Thoughts on : Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Genre : Fantasy
Series : Legacy of Orïsha, book 1
About the Book :
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.
My Thoughts :
I think I planned on reading Children of Blood and Bone from the moment I first saw its cover. Isn’t it just striking? Plus, I don’t think I’ve read a YA fantasy novel with Africa as its inspiration before. Add to this a (heavy) sprinkle of hype, and I knew I had to read this one.
Does it live up to the hype? I’d say, mostly yes. There’s a lot I enjoyed in this book. Most of all, I loved the setting. It’s so refreshing to have a fantasy novel taking place in a world that isn’t inspired by medieval/occidental history. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with it, and I love it; but diversity feels good too.
Tomi Adeyemi’s world is colorful and creative. It creates new landscapes and offers a magical system that is as powerful as it is dangerous. It talks of discrimination without ever feeling sanctimonious, which is a feat in itself. The characters deal with conflict, internal and external, in a way that felt very human. I was surprised by how much I could relate to Zélie and her doubts and fears.
And I loved the characters. Zélie and Amari are so interesting and well-developed (even though Amari can at first appear a little cliché). They feel distinct but complement each other very well, and even Inan, Amari’s brother, has a great story arc. However, this is also where I was slightly disappointed : because of course, there’s romance. And it really took away from my enjoyment of the story.
I love romance when it’s developed in an organic way. I don’t mind a main character having feelings for a villain either. Here though, I just didn’t buy it. It’s a bit of an insta-love kind of romance, which I’m not a fan of. But mostly, I felt that past actions were too easily forgiven. It’s one thing to have feelings for someone who is or has been bad – that can in fact create interesting conflicts for the characters. But to act on these feelings so quickly… it was just disappointing to me.
All of this being said, Children of Blood and Bone was still a lot of fun. It’s packed with action, cool magic and intriguing characters. It never gets boring. If you love YA fantasy, you’ll probably enjoy this one – especially if you enjoy insta-love romance involving villains/possibly reformed bad guys! It’s not my thing, but in the end I still enjoyed it a lot, and will definitely be reading the sequel.
I think the thing that kept me sane about the romance is that it felt like it wasn’t so much romance as some kind of magical tie that forced these two into each other’s heads. Neither wanted it, but it was there regardless. I kept waiting to see if more about that bizarre connection would be revealed, or if it would snap at some point, letting them both go back to their senses. But I think that line ended up being more related to his personal change (avoiding spoilers), so the romance on her end didn’t end up making much sense. I’m interested to see where it goes (if anywhere) in the second volume. Not just the romance, but the whole book. Of the three very diverse, non-european-tradition fantasy novels I’ve read this year, this one was by far the best.
Hmm, that’s a good point. It’s true that I liked the magical aspect of the “insta love”, so maybe I can appreciate it more from this point of view. I love villains/reformed villains/grey scale characters, so I really liked “him” (trying to avoid spoilers!) as a character, just wasn’t a fan of the relationship. But I definitely want to read the next one, I enjoyed the world so much!
I know you’ve read The Poppy War, but what was the third book? City of Brass?