Review: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Series: n/a

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publication: March 6th 2018 by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
Format: ARC (thank you, Macmillan!)

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.

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Oh my god. You guys. This book tore me apart in the best way possible. I honestly cannot believe that I’ve acquired a new favorite book this soon in 2018. CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE is one of the best books I’ve EVER read, and you need to preorder/buy this as soon as possible.

CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE follows Zélie, a Reaper like her mother, as she travels with her brother Tzain and the rogue princess Amari to perform a ritual before the solstice in order to save magic for the maji. I can’t even put into words how much I adored this plot. The whole novel was action-packed, one scene written after another so flawlessly. The pacing was impeccable – there were no parts that were lagging, yet there were still enough luscious descriptions to provide us with wonderful world-building. Tomi’s writing made me not want to put this book down for hours on end. I understand why there’s already a movie in progress – this book was unput-down-able.

This novel was written from three points of view – Zélie, Amari, and Inan, the prince who is torn between the two sides of the war – and I loved each of the characters. I loved the trio of Zélie, Amari, and Tzain – they had such palpable chemistry and connection, and I adored reading about their situations. Inan was honestly my favorite character because he was SO torn between his alliance to his father and his country and to Zélie and the world that he wants to fix. God, I can’t wait to get to the next book so I can be with my children again.

Overall, I can’t get over how amazing CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE was. I’m already itching to reread this novel (which I probably definitely will do before the sequel comes out). Tomi Adeyemi has made her place as one of my favorite authors and one of the most talented writers of YA literature.

Thank you to Macmillan for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

alice name.png Alice is an 18 year old college student who loves the oxford comma, television shows, and the company of dogs. She finds writing in the third person odd yet enjoyable. You can find her scrolling through Twitter, Instagram, and forever organizing her shelves on Goodreads.