My go to book genre is Epic High Fantasy. Why? Because it’s an escape and I love how it addresses “issues” without actually calling a spade a spade… In the way folklore stories teach you about humanity whilst telling you of talking animals……
Just as I got to the end of my last fantasy book series The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson:
I happened to ask suggestions on what to read next and Mable suggested Children of Blood and Bone. Coincidentally a friend who was also reading the Stormlight Archive was going to read that book next…..
If you know me by now you’ll know when the universe seems like its sending me a signal I go where it leads….
Right now the universe is telling you if you haven’t read Tomi Adeyemi’s book what are you waiting for?
My favourite thing about Children of Blood and Bone is that, well, it’s fantasy but not only that, it’s set in Africa, with African characters based upon the author’s own Nigerian roots and Yoruba lore.
On the surface, Children of Blood and Bone is the story about a quest to bring back magic to the mythical kingdom of Orïsha.
“One day magic breathed. The next, it died”
The Divîners who have distinct white hair are left without their magic, powerless to defend themselves from a King determined to eradicate the whole lot of them…….
If I was asked to name the story I would have called it: The Prince, The Princess and The Reaper. The plot unfolds through three different character viewpoints whose perspectives you get to be intimately familiar with and come to understand their actions…..
Children of Blood and Bone is a story of survival in an oppressive system, when the difference between upholding the rule of law and tyranny is simply the uniform your enforcers wear, when the colour of your hair changes whether people fear you or hate you and how all that fear and hatred turns to violence.
This book is about way more than what it is about, as you journey 500+ pages across the land of Orïsha with Zélie
Children of Blood and bone is a story of hope and perseverance.
They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.
Now we rise.
From the author’s note
Although riding giant lionaires and performing sacred rituals might be in the realm of fantasy, all the pain, fear, sorrow, and loss in this book is real.
“Abogbo wa ni ọmọ rẹ nínú j àti egungun.”
“We are all children of blood and bone.”
~B
PS Children of Blood and Bone, is the first book of three in the Legacy of Orïsha Series by Tomi Adeyemi, when you get to the end you start looking up the author to see how soon the next book is out because……. I went out of my way to not include spoilers in this review 😂
Also there’s a movie coming along!!!!!!!
