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.
She was a finalist in The Word Guild’s (Canada) “God Uses Ink”, ACFW’s “First Impressions”, and The Reading Rooms “Aspiring Writers” contests. The short story Talking Drum can be found in “The Story – 2014 Anthology”. Her day job is Awards Director for The Word Guild, a group that supports Christian writers across Canada.
She dreams of travelling through space and time, being sorted into a Hogwart’s house and finding her way to Neverland. When she’s not writing or cooking for her hubby and four kids she enjoys teaching teens about life and words. Check out more about Karen, the current novel she is working on and her blog at http://karendeblieck.com/.