Review – Children of Blood and Bone

 Title: Children of Blood and Bone

Author: Tomi Adeyemi

Page Count: 525

Rating: 4 Stars

“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.”

Spoiler Free

I’m going to be honest here, this book didn’t have me from the start. The first few chapters were hard to get through, and I felt as if the book had been hyped up too much. It’s never good to have too high expectations of anything. I also find books hard to read when I can’t pronounce half of the character names or places. It pulls me out of the books too much, and soon I’m reading over characters because I don’t know how to pronounce their names.

However, around chapter 5 I was completely hooked. Tomi Adeyemi does a beautiful job of crafting a believable world with a real conflict. She mirrors our world perfectly, showing the vicious cycle we seem to be caught in – hate and revenge followed by more hate and revenge. The scenes between Inan and Zélie were hands down my favourite scenes, and I can’t remember the last time a book actually gave me SO MANY EMOTIONS about two characters. I love the premise of this story and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

Characters

Tzain, Zélie’s older brother, wasn’t a favourite for me. He seemed to blame Zélie for all the hardship that fell upon them, constantly reminding her of her mistakes. For a moment I truly thought he might turn into a villain, which would have been an interesting arc to explore.

Amari, the runaway princess, is one of the bravest characters I have ever met. I would also have liked to see her arc turn out differently, but I do truly love how much she grew throughout the book.

Zélie is one of my favourite female characters. She’s strong and fierce and doesn’t shy away from danger. The “chosen one” trope is a little old and over-used, but I think Adeyemi executed it brilliantly.

Inan makes me want to SOB, like all the time. I’m a sucker for a good redemption arc (see greatest redemption arc in the world: Zuko) and I do hope Inan will get the same treatment. He makes some horrible mistakes, one I think Zélie will never be able to forgive, however, there is always hope.

Adeyemi does a great job of switching between character POVs, showcasing completely different, valid worldviews. Magic is dangerous, but magic is also beautiful. I especially loved the friendship that grew between Zélie and Amari. At first, they were complete opposites but by the end, they had learned to trust each other and to take care of each other.

Spoilers

I loved the mythology of this world. The stories about the Gods and the creation of magic was beautiful and set up the rules for magic very early on. Zélie’s connection to her god is a very important part of the story and it’s what guides her. It was great seeing her struggling and failing to use magic throughout the book. She was never trained in magic, she didn’t know any incantations and could barely remember how her mother did it. Zélie is not a Mary-Sue. It would have been easy to claim that she would be naturally gifted in magic because she was the “chosen one”, but she struggles along the way and doubts her faith just like any of us would. It makes her more relatable. I also liked the fact that Zélie and King Saran were perfect mirror images of each other.

King Saran’s family was killed by Maji, Zélie’s mother was killed by kosidáns. King Saran hates and fears magic, Zélie loves and fears her magic. Zélie could easily follow in the King’s footsteps, choosing to kill all kosidáns and enslave them just as the King chose to kill all Maji and enslave their children. It would be interesting to see which choice Zélie makes in the end.

It would also be interesting to see which choices Inan makes from here on out. In the end, he chose to be on his father’s side, although I do believe his intentions were pure. Inan has only seen the bad side of magic, he has seen the horrible, destructive and corruptive effect that kind of power has on people. I believe that he believed getting rid of magic for good was the best course of action, then everyone would be equal and no one would have power over someone else. I don’t approve of his methods though. It was wrong of him to put Zélie’s father in the cross-fire, and I don’t know if Zélie would ever be able to forgive him for his mistake. Here’s to hoping he gets a stellar redemption arc.

Story and Plot

I felt like the book slowed down in the middle, especially during the scenes where all four of our characters were staying with a group of diviners in the woods. I enjoyed those scenes, don’t get me wrong, as it was in that time that Inan and Zélie truly admitted their feelings for each other, however, I do feel like the torture scene and the jailbreak scenes were too much. I found myself reading over most of the conversation because I just wanted the book to end.

Other than the weird pacing, I loved the premise and the plot. Adeyemi has a beautiful writing style and I enjoyed the conversations between characters the most. I often felt like we were introduced to too many new characters at a time, but the main four always remained in focus.

I truly loved this book and I give it 4 stars.

General Thoughts

Have you read Children of Blood and Bone? Let me know what you think in the comments below! You can also pin the image below!

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