“Reality told us we would fail. But again and again, we fought. We perserved . We rose.”
― Tomi Adeyemi, Children of Blood and Bone

Title: Children of Blood and Bone

Author: Tomi Adeyemi

Publisher: Henry Holt Company

Publication Date: March 6, 2018

Goodreads Synopsis:

They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.

Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

My Thoughts:

While listed as YA I would place this on the high end and would still recommend it to adults who don’t usually read YA. There are some heavy issues which require a certain level of maturity to digest. One of the things I love about fantasy is that you can highlight societal issues through a different world, which allows the reader to seperate personal feelings and see things clearer. There is so much symbolism releated to the black experience here that I’m sure I missed a lot. Most importantly it’s put together in an entertaining, action packed story with complex characters.