Published March 6th, 2018 by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
Pages: 525
Genre: Fiction (Young Adult, fantasy)
Purchase on http://www.amazon.com
Publisher’s Blurb: Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were 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 an enemy.
The Author: Tomi Adeyemi is a Nigerian-American writer and creative writing coach based in San Diego, California. Her debut novel, CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE, comes out March 6th, 2018 and the movie is currently in development at Fox with the producers of Twilight and The Maze Runner attached. After graduating Harvard University with an honors degree in English literature, she received a fellowship that allowed her to study West African mythology and culture in Salvador, Brazil. When she’s not working on her novels or watching Scandal, she can be found blogging and teaching creative writing to her 3,500 subscribers at tomiadeyemi.com. Her website has been named one of the 101 best websites for writers by Writer’s Digest.
My thoughts: Since it’s publication this year, this book has made waves especially in Nigeria but I was never really interested as it is a fantasy novel for young adults which does not appeal to me on a normal day. However, when my teenage daughter asked that I purchase the book for her to read, I dutifully decided to read the book after I had read the publisher’s blurb. I don’t do this for all the books my daughter reads but for books like this I would like to check if it is age appropriate for her even if I encourage her to read as many books as possible.
At the beginning, it took me time to get into the story but before I knew it, I was swept into the ‘Orisha’ fantasy world with Zelie, her family and her powers. There were many moments of suspense that put me on the edge and this kept me spell bound until the end. Amari was my favorite character due to her selflessness and ability to surprise. I wish we can have more people like her who are ready to give up everything they know to stand up for the poor and oppressed. Inan her brother on the other hand, is a character I left the book still wondering why he made the choices he made or chose the path he took in the end, I hope someday it would be clearer to me. In a nut shell, ‘Children of Blood and Bone’ turned out to be an interesting book to read and it was really worth the while. On reading the author’s notes, I can not say that I understand the connection between the story and reason behind the author’s inspiration to write it, however I know that writers sometimes express themselves in a way that may not seem clear to others. I recommend this book for those of you who love fantasy stories and yes, my daughter is now reading the book.
