Review: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Title: Children of Blood and Bone

Author:  Tomi Adeyemi
Publisher: Henry Holt Books for Young Readers

Publishing Date: March 6th, 2018

Pages: 525
Genre: YA Fantasy 

Series:  Legacy of Orïsha #1
Source:  Audio

 

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.

This book was a sneak attack for me. I saw it around a bit on the blogospehere but didn't pay too much attention to it. It looked interesting so I added it to my TBR. It wasn't until I read more than a handful of reviews of readers gushing that I decided I needed this book. So I got the book. I actually got the audio and I am SO IN LOVE with this book. 

So there is this land where there were children born with the capability to have magic when they reached a certian age. The magics varied from person to person and usually hereditary but every child with white hair would recieve magic after their 13th birthday. Well one day the magic disappeared. No one knows why. 

There is a princess who decides to escape and runs into a a magi girl, Zelie, who is trying to get some money for her family to save her father. Zelie has to hide and then run with the princess. At this point the prince realizes magic could be coming back and that this girl Zelie is the key. Also he needs to get his sister back. So he meets up with the princess and the girl and the girls brother. Then there are four. Confusing... it's really not... only when I explain it. Anyways, these four are now intertwined and are on a journey to save magic and all the magi people. Nothing is as easy as it seems or is as it seems. So yes trouble and war and crazy magic and death and romance and all that good fantasy adventure stuff. 

I don't really know where to start with this review. I mean I absolutely loved this book. There was so much good in here. I was a little hesitant seeing it was becoming quite a hype of a book. I was scared that I wouldn't get it or would be disappointed. I really was no where close to disappointed and I so got. This book had everything. A great set of characters. Adventure, danger, magic, romance, kisses, death, betrayal, evil kings and so much more. 

Zelie was a great main character. She started out so clueless and a bit of a trouble maker but where her strength lies is that fact no one tells her what to do or how to do it. She has a her own mind, her own thoughts, her won way. She won't allow anyone to get in her way. So strong minded and so powerful. I aspire to be her for sure. 

Zelie's brother Tzain, was pretty cool character too. For sure not my favorite but he wasn't bad. He cared for Zelie and just wanted to protect her. He found this very hard to to do and quite aggravating because she always lands herself in trouble.

The princess I adored. Amari was a character to love. She was clueless too. Although all the characters were because things were kept in secret and so many were lied to. I thought she was a real sweetheart though and determined and pretty brave. She never seemed to doubt. Now for the prince, Prince Inan. I am not going to say too much about him. He was a very complicated character and very layered. 

This was a high fantasy read and I can't say that the plot and the journey and all that stands out from all the other great high fantasies out there. What I adored were the characters, their growth, their relationships, their struggles. There was never a right or a wrong, lines were blurred, tons of confusion on what the right thing would be and how to achieve that. There was romance and love and family that often got in the way of making decisions. I feel that this is what made the story, at least for me. The characters felt real to me and they were flawed and they were spectacular, they were Strong but they were scared. Nothing was simple in this story. 

The ending, I am just going to be real about this, tore my heart out. It killed me and I just couldn't real world when I was done with this read. This is also when I know the book is spectacular in my world. Real life no longer existed and I no longer had a heart. 

If you like high fantasy, a rich world that was built beautifully. characters that were well developed, and a writing that will leave you breathless. This is the book for you. 

This book owns my heart and soul!

Tomi Adeyemi is a Nigerian-American writer and creative writing coach based in San Diego, California. Her debut novel, CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE, comes out March 6th, 2018 and the movie is currently in development at Fox with the producers of Twilight and The Maze Runner attached. 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.