Gods of Jade and Shadow

Casiopea Tun is the protagonist of Gods of Jade and Shadow. She is named after the constellation, which is named for the beautiful queen Cassiopeia in Greek myth. Casiopea does not believe she is attractive because she has dark skin and hair, features that colonialism and white supremacy have deemed unattractive because they represent Indigenous, rather than European, heritage. She is, in fact, beautiful, as Hun-Kamé tells her throughout the novel. Distancing herself from her family gives her she confidence, and she realizes she no longer bound to society’s exclusionary norms. Though the narrative establishes Casiopea’s beauty, her courage and willingness to venture into the unknown define her as a heroine. These characteristics develop over the course of the narrative through her willingness to sacrifice herself for Hun-Kamé and her ultimate decision to forgive Martín.

Gods of Jade and Shadow follows a traditional fairy-tale structure, but Casiopea challenges the genre’s female archetype in several ways. She has a Cinderella-like rags-to-riches story, but rather than marrying a prince and gaining royalty and jewels, her happily-ever-after is freedom. Whereas fairy tales reward their heroines for their meekness and ability to endure injustice, Moreno-Garcia’s novel makes Casiopea’s anger her source of strength.