Book Review: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

 

Goodreads Summary: 

They killed my mother. 
They took our magic. They tried to bury us.
Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl, and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet, the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

Goodreads Rating: 4.10 stars with over 178,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Magic, Romance, High Fantasy, African Culture

Goodreads Challenge: 12/60 (Forever four books behind.)

2021 Reading Challenge: #35 Read a book by an author of a different ethnicity than you (find the entire challenge here)

Book Review: 

Well. I have a new series that I'm obsessed with. I originally wanted to read this series because I find the cover art for this and the second book absolutely stunning. Turns out it's also a really cool fantasy story too. I thought that Children of Blood and Bone would be really fitting for authors of different ethnicity. I was reading up on Tomi Adeyemi, and she's Nigerian-American, and the book seems to touch on African Culture. Tress and I decided to include the ethnicity categories to broaden our own horizons and as a way to celebrate other cultures.

I don't usually feel an instant connection to the main characters. It's weird, but I usually find myself liking the secondary characters more. With Children of Blood and Bone, I was drawn to Zelie within the first chapter. The first thought I had while reading her introduction was, "Oh, I like her. She's feisty." Through the rest of the story, we really got to see different sides of Zelie. We got to see her determined, happy, powerful, insecure, broken. It was really refreshing to have a character with a lot of different emotions. 

I liked Amari quite a bit as well, though she took a bit longer to grow on me than Zelie. I think the build-up for Amari was intentional. When she first comes into the story, Amari doesn't even really know who she is. Throughout her story, she goes from being a scared and sheltered princess to a warrior. It was a great transition to read. I thought the evolution of her friendship with Zelie was fascinating as well. For many of their interactions, they had to figure out themselves before they could really open up to being friends.

I'm not going to really dive into anything with Inan. Anything I have to say will just be laced with spoilers, and I don't currently have the brainpower to work around the spoilers. There is literally nothing I can say that won't reveal some significant plot aspect. 

I had a hard time picturing the scenery and the mythical animals that were described. It's entirely possible that it was well explained, and I missed it. But any time a leoponaire or something else was mentioned, I couldn't really visualize what it was. The book is getting a movie, so I'm looking forward to the world-building details that come to life. I really liked the mythology and how each God related to a different type of magic. I thought that was a really cool world-building detail. It actually put me in a mythology mood after I finished the book, so I started Circe.

I'm not sure how to adequately describe the next portion of my thoughts on Children of Blood and Bone, so please be patient while trying to get my words to convey what I want, as this next piece is a difficult subject. When Children and Bone concludes, there's a note from Tomi Adeyemi detailing how the current events surrounding the police-caused deaths of black men and women inspired the story. No part of that subject is palpable to discuss; however, Tomi brings the conversation to light in a really unique way. In Children of Blood and Bone, those who rule don't have magical power, and they fear the Maji who do. In this story, there's this whole underlying plot of fear, oppression, and killing people because they are different than the perceived normal. A lot of it is really uncomfortable to read because it has to be. Children of Blood and Bone has its own slur for those who have magic. I won't type it here. My heart hurt every time this word was used. My heart broke every time one of the characters was beaten down, killed, or tortured because of their magic.  It was hard to read, I'm sure it was hard to write, and I've no doubt in my mind that even without experiencing it myself, it's hard to endure the real-life versions of it. However, I applaud Tomi Adeyemi for using her creativity to discuss what's going on in the US and invoke empathy. Don't worry. I won't get on any kind of keyboard warrior soapbox about what's right or wrong in our society. I don't think the world needs another 30-something white woman telling everyone how to handle a situation she's never been in. What I can and will do, however, is continue to try and educate myself more, continue to listen, and continue to be kind. 

My favorite part of the book isn't technically part of the story. There's an after-credits scene, if you will, once the book and acknowledgments are finished. In it, Tomi Adeyemi gives us a look at one of her favorite chapters and gives us fun little notes about her thoughts on it. I thought this was really fun and adorable at how she kind of fangirled over her own story. It was a really nice bonus to read about why an author loved something they wrote so much. More of this, please. 

Overall, I really enjoyed Children of Blood and Bone. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book and read it. I thought it was a good YA Fantasy with two powerful female characters. I really liked both the mythology and magic aspects of the story. I've already recommended it to a ton of people who I know like YA Fantasy.