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.
My Thoughts: I was very hyped when I heard about this book. I've been looking around for books that centered around Mexican lore and mythology. When reading this book featured Mayan gods, I knew I had to read it! And I have to say, it was a pretty decent read.
The setting grabbed my attention more than the plot did. I loved all of the descriptive details about the deities and the Yucatan area where the story began. I found myself researching these descriptions and adding it to my list of must see places. Now, the plot was a little slow for me but it was still quite interesting. I was eager to find out how Casiopea's fate was going to turn out at the end with the bone shard stuck in her hand. Was she going to make it? And what about Martin, Casiopea's cousin? Was he going to fulfill his quest? It was obvious the story was going to become a love story between Casiopea and Hun-Kame, but I was not expecting the end. I have to say, I'm glad it ended the way it did.
What I loved best about this book was Martin's character. Yes, Casiopea was a good character. In fact her stubbornness to defy people reminded me so much of myself, but I found myself wanting to learn more about her cousin instead. At first, I despised him but then I came to understand him as his background was explained. Of all of the characters, he was the one who made the greatest growth in the book. He was very well developed.
In conclusion, I was very excited to get my hands on this book. I was happy to finally read about Mexican-indigenous deities. Even though the book was not perfect, I still found myself highly entertained. I rate it:
Sounds like a great read! I haven't read it, but I recently acquired Mexican Gothic by the same author.
ReplyDeleteI really, really, really want to read Mexican Gothic!!!! I need to get my hands on a copy.
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