Children of Blood and Bone
Tomi Adeyemi
Henry Holt & Co.
March 6th, 2018
Zélie Adebola remembers when the white-haired maji wielded powerful magics, and were the heart and soul of Orïsha. Her mother was a Reaper, a powerful maji in control of death, able to put souls at rest or have the dead fight for her.
Then came the day that magic disappeared from Orïsha, and the non-maji emperor killed any maji he found and subjugated all maji children who had not come into their powers, called divîners. Divîners are now subjected to brutal racism and heavy taxes, and they are taken as slave labor when they cannot pay those taxes.
When Zélie tries to sell a rare fish to ensure her family may prosper, she bumps into the wrong renegade princess. Or was it the will of the gods? Now, fighting against a ruling class that wants her kind dead, she and some strange companions must restore magic–or see it disappear forever.
This book. Wow. Seriously, I was up all weekend reading this book. If you’re a fan of Black Panther, you’ll love this book too. Adeyemi has created a beautifully rich world full of characters you really get invested in–which is perfect, as it appears this is the start of a series. That makes me want to cheer, as this book was exciting, riveting and heart wrenching–so I’d expect the next one will be, too. Adeyemi is a talent to watch out for, I very much look forward to seeing what she writes next. Bravo!
More JL Jamieson on PCB:
Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi’s latest
JL goes into YA literature with Tess of The Road
Not just “Falling Water”, JL is all over “Lucifer” with great recaps
JL Jamieson is a strange book nerd who writes technical documents by day, and book news, reviews, and other assorted opinions for you by night. She is working on her own fiction, and spends time making jewelry to sell at local conventions, as well as stalking the social media accounts of all your favorite writers.