Children of Blood and Bone is one of the most insanely hyped books of recent times. If you follow #bookstagram or read (even cursorily) a couple of book blogs, you will have heard people raving about this book.
So, when Pan MacMillan offered me a review copy, I jumped up and down in excitement. However, once the book arrived, I started to get apprehensive. What if I didn’t like it? Of late, it seems my reading tastes have been contrary to popular opinion, and I so badly didn’t want to be disappointed in this one.
Thankfully, the book worked awesome for me, and I’m happy to share here that I absolutely loved it. So, without more ado, here are some details.
About the Book
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.
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 as she struggles to control her powers and growing feelings for the enemy.
~ Synopsis from Goodreads
What provoked this book
Before I get into the actual review, I want to discuss a post I stumbled upon on the author’s blog. In this blog, she talks about why she wants to write, and I found it to be a powerful and painful essay on racism.
This line, in particular, about her motivations for writing this story, really resonated with me.
It is a burning passion to tell a story about someone who is different and to force readers to fall in love with what is different from them.
She further goes on to address other writers.
Writers, if you’ve stuck with me up until this point, here is the advice for you. We do not live in a perfect world and that means at some point in your life, you have been hurt by someone else because of your race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, weight, beliefs, values, or etc. because there are always those who will attack those who are different.
These attacks are painful, but they give you a story or a point of view that others don’t have. As a writer it is not only in your best interest to share this unique point of view, it is your obligation.
Maybe you’re not a heart surgeon or a fireman, but if you can bring a reader into another person’s mind, show them your character’s point of view, you create empathy.
You contribute to a world of people trying to understand other people, you help build a generation that hasn’t yet learned to hate anybody who is different from them.
This powerful message impressed me, and I dived into this book more intensely.
My review
The book starts with a bang, introducing us to a defiant Zelie. When the king’s men come to claim extra (unfair) taxes on her people (once magical and powerful diviners or maji), she reacts with fury. I was cringing at this behavior – how she reacted, our heroine could have ended up dead by page 3 itself! Thankfully, fate intervenes, and the book progresses to a more even level.
The king of Orisha has a grudge against the diviners. He has deprived them of their magic and now oppresses them brutally. The reason for the oppression? He is scared that their magic could destroy other non-magical people. It is also personal. At some point in the past, the maji killed his wife and children.
But is his brutal repression and whole-scale slaughter of Majis fair? Zelie and her brother Tzain don’t think so. Neither does Amari – the king’s daughter who witnesses the murder of her Maji friend.
Soon, the three band together to restore magic to the world and give the Majis the power to fight against the king.
The king’s son Inan is conflicted. He sees the damage the maji can do with their power, but he can’t bear the king’s cruelty either. Which way will he swing? Is the middle path that he hopes for even viable?
I loved all four characters – with all their strengths and weaknesses. At first, Zelie comes across as brash and reckless. She pays heavily for these qualities multiple times throughout the book. But she also shows bravery, steadfastness, and willingness to go on no matter what.
Amari is the ideal fairy tale princess, confined within her castle and ignorant of what’s happening in the outside world. It’s only when she encounters her father’s brutality that we see the passion for justice in this seemingly spoilt princess.
I found the book a bit hard to get into at first. Zelie and Amari seemed like such unsatisfactory characters. But together, they bring out each other’s strengths, and I really enjoyed the book once they joined hands.
The adventures are mind-blowing, and the ending is truly surprising. I love that the author was brave enough to close a plot point down at the right moment. Now, I can’t predict the direction of this story in books 2 and 3.
Another thing I love about the book is the setting. As you might have noticed, I have reviewed many fantasy novels on this blog. Because of this, it’s rare that I find one that really stands out. Most fantasy novels on the market are predominantly Western. Perhaps this drew me into Children of Blood and Bone’s magical West African setting and tone.
Overall, I loved this book, and it totally deserves all the hype it gets. I am now really looking forward to reading more by Tomi Adeyemi.
Huge thanks to Pan MacMillan India for giving me this book for review consideration.
fantastic blogs! Your website is aowsome . Thanks for Sharing children of blood and bone . I recommend for reading your post. Please add me on reader list.
Thank you so much! You just need to subscribe to my blog. I cannot add people to the mailing list 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the book. I liked it too. But I wished for more magic in the book. Hopefully the second book would show justice
I have a feeling the second book will be slow, and then the story will pick up in the third one.