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A review by joanna1905
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
4.0
This book is fricken amazing! From the get-go, I was super intrigued and excited for a YA fantasy heavily inspired by West African culture. Both YA and high fantasy has long been dominated by white characters written by middle-aged white men - and don't get me wrong two of my favorite fantasy authors GRR Martin and Pat Rothfuss and they're being white men certainly doesn't diminish how incredible their work is - However, it is hella refreshing to get an awesome fantasy that's both written by a black women, has an entirely black cast of characters and is inspired by West African culture.
While the concept of the bad guy taking control of magic isn't a new one, Adeyemi executed it in such an original way it can hardly be compared to any books with a similar premise; and as a debut novel, it's incredible.
Whilst reading this I did feel like something was missing, but I'm not really sure what it was... The world and magic system was very well developed, particularly for a debut novel. I often find that the first book in a YA fantasy series, especially if it's a debut novel can be underdeveloped; but Adeyemi did an awesome job and certainly didn't fall into this trap.
I loved the characters both Zelie and Amari were awesome badass females in their own unique way. and it warmed my heart to see the friendship between them slowly build. I can't wait to see it continue to develop more in future books.
I have mixed feelings when it comes to both Tzain and Inan. I liked Tzain and think he's a pretty solid guy (I also think him and Amari are super cute together) but he had a tendency to be quite cruel to Zelie when he got angry with her. I'm not sure what the age difference is but I think he forgets that she's younger than him and is going to make mistakes.
I'm not sure how I feel about Inan, at times I liked him and thought he had finally seen that magic wasn't the problem, his father was; but ten seconds later he'd be back to being his father's perfect little soldier. Inan is by far the weakest character in the book and he changes his beliefs just to please whoever his at the moment. If he's even still alive I look forward to seeing what side he picks, though I expect we'll see some kind of redemption arc.
I also wonder if Saran is actually dead, it was never specifically stated which makes me think he's going to rock up in the next book.
The ending of this book is what really made it, it was a fantastic ending that really leaves you excited to read the next book. It wasn't a ridiculous cliffhanger but it was enough of a cliffhanger to keep you keen!
I picked this book up due to the high praise it received online and the awesome representation and I wasn't disappointed, and I'm super keen to see where the series goes.
While the concept of the bad guy taking control of magic isn't a new one, Adeyemi executed it in such an original way it can hardly be compared to any books with a similar premise; and as a debut novel, it's incredible.
Whilst reading this I did feel like something was missing, but I'm not really sure what it was... The world and magic system was very well developed, particularly for a debut novel. I often find that the first book in a YA fantasy series, especially if it's a debut novel can be underdeveloped; but Adeyemi did an awesome job and certainly didn't fall into this trap.
I loved the characters both Zelie and Amari were awesome badass females in their own unique way. and it warmed my heart to see the friendship between them slowly build. I can't wait to see it continue to develop more in future books.
I have mixed feelings when it comes to both Tzain and Inan. I liked Tzain and think he's a pretty solid guy (I also think him and Amari are super cute together) but he had a tendency to be quite cruel to Zelie when he got angry with her. I'm not sure what the age difference is but I think he forgets that she's younger than him and is going to make mistakes.
I'm not sure how I feel about Inan, at times I liked him and thought he had finally seen that magic wasn't the problem, his father was; but ten seconds later he'd be back to being his father's perfect little soldier. Inan is by far the weakest character in the book and he changes his beliefs just to please whoever his at the moment. If he's even still alive I look forward to seeing what side he picks, though I expect we'll see some kind of redemption arc.
I also wonder if Saran is actually dead, it was never specifically stated which makes me think he's going to rock up in the next book.
The ending of this book is what really made it, it was a fantastic ending that really leaves you excited to read the next book. It wasn't a ridiculous cliffhanger but it was enough of a cliffhanger to keep you keen!
I picked this book up due to the high praise it received online and the awesome representation and I wasn't disappointed, and I'm super keen to see where the series goes.