promise of a new beginning—and a fresh, coming-of-age journey that lets Casiopea be at once fierce and frightened, larger-than-life yet human. Casiopea leaps from the page, her hopes and dreams clashing with the life of servitude her power-hungry relatives have forced her into. With some of the best—and eerie!—imagery I’ve ever read and an ending that left me both hopeful and heartbroken, this is a book I’ll be gushing over for a very long time.

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.