Children of Blood and Bone
The Legacy of Orïsha series, Book 1
Tomi Adeyemi
Henry Holt and Co.
Fiction, YA Fantasy
Themes: Diversity, Girl Power, Magic Workers
****+
Description
As a girl, Zélie Adeboya saw the magic of her people die - and witnessed her mother's brutal murder, as King Saran's warriors slaughter all maji over
the age of thirteen. Though she has the white hair of a divîner, though she and her kind are branded "maggots" and treated like animals by the dark-haired
populace of the kingdom of Orïsha, she will never grow into her powers, never receive the blessing and wisdom of the ten gods and goddesses... never have
the strength to throw Saran's boot from her people's back and blade from their necks.
Amari may be the daughter of a king, but she feels powerless as any slave, trapped between her mother's impossible expectations and her father's eternal
disapproval. Her only friend is her divîner maid Binta - so when King Saran slaughters her in cold blood, Amari finally finds the strength to act. Binta
was killed after Saran tested an artifact on her: an scroll, long thought destroyed, that can re-awaken maji powers in divîners. Amari steals the scroll
and flees the palace... running straight into Zélie.
The gods may be silent, but they still have plans. Zélie and Amari may be the keys to returning magic to Orïsha and ending Saran's cruel reign... but maji
were feared even before Saran struck them down, and a people raised under brutal oppression might do things with their powers that would make even the
gods tremble.
Review
With roots deep in African mythos, global genocides, and the legacy of generational oppression, Children of Blood and Bone creates a unique, if
dark, fantasy world. A rage burns through these pages, embodied not just in Zélie and the divîners but in Zélie's dark-haired brother Tzain,
Amari's brother Prince Inan, the king, and others who have learned hatred and fear of the Other and will do anything - even maim and murder - to defend those
they love from threats real or perceived. The legacy of Saran's Raid, the slaughter of mothers and fathers before the eyes of their children and the stripping
of their birthright powers, creates a generation primed for rebellion, though that attack stemmed from earlier attacks by maji, a history of blood for blood and
pain for pain, until everyone's lives are twisted and scarred by events buried so deep in the past none can recall the truth of them. Zélie in particular
struggles with a lifetime of helplessness and anger, tested most sorely by her encounters with Inan, groomed to be a future king every bit as ruthless as
Saran... but who finds himself torn when contact with the scroll wakes latent powers in himself, powers he was raised to reject as a devouring evil. Seeds
that could become love in several characters, and moments that could lead to a better future for all, become twisted out of shape by the imperfect world they
live in and the lives they've been forced to lead, not to mention the question of not only if the maji can be restored, but whether they should be - whether
it would empower a downtrodden people to rise above their chains, or create another chapter of retribution and destruction.
It is, by necessity, a dark and often grisly tale, sometimes difficult to read for the rawness of emotions - a rawness that, unlike other titles, remains raw
through the story, and isn't soothed away by victories (or set aside in defeats.) There is no "true love" moment that makes everything better, either; if
anything, love only makes things more complicated and painful, leading some characters to even worse decisions than they might have otherwise made. In Zélie
and Amari's world, even the gods can fail... but hope cannot be allowed to die. Ultimately, though a few almost-too-convenient plot moments and setbacks (and
a slightly awkward, not-quite-cliffhanger ending) held it back a bit, Children of Blood and Bone ultimately becomes a very original, very powerful tale
of persistence in the face of oppression, optimism in the face of ultimate defeat, and life in the face of certain death.