Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha, 1)

by Tomi Adeyemi

Hardcover, 2018

Status

Available

Call number

PZ7.A24

Publication

Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (2018), Edition: First Edition, 544 pages

Description

Seventeen-year-old Zélie, her older brother Tzain, and rogue princess Amari fight to restore magic to the land and activate a new generation of magi, but they are ruthlessly pursued by the crown prince, who believes the return of magic will mean the end of the monarchy.

Media reviews

Digesting volumes of brutal and downtrodden images can be dangerous. It can lead to despair, paralysis, and/or self-fulfilling prophecies of further demise. Millions of people are ordinarily numb to the fact that hyper-violence and wretched Africanized worlds are hallmarks of modern media (esp.
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Hollywood), and accept it wholesale. Remarkably though, Adeyemi inserts a critical lifeline into this abyss–the concept that the Gods of one’s own ancestors (in this case the Orisha) provide salvation unlike any other.
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1 more
If a “Black Lives Matter–inspired fantasy novel” sounds like an ungainly hybrid—a pitch gone wrong—think again... The creator of a mythical land called Orïsha, Adeyemi taps into a rich imaginative lineage as she weaves West African mythology into a bespoke world that resonates with our
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own.
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User reviews

LibraryThing member N.W.Moors
I really wanted to like this book, but it defeated me in the end.
First: I liked the setting very much and the culture of the world. I did have a minor glitch in that my version of the book is ePub which didn't format the Yoruba language correctly. There were a lot of incantations that had
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wingdings and numerals in them which made me feel it was more like a computer language until I figured out it was the formatting.
Anyway, I liked that it wasn't the usual fantasy medieval Europe-type setting. For example, I like reading fantasies by Naomi Novik or Leigh Bardugo (Slavic worlds), or Guy Guvriel Kay (Chinese and Byzantine). The author does a pretty good job of setting the tone of this world which seems to be based on Nigeria.
Characters: They were generically awful. I'm not sure why the author wrote in three different POVs as they all sounded the same. I often had to go back to the beginning of a chapter to see if this was Zelie or Amari speaking, and honestly, Inan wasn't all that different either except for his dithering usually gave him away. It led to some repetition since often the characters were often together. They often acted much, much younger than their real ages (late teens) with their squabbling and immature decisions.
Story: It was pretty much a general YA fantasy plot loaded with tropes: the sassy girl heroine, the conflicted hero(though I'm not sure Inan was actually heroic), the quest for objects, etc. I'm not against tropes, but an author needs to bring something to them that makes the story different (more likable characters, story twists). Everything step they made was telegraphed and often seemed too contrived. For example, why did they stay an extra day for the party in the settlement? They're on a schedule, people, and need to get to the island for the rite. But the minute they decided to stay, I knew it was for Zelie and Inan to get together and the group to get in trouble again by losing their items. Very predictable.
The one interesting aspect, I thought, was the conflict between giving others magic vs. the military might. There was a few paragraphs between Inan and Zelie talking about this, but it never went any further. It's a morally gray area (magic = power) that should have been explored more, imho. And Zelie never expressed any regret that she didn't let the others at the settlement touch the scroll to increase their powers; in a way, she's responsible for their slaughter.
Inconsistencies: There are a lot of these. The magic system is never really explained which other reviewers noted. This made me nuts; they were in a desert for four days, little water, sandy and hot, got to a city where they had to pay gold for one cup of water, but then found that the citizens are entertained by flooding a coliseum nightly enough to hold multiple wooden boats with cannons for a battle. Where is the water coming from? The wood for the boats? The cannons?
It was the same with the settlement. In about a month, all these diviners from all over the country know to come to this hidden place where they build a settlement. How do they know? What's supporting them? Where do they get money for food, etc?
Children of Blood and Bone was a big disappointment for me. I get that a lot of people liked it, but I won't bother to read the next books.
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LibraryThing member BarnesBookshelf
Oh my goodness. I just couldn't put this book down. It's fast-paced but doesn't feel rushed. Every scene makes you want to know what happens next. The world that Adeyemi builds is unlike any other I've read before. It's so good that I need to go buy the next book right now. My mind is still
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reeling. Every fantasy lover should read this book.
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LibraryThing member Stevil2001
I read this because it was a finalist for the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book. My wife and her book club had read it not long after it came out, and I knew from their discussions that it was influenced by Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I'd not known that I wonder if I would have recognized
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the parallels, but they were incredibly, frustratingly obvious once they were pointed out. Except that Children of Blood and Bone is nowhere near as good as Avatar.

Adeyemi never made me care about any of these characters or their relationships; the one innovation over the set-up of Avatar is that the main characters end up adventuring with the sister of the Zuko-analog, but even though she's one of the book's three first-person narrators, she ends up feeling the sketchiest. She's done this huge thing in throwing away her family, but you have almost no sense of her as a person for some reason. There's a lot of will-they-won't-they between different combinations of (all straight) couples, but it all kind of comes down to the male characters noticing the female characters' "curves" again and again.

The novel is written in the present tense, which normally I don't mind, but based on this book, I have to conclude that it just does not work for epic fantasy. (A few weeks after finishing this book, I read Ursula Le Guin's Conversations on Writing, where she claims that present tense is good for "high suspense, high drama, cut-to-the-chase writing" but not "a big, long story," especially one engaged with history-- as epic fantasy in general and CBB in specific are.) Adeyemi also way overuses the one-sentence paragraph in an effort to make things seem dramatic, and soon the book's constant dire pronouncements become comedic.

Bits of the novel-- often key scenes-- just seemed poorly written. There's a bit where Our Heroes participate in an arena battle between ships. Somehow these battles happen every day and feature dozens of ships, each of which has to be crewed by dozens of slaves... and no one survives most of the battles! How do they not run out of slaves and ships so quickly as to make it unprofitable? The battle itself features the main character underwater, but the way Adeyemi writes, it never really feels as if she's underwater, because she can always tell what's going on on the surface... and she can even speak in order to create her spells. Or there's another scene where the main characters pause their epic quest to prevent genocide which has a deadline of days away in order to go to a really rocking party. It's hella contrived.

At 500+ pages, this book quickly wore out its welcome to me, but I persevered to the end. I am unsurprised to learn it was optioned for a movie before it came out; it feels like a novel written with the movie in mind. I am also unsurpised but disappointed that this is what people think the best of YA sf&f is, generic knock-offs with a thin veneer of innovation. I get that there is little epic YA fantasy with African influences... but you have to do something with those influences other than produce a generic piece of epic YA fantasy, otherwise what's the point?
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LibraryThing member rdwhitenack
Meh... I think this book was a little overhyped to me. Certainly wasn't bad, but I just did not get the enjoyment I thought I would from it. The thing I do love is that this book has characters that students of color will relate to and feel represented by. My main criticisms come from the tug of
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war of emotions that the characters have for one another--they hate each other, they love each other; they trust each other, they don't trust each other. It was just too much, but I guess that's maybe a good reflection of the teen brain. Also, the romantic interlude was a bit much, but I think it's something a lot of teen readers will buy into. So, basically, not a book that I would care to read again, but I do think large share of teen readers will deeply enjoy this book.
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LibraryThing member NeedMoreShelves
Very much in my wheelhouse - strong characters, intriguing worldbuilding and magic system, excellent prose. A touch of angsty romance, but the author uses it to further the plot, so it feels appropriate. While this is obviously a fantasy novel, it feels timely in its exploration of the damage that
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othering one group of people can do, and the fear that "the other" brings to the dominant group. Excellent start to a trilogy - will definitely read the entire series.
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LibraryThing member newnaturalmama
I found this to be very stereotypical and immaturely written, but the story was good. Not sure I liked it enough to read the sequel.
LibraryThing member ladycato
This book had substantial buzz and I was glad that its Norton nomination gaze me an excuse to read it at last. I checked out the ebook from my local library.

Adeyemi has created an Africa-inspired fantasy setting that is feels fantastically fresh and vivid. I've been encountering a lot of bland 'I
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am evil!' sorts of villains in books of late, and I loved how this book defied that trend. Each character feels realistic with a nuanced developmental arc. Zelie is the foremost of the four major characters. When she was young, magic was obliterated from the realm, her mother slaughtered. Her people live as a subclass, often sneered at as 'maggots.' When Zelie encounters an escaped princess, they set off on a journey that will change their world.

The originality of the setting was a joy to explore. That said, the middle of the book felt bogged down by interpersonal drama that made me roll my eyes. I wanted to shake the characters and remind them, "Hey, people are trying to MURDER YOU." A big party struck me as especially frivolous and foolhardy. At that point, though, I was too far in to give up on the book, so I kept going... and the ending was fantastic. It really turned my opinion around again with loads of surprises and a big revelation that makes me very curious about what the next novel will hold.
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LibraryThing member quondame
A somewhat novel type of magic and setting, this story of 4 young people of two families who battle to return or prevent the return of magic to the world while running for their lives is too much one thing after another for me. The action pretty much never lets up, but it isn't written quite
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fluidly enough to keep this reader up and kept leaving me trying to figure out what happened while it rushed off to a new scene.
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LibraryThing member Verkruissen
Richly written and beautifully told the story of Zélie who is a descendant of the diviners, maji who had the magic to heal, destroy, or summone the elements to do their will. But eleven years ago all the magic disappeared over night and Zélie's mother was killed for the power she held.
Zelie has
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been secretly training in her village to be a fighter with other girls her age. As she is returning home she finds out that her father has nearly drowned trying to catch fish to help pay the tax collectors that keep coming and taking everything they own. Zel goes to the nearby city with a prize fish to sell for money that will hopefully help their family get ahead. There she is confronted by a young girl who has stolen a scroll from her father that can supposedly help bring magic back to the diviners. Now the girl that has taken the scroll is the princess of the king that is responsible for slaughtering the diviners to begin with. So begins the journey of Zel, her brother, and the princess to bring magic back.
This book was absolutely gorgeous. It is so original and lush, it kept me enthralled to the very end. If you liked The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor or The Bone Witch by Ren Chupeco you'll definitely fall in love with this book!
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LibraryThing member ecataldi
Worth. The. Hype! I haven't read a teen fantasy series this inventive and new for a while, let alone one with a DIVERSE cast of teen characters. Children of Blood and Bone combines adventure, magic, romance, black culture, and friendship to create a unique, impossible to put down book. The page
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count was a little imposing, but once I started reading it didn't matter anymore; I was flying through it! Zelie, a young girl with a mischievous streak finds herself in a precarious situation. When her mother and all the maji were slaughtered over a decade ago; magic died with them, but now Zelie has a chance to restore magic to their country. The oppressed could finally rise and restore order to the chaos! Aided by the princess and Zelie's brother, they must traverse the countryside to find three magic relics and return them to a sacred island before the solstice or all hope is lost. Hot on their tails are the princesses brother, the king, and the entire Orisha army. Then the book ends with a cliffhanger! I like NEED TO KNOW MORE! So good!
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LibraryThing member Dave068
Combined great writing and world building with a contemporary message.
LibraryThing member Shelby_Kuzma
Children of Blood and Bone is a YA fantasy novel set in Africa, telling the story of three characters as they attempt to bring magic back after it is taken away by the evil king.

This book started off really promising, but I had a hard time getting into it. I enjoyed how vivid the imagery was- I
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was always able to imagine how each of the places the characters travelled to. However, my biggest issue with this novel is that I felt that this book lacked character development- I didn’t really care about any of them! This was particularly noticeable because the story is told from the POV of three different characters. I tend to enjoy well-developed characters more than a well-developed plot, and so the fact that I didn’t connect with any character in the book was disappointing.

My more minor complaints are that the magic system is not well defined (especially towards the end when some shenanigans start to go down) and the different POVs were repetitive at times.

Overall I did enjoy this book and will probably continue with the series (especially after that cliffhanger ending!). I think for those that enjoy high fantasy (I tend to lean towards magical realism) and a plot driven novel (as I mentioned, character development is more important to me), you would really enjoy this book. This story is perfect for a certain audience; that audience just doesn’t include me.
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LibraryThing member jdifelice
3.5/5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this story. It was a cool take on the Magic is bad and gone away, but we are going to fight to get it back trope, but ended up being a little predictable and unoriginal in spots.

Things I liked:
- the African inspired culture
- the magi magic system and clans
- the
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two different types of strong female characters and POVs
- the male POV that gave us a different (if not frustrating) view on the situation in the novel
- it kept me entertained

I really enjoyed how the author created this world and the culture that was it was inspired from. I liked how magic was introduced and how the author used the story to build this world and describe the tragedy of the past. I really enjoyed Zelie as a character and how she was developed. She definitely embraces who she is and tries to do what she feels is right. I also really liked Amari - she is definitely someone who gets underestimated. She is a character who has flaws, yet she uses them and accepts them and conquers them. Amari was probably my favourite character. Inan's perspective was probably one of my favourites just because of the different type of point of view it was. We get this very conflicted prince who has his beliefs forced on him and then they are tossed and turned and he can't really figure out what it is he believes in. His perspective definitely gave us something to think about and showed what the other side of the conflict was like. It definitely made the non-magi side seem more human in a sense. Lastly - this was quite entertaining and I really enjoyed it while I was reading it.

Things I didn't like:
- the derivative story line
- the hate-to-instalove trope
- the predictable rising action
- the drawn out scenes and the length of the novel

At first, I was really liking how Adeyemi was taking this super overdone plot and reshaping it, but I got to about 3/4 through, and the tropes were just flying in from everywhere. I don't mind tropes - they are staples for a reason, but I felt that certain ones just weren't well done. I love the hate-to-love trope, but this one just moved too fast. The pacing of it didn't work for me. There was a lot of hate, and then all of a sudden, they were all hot and heavy. There wasn't enough transition for me. Also around this point, the "betrayal" happens and the trope fest was just a little too much for me. I also found that this book could have been a little bit shorter, it dragged a bit at some points, and could have used a little more editing.

The writing was good, and I didn't not like it, but some of the descriptions seemed too much and unnecessary.

Overall, quite enjoyable, and I would like to see where this series goes and how the author develops her craft!
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LibraryThing member fingerpost
Zelie is a diviner. One who has the capacity to do magic (be a maji) but, magic has been destroyed by the genocidal King Saran. Zelie, her brother, and the king's daughter Amari, learn that perhaps magic can be restored, and the deviners can be made full maji and defend themselves. They are
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followed on their mission by Iman, the king's son, who seems to be part diviner himself, and may or may not be trying to help them.
This fantasy is an allegory about police brutality and racial profiling in the United States. Excellent in most ways, but the pacing was a little off. Adeyemi seemed to rush through some portions of the story that needed more explanation, while spending too long on portions that didn't need it.
I must confess, I was completely baffled by the last sentence of the book. I thought I understood everything well, up to the last sentence. Then I wondered if maybe I missed something significant.
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LibraryThing member bell7
Ever since the day of the Raid, the diviners have been without magic. Standing out with their dark skin and white hair, they are still called "maggots" and treated as scum in Orisha. But the gods who once created magic wielders - maji - have been silent for years. Zelie, a diviner girl still
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hurting from her mother's brutal murder, and Amara, the daughter of the very man who destroyed magic, become a reluctant team when a scroll turns up. When a diviner touches it, they awaken their magic. Can Zelie avenge her mother's death and give power to the maji once more? Or will Inan, Amara's brother and one of the king's guard, catch up to them and stop them first?

This fantasy world is richly-created and unique, incorporating Yoruba and touching on themes of oppression that will resonate with current events such as police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. At the same time, the story follows a more or less traditionally episodic quest motif, and Zelie and her friends journey across Orisha to accomplish their goal of reawakening magic. Adeyemi is a first-time novelist who writes with assurance. I found the book a tad long at times (clocking in at over 500 pages) but I enjoyed the world and characters, and look forward to continuing the series.
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LibraryThing member rgruberexcel
RGG: West African setting, issue of racism, tyranny and female empowerment make for a fairly unique fantasy. But the multiple character voices are not distinguishable enough and the character development is not super complex. In many ways more middle grade than YA although there is in the last one
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hundred pages the implication of a consensual sexual encounter. Reading Interest: 13-YA.
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LibraryThing member jmoncton
This is a familiar YA theme of a society split between the powerful and the oppressed. Unlike many fantasy series, the story is not set in a future world, but a past one, that has a strong resemblance to Africa, when the country was ruled by different kingdoms. The world building is phenomenal, the
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writing is excellent and the story moves at a lightning pace making it hard to put down. But what I really liked about this story is how what differentiates the oppressed from the rest of society is an ability that involves ancient gods and magic. And it's an innate ability that runs in families, and is marked by white hair. The story is filled with descriptions of how the magic wielders, not only have to slave away all day, but they can be stopped by the law enforcers and treated unfairly although they are legally citizens of the kingdom. If this all sounds a bit familiar, then the author's note at the end will come as no surprise that this trilogy is based in large part on racism and the unfair treatment of blacks in America. The murder of children in this story is shocking and brutal and the point really hits home when the author mentions the murders of black children in the US.

The audio book narration is spectacular with an amazing performance by the very talented Bahni Turpin. Really, this is a book that you will want to listen to.
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LibraryThing member ireneattolia
4.5 the men in this are pretty insufferable but god that ending
LibraryThing member foggidawn
When Zelie was a child, magic went away. Then came the Raid, when the soldiers killed all of the adult magic users, including Zelie’s mother. Children like Zelie, who had not yet come into their powers, were allowed to live, albeit as second-class citizens, since they would now never develop
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magic powers. But what if there was a way to bring magic back?

There’s so much good stuff going on in this book. The world building is terrific, unlike anything you’ve read. The magic system is strong, though less unique (elemental magic), and the characters are well-written and distinctive. I felt like the quest dragged on in a few places, and at one point I thought the characters made a poor decision that was out of the normal for them. There’s also one character, Inan, who does a lot of flip-flopping even though he isn’t written as weak or indecisive. However, on the whole, I enjoyed this very much. Recommended to readers of fantasy.

I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Bahni Turpin. She did a great job, especially with differentiating the characters through subtle changes in tone and accent.
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LibraryThing member acargile
This novel is fantasy; if you liked Ember in the Ashes and Daughter of Smoke and Bone, you’ll like this novel as well.

This is the story of two girls and their brothers. Zelie and her brother Tzain have lived a tragic life because Zelie is a diviner like her mother who was murdered. The country of
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Orisha is ruled by a tyrant who has killed many diviners and keeps raising the taxes to the point that it’s untenable to pay. Zelie and Tzain decide to go to the capital to sell some fish that is remarkable and that should bring a pretty penny. If they don’t immediately raise money, Zelie will be “forced into the stocks.” There, people are basically worked to death. If they can make a handsome sum, they’ll save Zelie until taxes rise again.

Amari and Inan have been raised by their father, the tyrant king; it’s been a life of harshness. Amari’s father finds her weak because she never fights. When her father kills her best friend for being a diviner, Amari flees with magical artifacts that her father wants to destroy. Amari knows she must run fast because, if caught, her father may have her killed. Her brother Inan believes in all his father teaches, so Amari can’t run to him. She is on her own.

Zelie and Amari meet when soldiers have closed the capital down looking for her and the artifact. Amari grabs the nearest girl and asks for help--it’s Zelie. When they return to Amari’s hometown, the town is burning. They all must run. The novel continues with them running. Their task is to find all artifacts in order to restore magic while being chased by the king and his soldiers, including Inan, who has his own secret that only Zelie can help him with.

Overall, I found the novel different from your standard fantasy novel, so it was a nice change. Unfortunately, it’s a book one, so you’ll have to wait to find out what happens next. The novel also represents diversity, in that, none of the characters are white. It’s a country of dark-skinned people. The diviners are recognized by their white hair (note the cover of the novel). Although the novel looks long, it reads pretty quickly. There are no dull spots--it keeps moving. I have no idea how to pronounce anything, so be prepared to come up with your own pronunciations. Give it a try!
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LibraryThing member krau0098
This was a well done YA fantasy and is the first book in the Legacy of Orisha series. It will remind of many other YA rebellion based fantasies out there. However, I really enjoyed how fleshed out the world was, how interesting the characters were, and how engaging the book was to read. I did think
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this book was a bit over-hyped. It’s a well written fantasy but it really wasn’t anything all that unique or special.

The book cycles between three different POVs: Zelie (who is part of an oppressed race of former magic users), Amari (who is the princess of the tyrant king in power), and Inan (who is the prince of the tyrant king in power). In the end I really didn’t like any of the characters all that much but they were interesting enough to keep me engaged in the story.

The world is fully realized and the politics and storyline are well fleshed out. The characters have good depth to them (even if they are pretty stereotypical types of character for YA fantasy). Zelie is the hot-headed rebellious heroine. Amari is your pampered princess who finds out that all is not well in Whoville. Inan is your conflicted prince who is pulled between the demands of his overpowering father and the hot-headed girl who stands for everything his father is against (Zelie).

I have a couple complaints; the first is that this book is very heavy handed with the themes of oppression and racism. I get it Adeyemi is trying to draw a lot of parallels between our current society's oppression of minorities and the world in this book. I just feel like the reader is beat over the head with this theme again and again, most people aren’t stupid and they get it...they don’t need to be presented with the same idea over and over and over.

My other complaint is that this book takes itself way too seriously. It would have been nice to have some humor in here to lighten things up a bit. The book is vicious (fights, torture, etc) and doesn't really ever let up. It leaves you feeling worn out after you read it instead of hopeful.

Overall this was a well done fantasy novel about a minority group rebelling against a tyrant king. The themes were not all that unique to YA fantasy but the world-building, plot, and characters were well done and the story was engaging. I did think the book has some flaws: the way the oppression of Zelie’s race is handled is very heavy handed and repetitive, and the story is overly serious with little to no humor or hope. I plan on continuing the series to see what the second book is like. I would recommend to those who enjoy politically motivated YA rebellion fantasy with some magic in it.
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LibraryThing member justagirlwithabook
This book was So. Good. I don’t even really know what to say except that everyone should put this on their TBR pile right now!! And if you’re hesitant and asking, “Does it actually live up to the hype?” ... the answer is YES! For me, yes! Also, can we please have more of this? The world
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needs these perspectives!!
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LibraryThing member justagirlwithabook
This book was So. Good. I don’t even really know what to say except that everyone should put this on their TBR pile right now!! And if you’re hesitant and asking, “Does it actually live up to the hype?” ... the answer is YES! For me, yes! Also, can we please have more of this? The world
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needs these perspectives!!
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LibraryThing member GeoffHabiger
This debut novel from Tomi Adeyemi struck a powerful chord with me.

The story follows Zélie Adebola as she and her brother and father struggle to survive in the Kingdom of Orïsha. Zélie is a Diviner, a person with links to a magical heritage and connection to the Gods. However, 11 years ago that
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connection to the Gods and magic was taken away by Orïsha's king, and at the same time all maji - people who could wield magic - were killed, including Zélie's mother. Now the Diviners are attacked, abused, and taxed heavily by the king and his guards. Facing a higher tax that they cannot pay, Zélie and her brother, Tzain, travel from their small fishing village to the capital to sell a prized fish, and hopefully earn some much needed silver to keep the taxman at bay. But things do not go according to plan, as Zélie encounters Amari, a fugitive princess who has stolen a sacred artifact from her ruthless father. Now on the run, Zélie, Tzain, and Amari are pursued by Amari's brother, Inan who will stop at nothing to get the sacred artifact back for his father. Zélie is thrust into a fight for survival, not only for herself and family, but also for the very survival of magic in Orïsha.

Adeyemi has created a wonderful world filled with myths, legends, ancient Gods, and magic. The world is rich, filled with descriptions of the smells of the villages, cities, and wilderness, as well as weaving deep connections of family. It was easy to picture the locations and people in the story and feel their joy and pain as they struggle on their quest.

The story is told in the first person from three points of view: Zélie, Amari, and Inan. While a bit disconcerting at first, this triangle of perspectives allows the reader to identify with each character and to understand what drives each of them, and through them, what drives the motives of the larger forces - from the struggle to complete the quest to bring magic back, as well as King Saran's motives - funneled through his son's actions - to keep Orïsha safe by eliminating magic entirely. It is a complex web of emotions and motives, and it is well done. By the end I was hanging on every word, every action as the climax of the story was reached.

I do have some quibbles, mostly around character growth. Not necessarily 'development', as I think all of the main characters were well developed and 'made real'. I understood the characters and felt they had depth. However, with Inan and Zélie I did not feel there was a lot of character growth. Zélie starts as a young girl who is hot headed, quick to anger. She yearns for her mother, whose death has left a massive hole in her life. As the story progresses Zélie's anger and fury serve her well, but at the end she continues to yearn for her mother in a way that seems selfish and childish. To me this continuity may present the emotional burden placed on Zélie, but does not allow for any growth of her character. I felt that was a missed opportunity. At the same time, Inan seems to make the most growth and change of the three main characters, yet he makes a complete reversal back to his old self at the end, and that too was disappointing. Of the three main characters, Amari struck me as the only one who made the most growth and development as a character, changing from a meek, shy, and very timid girl, to a powerful woman capable of ruling as Queen. She makes sacrifices, and does the most to change herself for what she knows to be the right thing to do.

Regardless of my quibbles, the characters are still well developed and portrayed. Adeyemi has created an epic world that is a joy to explore and I want to learn more about it. I highly recommend this book to anybody who has a love of epic fantasy, enjoys the struggles of faith and family, and relishes an epic quest. This book has it all.

I listened to the audio production of this novel, read by Bahni Turpin. She does an amazing job of bringing the world or Orïsha to life, and making each of the characters stand out and shine. There was no problems with the audio production or the narration, and Bahni's accent is a perfect fit for the story.
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LibraryThing member Stewart_Hoffman
On the surface this is a typical fantasy adventure, complete with magic trinkets to find, and a set time limit with which to use them. Beyond that, this text focuses on family, legacy, and the deep bonds that we all share. We are all children of blood and bone. This is a superb read. Great
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characters and action, and I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series.
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Awards

Kirkus Prize (Finalist — Young Readers' Literature — 2018)
Audie Award (Finalist — Young Adult — 2019)
Locus Award (Finalist — First Novel — 2019)
Utah Beehive Book Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2020)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2020)
Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award (Nominee — Teen — 2019)
British Fantasy Award (Nominee — 2019)
Green Mountain Book Award (Nominee — 2020)
Thumbs Up! Award (Top Ten — 2019)
South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards (Almost Made It — 2020)
Colorado Blue Spruce Award (Nominee — 2020)
The British Book Industry Awards (Shortlist — Children's Fiction — 2019)
NCSLMA Battle of the Books (High School — 2020)
Virginia Readers' Choice (Nominee — High School — 2022)
Westchester Fiction Award (Winner — 2019)
Children's Africana Book Award (Winner — Older Readers — 2019)
Waterstones Children's Book Prize (Shortlist — Older Readers — 2019)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2021)
Evergreen Teen Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2021)
Books Are My Bag Readers Award (Shortlist — 2018)
Rhode Island Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2020)
Three Stars Book Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2020)
Nommo Award (Shortlist — 2019)
Foyles Book of the Year (Winner — Children's — 2018)
Dragon Award (Winner — 2018)
Lodestar Award (Nominee — 2019)
Readers Retreat (Shortlist — 2023)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2019)
Read Aloud Indiana Book Award (High School — 2020)
Notable Children's Book (Older Readers — 2019)
Nerdy Book Award (Young Adult Literature — 2018)
Penn GSE's Best Books for Young Readers (Selection — Young Adult — 2018)
Project LIT Book Selection (Young Adult — 2019)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2018-03-06

Physical description

544 p.; 9.3 inches

ISBN

1250170974 / 9781250170972

Local notes

Signed
Page: 7.3134 seconds