Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha #1) by Tomi Adeyemi
"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."
“I won't let your ignorance silence my pain”
― Tomi Adeyemi, Children of Blood and Bone
I listened to this as an audiobook which I highly recommend. Bahni Turpin narrated this book so beautifully! I really enjoyed the richness of this world and the characters in this story. It was beautiful and also heart wrenching at times. I really loved reading a magical story set in a fantasy version of Nigeria. It certainly gave such a different perspective from traditional high fantasy books. I loved the magic in this book. And how the gods were so present in the magic.
I really enjoyed most of this book, but some of the romance plots felt so forced. And I just couldn’t get on board with Zélie and Inan. It made no sense to me. And as for Amari, this is my own lens I tend to read books through, but I couldn’t help but read her as queer. The way she talked about Binta just really felt like it was more than just friendship. And so really I just wanted Zélie and Amari to be together instead.
Genre: ya, fantasy
Representation: BIPOC
Content Warnings: violence, murder, torture, and detailed descriptions of war