Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Children of Blood and Bone

It wasn't a mind breaking book, it followed a common fantasy plot of, girl with magical powers has to hunt down these magical objects to stop the evil king, but it was good. While the base of the plot was nothing original, the small details did set it apart. My only real complaints were that it fell within that toxic heterosexual relationship trope

Inan literally betrayed her, broke her heart, burnt down her village, and aided in the death of her father. Don't get me wrong, I love a bit of toxicity in relationships in fiction but some things are too far.

. And lets be honest, it would've been way better if Zélie and Amari got together instead, it still could've been enemies to lovers, just without all the added toxicity.

(The reason I gave the diversity level a 'It's complicated' was that despite how many people praise this book with it's diversity, it really wasn't. I loved that there wasn't a single white person, it was refreshing, when most other book have only white people. But its not diverse if everyone is the same race whether thats white or not. And I understand that maybe in the part of the world where the story took place there really was only black people, but like add in some diversity of sexuality or disabilities eta. Just my two cents)

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jeminnycricket's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Outstanding book, absolutely loved it

Magical and interesting world building, solid story line, and a great finish which wrapped up this book but left a great base for the next one.

Some pretty intense themes going on, but it felt like they were handled with care and respect

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mirireads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The rating of this book wasn't easy because there was a lot to like about it: the main plot, world building, magic system, most of the main characters and fast paced storytelling. Therefore, I'd have loved to rate it higher but there's a big but:
The main romantic subplot was not for me. I absolutely despised the pairing. I dreaded that it would be "a thing" from the hints that were given quite early on and for a significant chunk of the second half of the book the subplot seemed to be the main focus of the book. Everything else apparently lost its urgency for a bit and them being pretty obsessed with each other made me consider dnfing the book.

Inan was also a whole problem by himself. I got strong Zuko vibes from him but never felt that his character earned that comparison. He's a weak and whiney person with no concept of taking responsibility for his own actions or those of the people under his command. Nothing is ever his fault and every hint of am independent thought is squished by his daddy issues.
Reading the 100ish pages about the valley with the divîners camp was infuriating.

More often then not, Tzain seemed to be the only sane person in the whole story. He definitely deserves better!

All in all, if you can get behind the romantic subplot, you're in for a treat and will probably love this book. If you can't get behind the romantic subplot, you'll probably suffer through those parts as well or just give up.

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emilyheb10's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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treereadingabook's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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durrareadsstuff's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Such an amazing book! The world-building was done so well, I'd say it was quite complex and yet easy to understand at the same time. So many themes were covered in the book, mainly oppression, racism, grief but also friendship, understanding, honestly, I learned so much from reading this. The characters were so well developed. At first I kind of hated them, but then as they grew, I found myself rooting for them (well, most of them anyway) and it's just so brilliant.

I have never found a character to be so relatable like Amari. Reading her povs, I mean, I don't know if I should laugh or cry.

I mean, she was practically useless on that ship. And the way she kept telling herself to freaking move and do something but remained frozen and how she kind of made everything worse, I FELT THAT. But it was so much watching her grow, seeing her embrace the "lionaire" that was inside her all along. It kind of made me have hope in myself. So, I owe this book one.

I think the character development is my favourite thing in the book. I mean, the characters have come so far. Like how Zélie went from someone who constantly doubted herself to becoming someone so strong she was a force to behold.

And Inan? *sigh* I was really rooting for you man, and I'm sorry to say this, but I'm kind of relieved thar you died. Cause to tell you the truth, you were freaking stupid. And after you've come so far! Such a shame. I originally wanted to give this a 5 star, but Inan angered me so much I just can't. But you know, it was refreshing that the enemies-to-lovers crashed and the love interest died cause he was being an idiot anyways. Okay fine, I might give this a 5 star later. All that aside, I can see how Inan represents someone who grew with a horrible parentage, someone who was taught, from a very yound age to hate and be scared of the maji, and it was so nice to watch him fall in love with Zélie, and to discover his own powers which made him re-evaluate his upbringings. But sadly, the fear crept up on him again, and yeah, it was pretty devastating that he was killed by the one person he worked so hard to appease.

Besides that, the writing style is so genius! I mean, I'm not and english or literature major, but the way she describes abstract things like feelings using physical symbolism(?) It takes my breath away every single time.

Now chaos surrounds me, pulsing through every breath and heartbeat. It sings as blood splatters through the air, screams as boats explode into oblivion.

Reading this was like watching a movie, and for a very long book, I can say for certain that I never got bored. Loved it ❤️

Bonuses - multi-pov and the chapters are super short!

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canascorner's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I enjoyed parts of this book. There were some characters who were well fleshed out with clear and understandable motives while others needed more substance. The plot and world building kept me engaged but the flimsy feeling characters and confusing ending kept it from being 5 stars.

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