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Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1)

Tomi Adeyemi

Start date: May 2, 2018

Finish date: May 30, 2018

Discussion: Books of the Month

Why we're reading this: Young Adult Fantasy BOM
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What Members Thought

Dec 23, 2019 Amanda rated it liked it

Shelves: poc-cover, book-club, young-adult, fiction, goodreads-choice-awards-2018, fantasy, hugo-related, dystopian, format-kindle, format-audible

I heard so much hype around this book for over a year. It won a Goodreads Award. It won a Nebula. It was put up for a Hugo this year. Over and over and over I heard that this book was beautiful and amazing and I kept feeling guilty for not having read it yet, when finally my school book club decreed we were reading it for the kids for December (as well as the sequel in early 2020).

I really loved this book until almost exactly the 63% mark. I loved everything about the characters who were set up ...more

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Jun 02, 2018 Heather - hturningpages rated it liked it

Shelves: that-cover-though, bookclub

Rating: 3.5/5 emotionally and physically tortured princes.

Format: Hardcover. This thing is a work of art!

What it's like: The Maji's abilities remind me of the Grisha from Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse, but the setting and characters are all Tomi's!

What I loved: Woowwww what a whirlwind of emotions! (this goes in both the plus and minus column, see below lol). The characters, especially Inan and Zel are so vivid, intense, and going through buckets and buckets of varied emotions from moment to momen Rating: 3.5/5 emotionally and physically tortured princes.

Format: Hardcover. This thing is a work of art!

What it's like: The Maji's abilities remind me of the Grisha from Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse, but the setting and characters are all Tomi's!

What I loved: Woowwww what a whirlwind of emotions! (this goes in both the plus and minus column, see below lol). The characters, especially Inan and Zel are so vivid, intense, and going through buckets and buckets of varied emotions from moment to moment. This got exhausting after a while, but it did make me feel like I was in these character's heads. And ZEL IS THE SNARKY BADASS OF MY DREAMS (and not just mine har har har :P)
ALSO: WORLD BUILDING. I love the world that Adeyemi creates in this book, it has a history and topography that is definitely just as complex as the character's collective inner turmoil. turmoils? you get it lol
Last but not least, I love the passion, heartbreak and dedication Adeyemi gives to every page of this hefty tome. I felt that it was expertly layered with elements of a celebration of a rich culture, a call for empathy and understanding, while drawing attention to powerful parallels to the issues of racism and oppression in the real world. There is a lot in here she has to say about the responsibility of power, and it's requirement for freedom from oppression, and I think she does it in heartbreaking and thought-provoking ways.

What was meh: Oye with the emotions already *sigh* There are so many plot points and emotions and each of these are described in minute detail to the point where it's a little exhausting and feels boated at times. Especially when the tale switches POV and we re-live the scene through another character. She could probably cut about 40% of the inner monologue/emotional reflection stuff and we would still know exactly what was going on and feel just as connected to the characters. So that by itself for me is minus a star. Also, while the plot is very complex, about 80% of the plot developments you could see coming from a mile away. I really like being surprised by plot developments, and if not surprised then at least distracted enough by my love of the world/characters that I don't mind, and I didn't quite get to that point unfortunately.
Also, Inan. *ssiiighhhh* Just the most confusing character on the planet. Someone needs to sit him down and have a nice long chat over tea or something, get some issues sorted out lol.

Who I'd recommend it to: To people who love draaammmaaaa (said in a fun voice), female badassery, Princes with tortured backstories, and seriously overprotective brothers (Tzain, get a grip man!). Oh and ACTION PACKED PLOTS that might be a little predicable.

Favorite quotes:
I teach you to be warriors in the garden so you will never be gardeners in the war.

It doesn't matter how strong I get, how much power my magic wields. They will always hate me in this world.

Let them taste the terror they make us swallow. ...more

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