Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

I was a bit skeptical going into Children of Blood and Bone, since it was so hyped. But it’s definitely worth the hype. It’s one of the best YA fantasy books I’ve read in a long time. It has an amazing world building and strong female lead, and it was full of emotions, magic and epic adventures. The story also tackled issues of racism and general prejudice in society made up entirely of people of colour, which felt really unique.

The writing style was also really different, with the three POvs; Zélie, Amari, and Inan. I love Zélie so much. She is so fierce and headstrong, but at the same time struggling with grief and fear. Amari is the spoilt and naïve princess, who follows her heart and fights for what is right. Her character development must be one of the best ever written. And then there’s Inan. To be honest I don’t really know what I think of him. My feelings for him changed all through the book; from sympathy for him being so misguided to just anger for the choices he makes to feeling bad for him. But all in all, I loved the characters and their development. Basically, the story is about fighting evil and bringing back magic, with each of the characters going on their own journey (literally as they race to get to the magic items needed for the resurrection of the Orishan gods before it’s too late, and metaphorically as they grow up and explore so much about themselves and their backgrounds throughout the story). I really enjoyed the magic system in this story, and how we got to visit so many different locations across the country that were aesthetically distinct.

What I didn’t like as much though was the romance. Normally, enemies to lovers is my favorite trope, but it has to be better executed. I just couldn’t buy how they went from outright hating each other to being all over each other in less than 50 pages and after knowing each other for about three days…

But all in all, this is a great YA fantasy with a unique world building with references to West African mythology and a lot of epic fantasy action and intense emotions.

Rating:
4 stars

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Author info:
Tomi Adeyemi