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A review by therese_nook68
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Here's my review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hoW6zqE3vQ&lc=z22aep4odqnag1glcacdp4321mycf4ei1pq1enzjw51w03c010c.1526004502260325
Updated 2021 review:
Rereading this book made me realize that the execution isn’t it. The plot isn’t bad, it’s familiar, the characters are also familiar, so in a sense, this book should go off without a hitch, but the execution is lacking.
There are clear ties to ATLA in the book, which makes sense considering all of the marketing that went into the book saying it’s like ATLA but set in African mythology and with the Zutara that we wanted. All of which isn’t a bad thing, but the plot and the set up for the characters became too close to ATLA to the point where it was an exact replica of the characters and the plot. Which made it difficult to be surprised or even grow attached to the characters, which doesn’t make sense considering familiarity is typically what pulls people in.
I couldn’t get attached to any of the characters and their growth was hard to track. They didn’t feel like fully fleshed out characters and it was hard to really even see the stakes that the plot would bring to each character. Inan was also a very aggravating character since his switching sides happened so consistently it was almost comical how often it happened. Even at the end, his character didn’t really come to a decision. It felt like he needed a longer arc spread out between books to make these switches rather than it happening in the span of one book and even then... probably a few chapters.
The romances lacked chemistry and I couldn’t see the attraction or the connection between them. Even the main romance came out of nowhere and didn’t make sense to me.
Overall, I think this book had a lot of potential to be a solid debut and a solid beginning to a good trilogy, but it read like it was in its beginning stages of drafting and needs more fleshing out.
Updated 2021 review:
Rereading this book made me realize that the execution isn’t it. The plot isn’t bad, it’s familiar, the characters are also familiar, so in a sense, this book should go off without a hitch, but the execution is lacking.
There are clear ties to ATLA in the book, which makes sense considering all of the marketing that went into the book saying it’s like ATLA but set in African mythology and with the Zutara that we wanted. All of which isn’t a bad thing, but the plot and the set up for the characters became too close to ATLA to the point where it was an exact replica of the characters and the plot. Which made it difficult to be surprised or even grow attached to the characters, which doesn’t make sense considering familiarity is typically what pulls people in.
I couldn’t get attached to any of the characters and their growth was hard to track. They didn’t feel like fully fleshed out characters and it was hard to really even see the stakes that the plot would bring to each character. Inan was also a very aggravating character since his switching sides happened so consistently it was almost comical how often it happened. Even at the end, his character didn’t really come to a decision. It felt like he needed a longer arc spread out between books to make these switches rather than it happening in the span of one book and even then... probably a few chapters.
The romances lacked chemistry and I couldn’t see the attraction or the connection between them. Even the main romance came out of nowhere and didn’t make sense to me.
Overall, I think this book had a lot of potential to be a solid debut and a solid beginning to a good trilogy, but it read like it was in its beginning stages of drafting and needs more fleshing out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Violence, Torture, and Murder