children of blood and bone // tomi adeyemi

Title:  Children of Blood and Bone

Author: Tomi Adeyemi

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Page Count: 525 pages

Copyright Date:  2018

Blurb:

 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 once magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, the 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 leopanaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest threat may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers- and her growing feelings for an enemy.

My Rating (★★★★★):

 Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi is a YA West African Fantasy novel that has gotten a lot of hype in the last year. With the political climate in a whirlwind of racism, sexism, and xenophobia, the success of a novel written by a woman of color proves that we need and want diverse characters and stories. Fans are putting their money where their mouth is and lapping up Children of Blood and Bone's story. Twenty-two days after it's publishing date, Children of Blood and Bone hit the New York Time's bestseller list at #1.
Ms. Adeyemi's book promises thrills, magic and brutal fighting between the Maji and the Kosidán (Orïshans that don't have the potential to do magic.) I was thrilled to add it to my bookshelf.

The things I loved about Children of Blood and Bone:

1.) The Realism. For a fantasy novel, the plot was so believable and relatable, especially the inequality between the non-Maji and the diviners (the magic users).
2.) The Characters. Zélie was my favorite of the 3 POV. She is fiercely loyal and brave. It was easy to hate Inan; I am still not a fan of his, even with his character development.
3.) The Maji Tribes. The ten tribes of the Maji were awesome, and it gives a breadth and depth to a magical realm that I am excited to delve into more when the next book comes out.

Some things that could have been better:

1.) The Names of the Magi Users. Tiders are water Maji, control the ocean and water. Burners control, you guessed it Fire. The interesting ones were the Majis of Health and Disease, but I honestly don't have better ideas so the simplicity of the titles works for it, actually.
2.) I found Amari to be annoyingly timid, and I found it a little hard to believe that such a timid girl could be a great swordswoman. And I don't have a lot to say about Zélie's brother, hopefully his character grows on me in the next book.
3.) A relationship in the book, which I won't elaborate on but it's alluded to in the blurb.
4.) The ending. I just hate "to be continueds", nothing other than that. The ending left me wishing that the next book was already out instead of not being published for almost a year.

Overall, I really enjoyed Children of Blood and Bone, it didn't take me long to read at all, which is refreshing when I get in a lot of reading slumps since having children. I can't wait to continue to read Ms. Adeyemi's work for years to come.