A Beautiful, Magical, Hard-Hitting Debut // ARC Review: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Title: Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha #1)
Author: Tomi Adeyemi
Publication Date: March 6th 2018
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Part of a Series?: Yes, Book 1/3 in the Legacy of Orisha Trilogy
I Got A Copy Through: Pan Macmillan India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || Infibeam || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books
Blurb Description: 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.
 
I’m staring at the blinking cursor, unable to understand HOW to start talking about this MARVEL of a book, because I finished it a week ago and I’m STILL unable to collect my thoughts?

Reviewing books you love REALLY is the hardest. I find it hard to fit into five hundred something words EVERYTHING that a 600 something page book made me feel, but let’s try anyways.

Children of Blood and Bone is a GROUND BREAKING magical book that makes you feel grief, oppression, love, family and most of all, magic. It has all the right elements, realistic characters that you root for from page one, a GORGEOUS cover and basically the epic black protagonist book we’ve all been looking for.

MY THOUGHTS:

1.       I took this book on a photography trip with me, up North, and through the most hectic week of my life, all I could think about was going back to the bus/ room and reading more of this BEAUTY.

2.       I am OBSSESSED with books that are obsessed with magic and Children of Blood and Bone had it ALL. Magical artefacts, different kinds of power, the repercussions of using magic, the beauty within magic and the fight to bring magic back. I LOVED IT SO MUCH.
 
3.       Tomi Adeyemi’s characters are STUNNING, but especially Zelie. I fell for this broken, magical, headstrong girl instantly and reading about the world through her eyes, and experiencing her grief was breath taking and I loved every second of it. Her hate, her hope and her need for change was so raw, and she clawed her way into my heart. I also ADORED Roen, and I hope he has a much bigger role to play in books to come.

4.       I also LOVED Inan, the prince and Tzain, Zelie’s brother. I was a little disappointed that Tzain didn’t get a viewpoint in the book, because he was such an important character. Inan, however, HOLY WOW. His character development and his thought process and responsibilities were so well written that I craved more from this tortured Prince.

5.       Amari was definitely my least favourite character among the four. While I liked her growth, I simply failed to connect with her.

6.       THE PLOT AND WORLD BUILDING IS INSANE, AND DEFINITELY #1 NYT BESTSELLER WORTHY. There was always something happening, always another plot twists or characters surprising you and it kept me on the edge of my seat!

7.       My favourite part of this book, however, was the parallel that Tomi Adeyemi drew to the Black Lives Matter movement in her fantasy world. Just like Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give, I felt everything – the pain, the oppression, the need for justice, fairness and compassion. It was a beautifully written book.

A stunning, beautiful, hard-hitting, magical debut novel, with badass women that will remind you of Black Panther, set in the fantasy world of your dreams. 4.5 stars. 
Tomi AdeyemiTomi 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.


HAVE YOU READ THIS MARVEL OF A BOOK YET? What do you think of it?
Tomi compares her debut to Marvel's Black Panther. Which is your favourite Marvel movie?
Are you excited for Avengers: Infinity War?

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