Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

*Spoiler-FREE Review.

TITLE: Children of Blood and Bone

BY: Tomi Adeyemi

SERIES: Legacy of Orisha #1

GENRE: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction

PUBLICATION: March 6th 2018 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

RATING:

Let me start by saying that 2018 is so far(for me) the best year for great releases. Thank you The Cruel Prince for starting it last January 2. The next thing I wanna say is to Tomi Adeyemi herself (who watches BTS videos in her free time. How cool is that?) Anyway, Ms. Adeyemi, write faster, revise faster. Please I need Book 2 right now. That ending was EVIL. But in a good way. (Oopps! I think my pastor won’t like it me treating any kind of evil in a good way. Hehe.)

♦♦ SYNOPSIS FROM GOODREADS ♦♦

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie’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 the enemy.

♦♦MY THOUGHTS♦♦

As stated above, I want this review to be completely spoiler-free as this one is so new. Let’s start with the world, Tomi Adeyemi took me into – Orisha. It was aesthetically and vividly imaginative. Not the colorful kind of aesthetic but the world, with no doubt, was a product of such a creative mind. A mind who knows what art is and that mind is from a person who knows how to be God in a way that she just created this whole new complex world that i can guarantee is flawless. There was no hole in it. Trust me, I looked for a hole in the world-building of this book. There was none.

The magic, the fantasy was brilliant and magnificent. It was something I saw before but with interesting and intriguing twists. By God, A Reaper? This is high fantasy and epic fantasy at their best. And a touch of magic realism. The author, indeed, has did well creating her own world with own rules. I liked it that there was not a single time I asked and wonder how the magic works because it was so well written, meaning all is clear. Again no holes, guys.

The Plot. It was filled with action. Though between the beginning and ending of this book, there were chapters that made me think this book is too long, it should be shorter . and there were times I was afraid the author will fail and the book will turn out as disappointment. I almost rate this 4.5 but I now stand corrected and proved wrong. The author is amazing. Overall, I can say the pace was incredible. From our MCs status quo, Call to Adventure, their acceptance of it and down to the journey they’ve been and still having, it was all good. I don’t want to get technical that much but I think this book also followed the Fichtean Curve plot structure where the hero gets through crisis after crises like she’s riding in waves. Truly, amazingly done.

The Characters. I admit, there were times Zelie grew in me, I wanna smack her and hug her brother Tsain o he stops worrying. But Zel, even a maji is human and the plot isn’t complete without little foolishness. 🙂 The other characters, the siblings, Amari and Inan were amazing too. Inan makes me worry at first, but I’ve grown to love him. I think one of the best reason why I loved the main characters is because their 2 pairs of siblings who have such incredible relationship though said relationships are bit marred. The affection was there and that made my heart melts. 🙂 Also each character’s development is too obvious and since this is only book 1, their growth is still ongoing. 🙂

I highly recommend this book to everyone. Really, this one can be intimidating because of how long it is and like I said there were times, I was worried the author will make a mistake throughout the novel, but get through the end, It’s worth it.

About the Author: (I seldom add this section in my reviews but i want the world to know who Tomi Adeyemi is.)

Tomi Adeyemi is a Nigerian-American writer and creative writing coach based in San Diego, California. After graduating Harvard University with an honors degree in English literature, she received a fellowship that allowed her to study West African mythology and culture in Salvador, Brazil. When she’s not working on her novels or watching Scandal, she can be found blogging and teaching creative writing to her 3,500 subscribers at tomiadeyemi.com. Her website has been named one of the 101 best websites for writers by Writer’s Digest.