Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really struggled with Children of Virtue and Vengeance. I was continuously frustrated because the story felt like it was going in circles, arguing then fighting, arguing and more fighting. Zelie and Amari seemed totally different from book one and I didn’t really connect with any of the characters. As for Nehanda….I have never hated someone so much!! She was a disgrace to the human race.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m conflicted! I was entertained while reading but i read it so fast that I didn’t analyze it until after. The book was action packed but it felt like the author was making up new rules as she went. Like suddenly the queen is a tyrant and suddenly there are connectors and suddenly they can make people rise from the dead so it just felt disjointed. People hate on Amari’s character arc but I found it to be true to form. She was always concerned with being on the throne, versus putting someone else there. So her arc felt complete and defined by trauma and violence
I will say that grief felt like a dark cloud over this book, in a good way. And it informed every step.
But come onnnn that last chapter of them beingkidnapped and put on a slave ship? Once again the author is just making it up as she goes
Will be tuned into the next book but this is certainly a step down from the first, despite being a fast paced and action-heavy book.
I will say that grief felt like a dark cloud over this book, in a good way. And it informed every step.
But come onnnn that last chapter of them being
Will be tuned into the next book but this is certainly a step down from the first, despite being a fast paced and action-heavy book.
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was really disappointing— I feel as though any character development to be had got undone immediately!
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This took me so long to finish because I was so upset and disappointed by so much that I just stopped reading it for months lol.
Coming off the first book I was really excited to get to the sequel because I actually really enjoyed Blood & Bone. My book club absolutely tore it to shreds which altered my perception of it a little, but not much, I think I’d still hold that book in good regards because I had fun enough to immediately get the sequel. However I think it did give me a more critical lens going into this one, but I think even without that critical eye there were some GLARING flaws in this than can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.
First of all, plot wise this is the same book done over again. Tomi Adeyemi somehow progressed the story of B&B and then redid the story again lol. Same Maji fighting the royals plot, same fighting with a handicap plot, same, same, same. Queen Nehanda is literally just King Saran 2.0 but with less clear character motivation, which is absolutely strange because this wasnt something that was even hinted at in the first book from the stories of Inan & Amari. Saran was always the villain in their stories and their mother was not a crucial figure at all, rather a complacent one, and now somehow she’s like the biggest bad who is responsible even for the motivations of Saran’s villainy, though we don’t know her motivations at all? I think Adeyemi really didn’t want to have to find different conflict points so she just did the same thing over, but didn’t care to make it make sense because how are you telling me the entire royal fleet who was against Magic and Maji all suddenly get OP magical powers and remain against magic and Maji?? Like not ONE royal person has any change of heart or sense of unity? And what would be the point of erasing maji if you are one, like why not just rule the maji with your now relatable pov?
But that’s not even my biggest gripe with this book, that spot is held by the brutal lack of intentional characterization and the MASSACRE of sensible character motivations and personal story arc. These characters went through everything they went through in the first book and STILL; Tzain is 2D useless fodder plot dressing with now pov; Inan is failing at being a conflicted character and is rather neurotic and bipolar in the way he complete 180’s his intentions and actions every few chapters; Amari in fact makes backward character progression with everything that we learn of her and see her overcome in the first book being completely thrown away so that she can be a merciless savage throne hungry aspiring Queen willing to commit mass murder to justify her means, even though that’s against EVERYTHING we just learned about her; and Zelie doesn’t progress at all even a little bit, same old Zelie through and through, and somehow even in that she ends up being the most consistent character in development (mind you I absolutely hate her).
And that’s not even touching on these random and poor attempts at romances that are happening, but I really just don’t want to get into that. The only thing that keeps this from being one star, is that there was a clear attempt to build this world better and to establish more of the magic system, and parts of that I did enjoy. However, overall r his series just feels like it’s going nowhere, and the ending of this book is absolutely abysmal. A SLAVE SHIP, ADEYEMI!? SLAVES!?!? Part of me wants to read the 3rd one just to see if Adeyemi even tries to wrap everything up in a non-cringe manor, and because it’s the shortest of the three so I wanna know how that would even make sense to do in a shorter story than these were; and the other part of me just wants to save myself from the hours lost reading it when I have such a strong suspicion it’s terrible. I do own a physical copy of Anguish & Anarchy, plus I heard Cynthia Erivo does the audio which is a big incentive so maybe I will tune in, but I’ll be doing so without expecting it to actually be good unfortunately.
Coming off the first book I was really excited to get to the sequel because I actually really enjoyed Blood & Bone. My book club absolutely tore it to shreds which altered my perception of it a little, but not much, I think I’d still hold that book in good regards because I had fun enough to immediately get the sequel. However I think it did give me a more critical lens going into this one, but I think even without that critical eye there were some GLARING flaws in this than can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.
First of all, plot wise this is the same book done over again. Tomi Adeyemi somehow progressed the story of B&B and then redid the story again lol. Same Maji fighting the royals plot, same fighting with a handicap plot, same, same, same. Queen Nehanda is literally just King Saran 2.0 but with less clear character motivation, which is absolutely strange because this wasnt something that was even hinted at in the first book from the stories of Inan & Amari. Saran was always the villain in their stories and their mother was not a crucial figure at all, rather a complacent one, and now somehow she’s like the biggest bad who is responsible even for the motivations of Saran’s villainy, though we don’t know her motivations at all? I think Adeyemi really didn’t want to have to find different conflict points so she just did the same thing over, but didn’t care to make it make sense because how are you telling me the entire royal fleet who was against Magic and Maji all suddenly get OP magical powers and remain against magic and Maji?? Like not ONE royal person has any change of heart or sense of unity? And what would be the point of erasing maji if you are one, like why not just rule the maji with your now relatable pov?
But that’s not even my biggest gripe with this book, that spot is held by the brutal lack of intentional characterization and the MASSACRE of sensible character motivations and personal story arc. These characters went through everything they went through in the first book and STILL; Tzain is 2D useless fodder plot dressing with now pov; Inan is failing at being a conflicted character and is rather neurotic and bipolar in the way he complete 180’s his intentions and actions every few chapters; Amari in fact makes backward character progression with everything that we learn of her and see her overcome in the first book being completely thrown away so that she can be a merciless savage throne hungry aspiring Queen willing to commit mass murder to justify her means, even though that’s against EVERYTHING we just learned about her; and Zelie doesn’t progress at all even a little bit, same old Zelie through and through, and somehow even in that she ends up being the most consistent character in development (mind you I absolutely hate her).
And that’s not even touching on these random and poor attempts at romances that are happening, but I really just don’t want to get into that. The only thing that keeps this from being one star, is that there was a clear attempt to build this world better and to establish more of the magic system, and parts of that I did enjoy. However, overall r his series just feels like it’s going nowhere, and the ending of this book is absolutely abysmal. A SLAVE SHIP, ADEYEMI!? SLAVES!?!? Part of me wants to read the 3rd one just to see if Adeyemi even tries to wrap everything up in a non-cringe manor, and because it’s the shortest of the three so I wanna know how that would even make sense to do in a shorter story than these were; and the other part of me just wants to save myself from the hours lost reading it when I have such a strong suspicion it’s terrible. I do own a physical copy of Anguish & Anarchy, plus I heard Cynthia Erivo does the audio which is a big incentive so maybe I will tune in, but I’ll be doing so without expecting it to actually be good unfortunately.
challenging
dark
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:
Yes
I definitely had points parts in the book that I was both frustrated and bored. Very predictable at parts and I was unhappy that we went through the whole book just for that ending. I feel like a lot could’ve been scrapped in this book and made into a duology without the third book, but we will see as I’m starting that one now.
Still good overall just a much slower read since you’ll just kinda want to set it down at times.
Still good overall just a much slower read since you’ll just kinda want to set it down at times.
