Children of Blood and Bone
by Tomi Adeyemi
Author's Description:
“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 targeted and 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.”
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 targeted and 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.”
My Review - Rating - 9.5/10
I thought that Children of Blood and Bone was a brilliant novel. It has an interesting plot, extraordinary characters, and some truly thought-provoking moments. It has a fascinating dynamic between the four main characters, which I can’t describe without spoilers, but I can describe my experience with it. I got invested in not just the characters but the relationships between characters, I formed my own opinions on the characters, their situations, and their actions, (I loved Zélie, didn’t like the actions and motives of the other three) and I also felt their pain and pride at different points in the story. This book does a great job of creating a moral grey zone, in which the actions of the four main characters at different times could be seen as good, evil, and everything in between depending on your perspective. In addition, the overall plot and overarching evil that all four characters are fighting against are deeply relevant to America today, and I felt that Adeyemi did a beautiful job of taking her experiences and feelings about a deeply painful part of our country today and turning it into a beautiful and interesting novel. My only criticism of the book, and the reason that I took off half a point, is because the “will they or won’t they” suspense of the interpersonal relationships means that once you’ve read it once, it loses a lot of re-readability. Overall, I’d highly recommend this book to anyone with even a slight interest in fantasy novels.
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