Author: Tomi Adeyemi
Genre: High Fantasy
Source: PanMacmillan Australia
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.Review by Nara
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.
This book was incredibly hyped up and so I went into it somewhat nervously, fingers crossed that it would live up to the hype. I can gladly say that Children of Blood and Bone was indeed worthy of the hype, and that it's a high fantasy that I can recommend to everyone.
Breaking it down into its absolute bare bones, this book was actually a relatively generic high fantasy, with the main crew on a rather linear quest to save the world. Basically, think Lord of the Rings style quest where the characters journey from one place to another with a major goal in mind, in this case: restoring magic to Orisha. Then again, if you strip many YA high fantasies to the bare bones, you would get a similar story, and what was great about Children of Blood and Bone was that the concept was very well executed.
One thing I really liked was that most of the characters were quite layered, especially Inan, the crown prince. He's sort of the Kylo Ren of this story, in that it was rather difficult to tell whether he was to be trusted or not. Is he being influenced by his father, or does he have his own justice in mind? It was certainly hard to tell where his loyalties lied. The other characters are also well developed, with interesting backstories and character arcs throughout the novel.
I'm very much looking forward to reading Adeyemi's follow up novels in this series. I have a feeling that she may be looking to take it in unexpected directions.
Really liked it
RatingsOverall: 8/10
Plot: 4/5
Romance: 3.5/5
Writing: 4/5
World Building: 4/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Cover: 4/5
