“Words are seeds, Casiopea. With words you embroider narratives, and the narratives breed myths, and there’s power in the myth. Yes, the things you name have power,” he said.
This book is a work of art. Full of poetrylike writing, it just feels magical. It’s a new take on the magic realism mexican folklore, about which I didn’t know a lot about. This was almost the first time I’ve come in touch with stories from South America.
Casiopea, a young woman from mexico in the 1950s, lifes the full “cinderella dream”, which means she’s cleaning her grandfathers house, while her family looks down on her. But one day she opens a chest, in which the god of death has been imprisoned for the last fifty years. He wants revenge on his brother and Casiopeas family for capturing him. For that, he needs Casiopeas help, because he is fading into nothingness. If she helps him, he’ll grant her a wish. But if she fails, she will fall with her family.
This piece of literature is a lovely mix between fantasy, mystery and a big adventure. I loved both of the characters, the god of death, a cold person and a bit standoffish, and Casiopea, thorough and full of hope. The other characters in the book were good as well, because they felt real. Even with Martin, one of the bad guys, I understood his reasoning. The mythology is beautifully woven into the story and the lyrical writting really gives it the last polish.
“The nature of hate is mysterious. It can gnaw at the heart for an eon, then depart when one expected it to remain as immobile as a mountain. But even mountains erode.”
