Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

By -

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi


                It’s been eleven years since the Raid. Since Zelie saw her mother’s hanging body. Since the king decided to rid his kingdom, in the most brutal fashion, of magic and all the maji who have ever wielded it. Zelie remembers the fear, the death, the loss and the fact that she was only safe because at six years old she had yet to taste magic, and now she never will. The white hair against her dark skin, singles her out as a maji, threatened by the guards who know she can never cast. Called a maggot, threatened and ridiculed for the crime of magic which she has never committed. But when Amari runs from the castle with the scroll that could bring back magic, it’s Zelie she sees and reaches to for help. Upon touching the scroll, magic flows through Zelie’s veins and the adventure begins.
                There is so much to enjoy and dissect when it comes to this book. It’s layered, complex and a fight for justice for people who have been stripped of their power and need their magic if they want a chance to survive. They’ve been hunted down and punished because of the king’s fear and hatred of magic. Their families have been torn apart and there is an unjust system in place to keep them scared and weak. And now Zelie has been chosen to give power back to the maji and with it their chance of survival.
                It’s easy to get lost in a world like the one created by Adeyemi. She weaved together this beautifully detailed world that immediately draws you in while also drawing its claws. Not at one point in this novel did I feel safe. Not at one point in this novel was there not a new obstacle around the corner. There was never a point of relaxation or ease or hope. It was a relentless onslaught of simply trying to survive and the deeper you go into this novel, the clearer it becomes that without magic the cruelty the maji face will simply prevail and increase until every single one of them has been destroyed.
                Zelie is one of the three first-person narratives that change throughout the book. The other two are the princess Amari and the prince Inan, both have really complicated relationships with their father, which shape the way they view him, each other and magic. Each character is really unique in their voices, their views and their goals and as their stories intertwine we see just how complicated the situation in Orisha really is. I thought Adeyemi’s choice to use both the prince and princess as narrators throughout the book was really surprising, especially since their father is responsible for the current situation and Zelie is actively fighting against everything he represents. But it worked. The stripping away of their privilege as they each take part in this journey and realize how the world and their father has denied the rights of others is vital to this story.
                There is a deeper narrative to this story, one that parallels what’s happening in our world today. It’s there and it’s obvious. I felt it very early on in this novel when a guard hurled the word maggot at Zelie. It was a slur used to denote and denigrate her kind. And I felt it deep in my bones. It didn’t matter that Zelie was innocent of any crime and hadn’t even been accused of one. She was a threat. Adeyemi did a beautiful job with this novel, with these characters, with the crafting this world. It was a visceral and raw experience. It leaves you with a cliffhanger that you aren’t prepared for. Children of Blood and Bone leaves you wanting more and waiting for the sequel. Definitely recommend this novel. I give this 5 out of 5 stars.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History's First Global Manhunt by Steve Johnson

By -
Image
Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History's First Global Manhunt by Steve Johnson Bringing to life the story of a notorious pirate to a modern audience isn’t an easy task. We’re too used to the comfort of easy travel, the mythos of pirates and the commercialized imagery produced by movies and television. Images of Jack Sparrow and Long John Silver have been part of entertainment for so long that the idea of true piracy and all it’s ruthlessness has almost been washed away. It isn’t until you’re able to wash away the false images and submerge yourself into the actual history that you can see piracy for it’s truly brutal nature. It also brings up many questions about governments, laws, corporations, scandal, colonization and other factors that allowed piracy to flourish and exist in the manner that it did for so long. Piracy didn’t exist in a bubble. Enemy of All Mankind takes the story of one pirate, who helped usher in the Golden Age of Piracy, and exa
Read more

Odetta: A Life in Music and Protest by Ian Zack

By -
Image
Odetta: A Life in Music and Protest by Ian Zack          In my case it is always the image of Odetta that comes to mind when I hear her name. The tall, undeniably Black woman, hair in an afro, guitar in hand. It must be that I simply did not know enough about her life, her struggle, and even her music to convey more than that image. But her image is memorable and her presence something not easily described. This book fills in the gaps in the story of Odetta that I didn’t know. Looking back at my childhood, her most memorable songs are the ones I’ve known most of my life, singing in my school’s chapel along with hundreds of other Black students, the words having meaning that I can only truly comprehend decades later as a Black woman.          Zack takes his time with this biography, letting the readers learn as much about Odetta as we do the time from whence she came. Her migration from Alabama to California, her feelings of coming from a loveless, forced marriage,
Read more

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

By -
Image
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood I’m going to cut right to the chase. This book is well written but we didn’t need it. I expected more. I wanted more and this fell flat. I’ve read The Handmaid’s Tale , more than once, and I genuinely enjoyed it. The single narrative of Offred lent itself to the story well and it was genuinely a terrifying society. I watched the first two series of the show and though I have my reservations about it, I still thought it was a good show. It does a great job answering questions that the book could not because of its singular narrative. It filled out the world. This book revolves around three narratives: Aunt Lydia, who we know had a helping hand in stripping women of their sense of self and molded them to be controlled by the men of Gilead; Agnes, raised in Gilead with a Commander as father, privileged and set to marry well; and Daisy, a teenager raised in Canada hating Gilead and the abuses women endured that she’s learned about since she
Read more