Gods of Jade and Shadow is Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s second novel following her debut novel, Signal to Noise, and itself followed by Mexican Gothic, Velvet was the Night and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. I find that I prefer Moreno-Garcia’s earlier works more than her more recent novels, because I enjoyed Gods of Jade and Shadow, a fairy tale based on Mayan folklore, as much as I enjoyed Signal to Noise.

Gods of Jade and Shadow is set in 1920s Mexico and opens in the small town of Uukumil in the Yucatan Peninsula where eighteen-year-old Casiopea Tun lives with her mother, grandfather, and other assorted relatives. Casiopea is a Cinderella-like figure. After Casiopea’s father died, Casiopea’s mother returned to her family home with her daughter in tow, where they are both treated like the poor relations and forced to be servants, even though Casiopea’s grandfather is rich and owns the nicest house in town. Casiopea is also despised by her relatives because she takes after her father with her darker complexion.

Despite the drudgery of her life, Casiopea is a smart young woman who stands up for herself, especially when it comes to her spoiled idiot cousin, Martin, who relishes in tormenting Casiopea. But Casiopea’s temper and sharp tongue often leads to her being punished by her grandfather or Martin, either by beatings or by denying her things that would give her pleasure. During one such punishment, where her family has gone out for the day to go swimming and Casiopea is left at home alone to do more chores, Casiopea unlocks the mysterious wooden chest in her grandfather’s bedroom and discovers the bones of the Mayan death god Hun-Kamé. A shard of his bone lodges itself in Casiopea’s hand and Hun-Kamé is reanimated.

Hun-Kamé is missing an ear, an eye, and a necklace, and he enlists Casiopea’s assistance in retrieving these items in the hopes that once he is completely restored for his former god self, he can take back his throne in Xibalba, the Mayan underworld, which was stolen from him by his twin brother with the help of Casiopea’s grandfather. Casiopea does not have much of a choice in the matter, for so long as the bone shard remains in her hand, she and Hun-Kamé are linked, with Hun-Kamé feeding off her life force until either he regains his throne, or she dies. But Casiopea is looking for an escape from her miserable life in Uukumil, so she does not put up much of a fuss when she leaves with Hun-Kamé.

Casiopea and Hun-Kamé’s quest to retrieve his missing body parts takes them on a whirlwind tour of Jazz Age Mexico with its speakeasies and flappers, and the supernatural side of Mexico with its demons, ghosts and magic, while trying to keep one step ahead of Hun-Kamé’s brother, Vucub-Kamé, who has recruited a reluctant Martin to go after Casiopea and convince her to join Vucub-Kamé’s side instead.

Gods of Jade and Shadow is a perfectly feminist fairy tale. Even though Hun-Kamé is the magical being, he is wholly dependent on Casiopea’s help in order to become a god again. And he never forces her to do anything for him. The more time that he spends with her, the more he learns to respect Casiopea and appreciate her bravery. Although Casiopea does not feel brave, her decision to help Hun-Kamé and continually face one frightening obstacle after another demonstrates her true strength of character. But what I appreciate the most about Gods of Jade and Shadow is that there are no one-sided characters, including the villains. Casiopea is a heroine that struggles to put her anger towards her family behind her, while her cousin Martin struggles with his feelings of inadequacy that led him to taking out his own anger on Casiopea instead of directing it towards the person who really deserved it.

During Casiopea and Hun-Kamé’s quest, as Hun-Kamé continues to feed off Casiopea and become more and more human, they begin to fall in love, even while knowing that if Hun-Kamé is successful and restored to his god status, they can never be together. Although Casiopea and Hun-Kamé’s fairy tale ending is not what you expect or hope for, it is still a satisfying conclusion to their story.