Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

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

Synopsis

Once, Zélie Adebola’s world was filled with magic. The land of Orïsha had Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But when the ruthless king kills all the maji the magic disappears 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.

Pros:

wonderful writing
engaging characters
lots of action
rich story world and history
timely topic

Cons:

there is a sense of mysticism (magic) if a reader is opposed to that which includes necromancy/blood magic.
has at its base African mythology and those deities associated with it
hints at sex/romantic interlude at one point but no graphic descriptions

Conclusion:

I love, Love, LOVE this book! I cannot recommend it enough. My friends are tired of me talking about this book. lol One person I recommended it to was a little taken aback by the anger of the main character but if you read the note from the author at the end you will understand why. What I really love is how Adeyemi can see that unbalanced power is not good on either side.

I gave this book only 4 stars because of the sense of earth magic that runs through it that may be off putting to some Christian reading.