If you've already read the book...

[Sasha]

So you did better than I and read that book when everyone was talking about it? hahaha

But still, whenever you've read it, feel free to leave your thoughts here as I would be curious to read them after finishing the book!

Thank you!

[SammmReads]

I didn’t want to go into the others and spoil anything. Is Children of Blood and Bone the book we are all reading in January? I just want to be sure because I don’t own it yet. Super excited to be involved in an active book club

[Izzy]

Ok.... I don't want to be mean. I really don't want to be super negative, but I really hated this book. I couldn't get into it, it felt super tropey, and I just overall didn't like it. Sorry to be such a Debbie downer!

[Marta]

Glad to see someone else on the unpopular opinion team for this book! :p

I didn'd hate it, as I ended up giving it a 3*.

I liked the first half of the book, then the plot got repetitive and predictable, the character development for the MC went downhill for me (I found her really annoying) and the ending scene was all over the place.

Despite liking most aspects of the world, there were a couple of things that bothered me on the world building (starting with the names of the places ending with the lack of explanation for typical garments and foods) and there were scenes/lines that rubbed me the wrong way. The writing wasn't great but it wasn't terrible either, witch, for me, is kind of expected as this was a debut.

Yes, the hype got to me and I was really disappointed, it really did not live up to my expectations, but all in all it was mostly a fun easy read, with fantasy elements that I enjoy and two secondary characters that I found were interesting and had good development.

I have a lot more to say, but didn't want this to be suuuuper long and cannot get into spoilers =P

Enjoy your reading! ;)

[Leni]

@Marta i just finished it an i can only agree.... A book with a lot of potential but over all nothing super special. I also gave it 3 stars and wrote more in the topic for the last chapters if you are interested :)

[Stephanie]

i think i gave it a pretty good rating because i listened to it via audiobook and the narrator did SUCH a good job with the characters and voices

[Marta]

Leni wrote: "@Marta i just finished it an i can only agree.... A book with a lot of potential but over all nothing super special. I also gave it 3 stars and wrote more in the topic for the last chapters if you ..."

Yes, I felt the same! Will be checking out, thanks! :)

[S.]

I find it interesting that a lot of people called it troupey, not just those in this group! While I found the romance to be tired and nonsensical, and the “trial of three” to be predictable, I didn’t see much of the details as overused. I wasn’t around for a lot of the hype, so maybe that plays into people’s experience with the book?

I really enjoyed the book, mostly because the audiobook was so well performed! On the character end, I felt that out three narrators had very different arcs, and I enjoyed all of them. I think more people wanted Zelie’s arc to be more traditional (like Amari’s), or they don’t see her as having character development. Her narrative isn’t gradual; it’s a snap change that’s wrapped up in her pain and loss, and mostly with her mother. While Amari becomes stronger, Zelie’s burden is one of healing. She gets that by the end. Inan’s arc is conflicted, and ultimately his desire to win his father’s love kills him. I’m glad he’s not as black-and-white a character as almost everyone else is. Conflicts of all kinds tear people’s loyalties and sense of right into pieces. Inan isn’t strong, and he’s not meant to be. He is unworthy in a lot of respects, and that’s okay.

What I was not a fan of was the chase throughout the book. It was predicable when the downtimes would happen and when we were about to get another chase sequence. On the other hand, that’s why the book kept moving forward and why Zelie’s arc works. Without the lack of rest, her “toughness” doesn’t pull through. Her sacrifices wouldn’t seem as daunting. It also keeps the stakes rising higher and higher each time. I don’t know if I can fault a deliberate choice like that, even if I didn’t enjoy it.

My biggest gripe is actually one detail: the use of blood magic, and how there’s almost no consequence to Zelie using it as often as she does. Maybe that means she’s stronger than her mother, or maybe it’s just that Adeyemi didn’t write the damage well enough... Either way, I wasn’t buying how dangerous blood magic was in this world.

Overall I was pretty impressed by it, and I give it a 4.5. I think I decided to round up on my goodreads review lol

[SammmReads]

Is this book for both January and February or just January?

[Sasha]

SammmReads wrote: "Is this book for both January and February or just January?"

So sorry just saw you comment but for January and February. I decided to do it bimonthly as we all have a life besides reading! I'm so so sorry I missed you comment here...