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sheryl_macca's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I chose this book to tick off the Afrofuturism prompt of the Reading Women Challenge 2020. I hadn't heard of Afrofuturism before and even after reading a little about it I wasn't sure I fully grasped the concept.
Children of Blood and Bone is the story of a quest to return magic to Orisha, to right the generations of injustice that have gone before, to unite the people and share power.
It's told through 4 points of view and I do love multiple POVs but in this book it didn't work as well for me as it usually does. The book is full off emotion, history and chaos. There are clearly comparisons to be made with apartide, segregation, institutional racism and the events which recently led to the BLM protests. There are powerful emotions around the coming of age, discovering your inner strength, testing yourself, trust and responsibility. There are first loves, family connections, grief and challenges of belonging. I wanted deeper more insightful narrators to really explore all of these themes and I found that each chapter was too short to accomplish this. I was hopping from one narrator to the next too quickly.
Having said that, it's a wonderful world that has been created and there's an interesting timelessness to the story. The adventure just keeps on coming, on land and on water. It's a great work of fantasy but it missed the mark on the feels.
Children of Blood and Bone is the story of a quest to return magic to Orisha, to right the generations of injustice that have gone before, to unite the people and share power.
It's told through 4 points of view and I do love multiple POVs but in this book it didn't work as well for me as it usually does. The book is full off emotion, history and chaos. There are clearly comparisons to be made with apartide, segregation, institutional racism and the events which recently led to the BLM protests. There are powerful emotions around the coming of age, discovering your inner strength, testing yourself, trust and responsibility. There are first loves, family connections, grief and challenges of belonging. I wanted deeper more insightful narrators to really explore all of these themes and I found that each chapter was too short to accomplish this. I was hopping from one narrator to the next too quickly.
Having said that, it's a wonderful world that has been created and there's an interesting timelessness to the story. The adventure just keeps on coming, on land and on water. It's a great work of fantasy but it missed the mark on the feels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Violence
brynn_books's review against another edition
4.0
*4.5 Stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
So, I loved this book!! I was afraid to read it because of how much it was hyped up last year and I chose to wait until some of the hype had died down until I read it. That and I’m just lazy and took forever to actually pick up a copy.
This is an epic fantasy that is literally any fantasy lovers dream. As someone who loves fantasy, I loved the magic system in this book and the whole world, how it worked was definitely my favorite thing about the book.
I also loved the characters. Zélie and Amari are so powerful and fierce and seeing their friendship grow from the start of the book to the end of the book was so beautiful. I loved seeing Amari stand up against her father and actually choose to help Zélie who her father hates.
I’m bad at critiquing books, but I think if I did critique this book, the one critique I would have, which is pretty minor, would be the romance between Zélie and Inan. I don’t know if anyone else felt this, but it felt a bit rushed. Like, I love the whole enemies-to-lovers trope which is what I think this relationship was supposed to be but I wish it was dragged out a little bit more. It felt like, they were enemies one day and then the very next day, they were having their first kiss and it was just like really fast. I don’t know. I wish it was dragged out throughout the whole book rather than just a few chapters of them fighting to kill each other and then ending up kissing.
But besides that, I love this book and I’m really excited for the sequel!!
So, I loved this book!! I was afraid to read it because of how much it was hyped up last year and I chose to wait until some of the hype had died down until I read it. That and I’m just lazy and took forever to actually pick up a copy.
This is an epic fantasy that is literally any fantasy lovers dream. As someone who loves fantasy, I loved the magic system in this book and the whole world, how it worked was definitely my favorite thing about the book.
I also loved the characters. Zélie and Amari are so powerful and fierce and seeing their friendship grow from the start of the book to the end of the book was so beautiful. I loved seeing Amari stand up against her father and actually choose to help Zélie who her father hates.
I’m bad at critiquing books, but I think if I did critique this book, the one critique I would have, which is pretty minor, would be the romance between Zélie and Inan. I don’t know if anyone else felt this, but it felt a bit rushed. Like, I love the whole enemies-to-lovers trope which is what I think this relationship was supposed to be but I wish it was dragged out a little bit more. It felt like, they were enemies one day and then the very next day, they were having their first kiss and it was just like really fast. I don’t know. I wish it was dragged out throughout the whole book rather than just a few chapters of them fighting to kill each other and then ending up kissing.
But besides that, I love this book and I’m really excited for the sequel!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Animal death, Slavery, Blood, Violence, and Racism
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