Elena Reviews: Children of Blood and Bone {Legacy of Orïsha #1} By Tomi Adeyemi

Title: Children of Blood and Bone

{Legacy of Orïsha #1}

Author: Tomi Adeyemi

Publication Date: March 6th, 2018

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

Tomi Adeyemi conjures a stunning world of dark magic and danger in her West African-

inspired fantasy debut, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir.

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

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and 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 the enemy.

*I received a copy of this book for free, in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!*

Children of Blood and Bone is a masterpiece! Not in the traditional sense and not because of the extremely well deserved hype surrounding it! It's revolutionary and it's more than worth reading, in case you have any doubts about it! I feel like it exceeding any expectations I had without me even realizing it and I couldn't have been more grateful for the chance to read it way before it blew up, because I very rarely go for hyped up books, which I feel like Children of Blood and Bone has set a new standard for. Not because I'm prejudiced or because this novel doesn't deserve the praise but, mainly because extremely hyped up books have the tendency to be much less than people initially make them out to be. Truthfully, I requested Children of Blood and Bone on a whim and started reading it after briefly going through its synopsis. Best decision I've ever made in my entire life! 

I'm not going to say much about the plot itself because truly, I'm not going to do it any justice and I'd highly recommend going into this without knowing much about it. It's what I personally do before I even decide on my next read, because it allows me to have a clear mind and not be affected without realizing it, one way or another. 

The work Tomi Adeyemi created was both fascinating and terrifying. If you take the Fantasy aspect of it out, it very much reflected the world we live in now. Underprivileged families and people who are born with magic running through their veins, are treated horribly by this nobility who was supposed to bring order to the chaos and create peace for everyone. They're slaughtered and discriminated against in the worst way possible, without having any hopes of a better future because magic has died and deserted them. That is until our main character, comes across a script that is capable of changing the future of the world itself and freeing those shackled to the ruthless orders of a cruel King.

The story is told from three different perspectives, which I usually find confusing but, in this case, the author did a wonderful job of creating different and easily distinguishable voices for the characters, making the transitions between POVs flawless and extremely smooth! Which brings me to how three dimensional every single character of this novel was and how much that actually matters. Reading about flat characters that remain the same throughout hundreds of pages is getting a bit old but, there's still hope for us looking for a certain depth in the books we choose to read! 

Zélie was an extraordinary main character, fierce, loyal and determined to bring magic back, whatever the cost! She's a true warrior, one fashioned from the injustice of this fragmented world that was so greatly depicted through her eyes. I loved seeing things from her perspective and felt like she was someone I would've loved to meet in real life, since she was very passionate for what really mattered and proved it countless times throughout the novel! I loved watching her grow into her strength and maintain a certain vulnerability that made her even stronger in my eyes. The choices she had to make weren't easy but, she was the only one who could've taken them. Amari was also a wonderful character and balanced out Zélie's impulsive nature perfectly. She started out as a shy and terrified royal who had never experienced the horrors her own father was responsible for, at least on the outside world, but came to be as fierce and brave as one ought to be when faced with the cruelty of a Kingdom born out of hatred. 

Inan was an immensely intriguing character and I was drawn to the mystery surrounding him from the moment he was introduced in the novel. His thoughts were so conflicting and he was the perfect example of a ''subject'' who blindly followed the rules and commands of a cruel King, without questioning them or asking the biggest question. Why? When he starts questioning those seemingly important values he grew up with, he finds him self torn between what is right and what is familiar. He was a very interesting character because we've all come to the point of questioning the rights and wrongs we grew up believing in, one time or another. Of witnessing injustice and not realizing it was staring right at us, before actually doing something about it. And it was all too relatable. He was in constant battle with himself and set on doing the right thing, even if it meant the complete opposite for others. Following his perspective and seeing things through the eyes of someone who starts out as the villain and goes back and forth as the story progresses, was a very different and unique experience. One that I immensely enjoyed, given that we had an insight to how the enemy perceived things and acted based on what he believed to be true, because no one taught him otherwise. He was shaped to serve a certain purpose and made sure to never stray from his path, until people challenged it with facts and truths he couldn't deny and had to face.

This book was a force to be reckoned with and it definitely holds a special place in my heart! Its writing was wonderful, the story line well thought out and perfectly executed! The development of both the plot and the characters was more than impressive, making it impossible to resist falling in love and desperately wishing for more! It was intense and suspenseful, keeping me at the edge of my seat from the beginning until the end and making me thirsty for more! Tomi Adeyemi's writing felt so vivid that the images took shape inside my head effortlessly and I could not get enough.

Children of Blood and Bone is a novel that will definitely stay with me for months to come and the only regret I have for reading it so soon, is that waiting for the sequel already feels like pure torture. I'd give anything to have it in my hands right now and my desperation will keep growing, until it finally comes out next year...

Until the next post,