CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE
by Tomi Adeyemi
~Book Review~
*Warning!
Minor Spoilers!*
In the
land of Orïsha, the nobles rule with an iron fist. The only threat to their
power, the maji and their magical gifts, have been eradicated nearly to
extinction. They now live in fear of military raids and are identifiable by
their shock-white hair. Zélie remembers her mother’s power to summon souls. Other
magi could control the tides or fire, but their connection to the magic of the
land is lost now.
Drawing
inspiration from Yoruba mythology, Adeyemi has crafted a tale of
enemies-to-lovers where different class worlds collide. Zélie meets Amari, a
runaway princess who questions the ruthlessness of the nobility, and together
they go on a quest to bring magic back to the land. However, on their tail is
the zealot crown prince Inan, who is determined to bring back his sister Amari and
kill whoever is in her company.
Yes, Children of Blood and Bone has strong The Last Airbender vibes á la Zuko.
Inan and Zélie forge a special dream connection and Inan is forced to face an
unimaginable truth about himself. Their interactions were some of the most
compelling.
There are
glimpses of interesting characters and motivations, but the pacing is a big
issue. Too much exposition made the story feel bloated, and the characters lost
their edges and didn’t feel unique. The mythology wasn’t given enough chance to
shine. The book felt a bit too preoccupied with falling in line with your
standard YA fantasy we see these days—heavily sanitized and tropey, canned to
please an audience who wants a predictable rinse-and-repeat tale about lower
class rising against oppressors to bring magic back to the land. I didn’t feel fully
immersed and teleported by the story; it was too easy to leave.
You know
the saying there are no original story ideas, only original ways to tell the
story? Which is true, because the aforementioned The Last Airbender TV
series does a marvelous job with its wit, development of the characters, and
world-building to feel unique. David Eddings’ Belgariad series
sparkles with charm, and Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea books are an example
of how slow pacing can work—because the magical system is so utterly absorbing
that it becomes a character in its own right. More contemporarily, there’s Binti,
by Nnedi Okorafor, which is a shorter story, but Okorafor masterfully
demonstrates that you don’t need more words to transport the reader to a world
they don’t want to leave. In Children of Blood and Bone, there are too
many words, and they don’t say enough to bring this world to life.
It’s
tough because Zélie does have spirit, and her relationship with Inan is one of
the best things about the book. This story is often featured on #Diverse
Reads and #Own Voices, but it doesn’t feel like we really get Adeyemi’s
voice (v. looking at the smoother orchestration and presence in works by Zoraida
Córdova, R. F. Kuang, Julie Kagawa). It feels more that the
publishing industry is trying to churn out as many of these derivative versions
of the post-Twilight & The Hunger Games tropes as it can
without giving the authors time to edit and develop their writing to
make something truly memorable. Look no further than the string of similar
titles that makes all of these works blur together—Children of Blood and
Bone, Shadow and Bone, Girls of Paper and Fire, A Court of Frost and Starlight,
Isle of Blood and Stone, Blood and Sand, The Forest of Hands and Teeth—we
could probably fill a page with “Blood” and “Bone” titles alone.
The
series continues in Children of Virtue and Vengeance. Hopefully with the
foundation set, Adeyemi will be able to branch off into new twists and original
voice for her characters.
Recommended
for fans of: Kiersten White, Daniel José Older, Tochi Onyebuchi
