Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and 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 the enemy.

This book is amazing … go read it … That’s it. No, really I loved everything about this book. The World building , the characters, the magic in this book, the overall story , the ups and the down and many plot twists even the wicked cliffhanger we getting. I should say that they are some dark aspects to the book and there is also some torture which might trigger some people. I really loved the world setting it was beautifully described, that and the smooth writing made you feel like you right there along with them. I also thought it was really well balanced and not overly described or pushed and just had the right amount of everything to make you feel you are there. We get three POV which honestly I wasn’t so sure about in the beginning but really ended up enjoying, It just gave you the right amount of inside into some of the characters. Sometime it would have been nice to get Tzain but it might have been too much and really we really get enough of a feel of him through the others. Inan, man I was not sure about him and I;m still not sure about him On the one side I felt for him on the other side I wanted to kill him..I can’t say too much with the ending but it will be very ingesting to see how that all plays out in the next book. Really it can go either way or so many other ways, really . I also really loved Zelie., how she never gave up and did what she had to restore Magic or to keep it alive . I also felt for her , and all the other Maji to see what the y had endured but yet still kept fighting. I also liked how she grew with her magic and just seemed to be more and more one with it. But of course nothing ever goes as planned and along the way they must overcome so much more trouble and agony. I wasn’t sure about her and Inan, it seemed right. Then it seemed wrong other times a bit forced. It was just all over the place no matter the emotions behind it. For me Amari for me was my favorite, just because she was steady in her motives and she really grew the most throughout their journey . I always looked forward to her parts. Overall this was an awesome book and I cannot wait to read the next .

I rate this book a full 5 ★

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Wow. This book from beginning to end was fantastic. I had some issues with the book going from Zelie, Amari, and Inan. I thought the chapters showcasing Zelie and Amari's POV were the strongest. Inan's were the weakest to me. I also wish that if we were going to get Inan's POV we would have also gotten Tzain's. The world building was so good and though I am not fond of cliffhangers in my books, this one was well done. We got to see a lot of development with regards to Zelie and Amari and I can't wait for the next book in this series.

"Children of Blood and Bone" is the first book in the Legacy of Orisha series by author Tomi Adeyemi. Told in alternate first person POVs we follow a maji named Zelie, and Princess Amari and Prince Inan. 

Zelie is one of the maji (dark skinned with white hair) who are treated as lesser than in the Orisha world. Many years ago maji had the ability to do magic. When the current king ordered all maji to be hunted down and killed, magic left Orisha. Zelie has the urge to fight back, but knows that doing so could cost her what is left of her family. When she goes off to sell some fish near where the royal family resides, she comes across a girl (Princess Amari) who she ends up helping escape. This leads to Zelie, Amari, and Zelie's brother Tzain going off to do what they can to restore magic to Orisha. 

My favorite character ended up actually being Princess Amari. Watching her development through the story of doing what she knew was right even though it would pit her against her father and her brother was fantastic. Her final fight scene was epic. I mean I was hooting and hollering. 

Zelie I found to be way too harsh concerning Amari. I was getting sick of it after a while. I get why she was angry, but after a certain point I didn't get it especially because of her "feelings" for Inan. Speaking of that, the whole thing with Inan felt forced to me and not necessary. I loved that Zelie was going to do what she could to restore magic and that she was not going to stop til the king was off the throne. She was stubborn and didn't think things through enough at times, but was definitely passionate.

As I said above the POVs with Inan were the weakest in my opinion. Honestly I think to make the book stronger it would have been better to just focus on Zelie and Amari. In the end though I did feel sorry for Inan. No spoilers, but dang. Once again we get an exciting scene.

We have a ton of secondary characters in this one, but it's easy enough to keep people straight. Maybe in the next book though the author would want to include a character's list at the beginning of the book. Some people will like that. 

The writing was lyrical. I always get worried that many books get a bit too "purple prose" but this one does not. I could picture every person, every scene, every fight, every goddess. I loved it. I was hungering for some art in this book. The flow was a bit off when we would switch from the two girls POV to Inan's, but not enough to wreck my enjoyment of the story. I also want to praise Adeyemi for being able to write credible fight scenes showcasing magic and also swords and staffs. One of the biggest letdowns when I read any Young Adult fantasy novels is when people are fighting with magic. It never makes sense and or sounds convoluted as anything. I am still disappointed with "The Bone Witch" since when the author of that book talked about using magic it sounded boring. 

Author Adeyemi at the end of this book says that she wrote this after watching news story after news story showing unarmed black men, women, and children being gunned down the police in the United States. She names so many women and men who have died in this country, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Jordan Edwards, and so many others. Telling us that we have been knocked down too much and now it's our time to rise, to rise like the maji (the Diviners) that we see in this story rise. 

This story takes place in the fictional Orisha. We have a lot of information told to us throughout this book and I seriously loved how Adeyemi plays with African mythology as well as with allowing a look at colorism in the African American community as we know it. It's very pointed that in this book that Zelie is dark skinned with white hair and the ruling family is all about not going out in the sun, having brown or lighter skin.  

The book does end on a cliffhanger which as I said above I as a rule am not fond of at all. I like each book to conclude an arc/plot of that story and just move onto the next thing. When you leave things twisting in the wind it can become frustrating as a reader. I didn't mind with this one since the possibilities it left us with are exciting. 

We are all children of blood and bone.

"You can't. They built this world for you, built it to love you. 

They never cursed you in the streets, never broke down the doors of your home.

They didn't drag your mother by her neck and hang her for the whole world to see."

 

Wow. The action is not letting up at all. I don't know how this is going to end but am watching between my fingers that Zelie and her brother Tzain make it out okay.

The writing and world building are so freaking fantastic. I can picture each character and setting in my mind. I am just craving some art though. This book practically sings for a graphic novel adaptation.