"Now We Rise"

"If Zélie had my magic, what parts of me would she see?"

When I first picked up Tomi Adeyemi's "Children of Blood and Bone" I honestly didn't know what to expect. I had 'sort of' followed my instinct with this one and boy-oh-boy, am I glad. So, I stepped, pretty much, blindly into this novel. I just knew two little facts:

number 1: it was a fantasy novel and

number 2: the book's extremely short blurb

"They killed my mother. They took our magic. They tried to bury us. Now we rise."

The blurb leaves you feeling some type of way for sure. But, after having read the novel I completely get why it discloses no information whatsoever. It is so much better to step into this novel blindly.  It most definitely made the experience of discovering everything inside this world so much more magical and exciting. That is why, up ahead, I won't be giving any spoilers and just merely try to convince you of why you should give Adeyemi's debut novel the time and attention it deserves. 

To be quite frank, the blurb doesn't really do it justice. It sounds slightly generic in today's YA fantasy panorama, but IT IS NOT. There is not a poeticity per se to the writing style of this novel as there is with many of my favourite contemporary novels, but the world-building, the characters' masterful design and the storyline's unpredictability really leave a mark on you. In fact, some parts of the plot resonate with the apparently-dystopian world we currently find ourselves within, but some others remind us of the hope that we so very much need in the darkness of current events everywhere.  

To be more detailed, without giving anything away, I want to talk about the magi system and this has one simple explanation. In the beginning, I was so hesitant to start reading because I was terrified of the magic system being a copy of Avatar: The Legend of Aang's bending system. What's more: some of the symbols resemble those of the benders' nations in my beloved animated series. HOWEVER, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Adeyemi had interpreted the concept in a completely different way. So, YAY!

Something I found even more enticing about the world-building in this book, which is the fact that the story is set in a fantasy world apparently heavily inspired by traditional African mythology and lifestyle. I found this blend of elements absolutely beautiful and refreshing. There is a very big space for diversity in contemporary YA literature (whether it is in fantasy or other genres) and this novel shows exactly some ways in which stories can be incredibly enriched by widening our perspectives. I sincerely hope that if you know of any books which realise this in a similar manner, you will leave it in a comment down below so I can check it out.

Another aspect I thoroughly enjoyed about reading "Children of Blood and Bone" were the characters. We get to experience the storyline through a number of different narrators, and while this technique can hinder the building up of tension or suspense, in this book it furthers the slight anxiety under which you live throughout your read. It definitely makes the reading highly addictive. You just have to know what all of the characters are going to do. 

I previously mentioned how unforeseeable most of the plot's development seems, and to be sincere, for some time now I just haven't felt so confused about how events were going to unfold in a novel. It had me theorizing while I was at work and bringing my book everywhere so that I could learn more in the extremely limited time I had free. 

I don't want to give any specific details because, as my regular readers are aware of, my reviews are spoiler-free AND I just think that's part of this particular book. Everything has been constructed so that you cannot figure things out until you actually read it.

Therefore, I want to finish off this review by saying: Bravo, Miss Tomi Adeyemi! I am incredibly excited to read the rest of the sequel (yes, guys, it's a sequel and I am suffering currently until the next installment) and any other works you publish. What a debut! Girl power <3

Anyways, I will leave you now so you can rush and get yourself a copy of this wonderful novel.



I hope you have a wonderful day!




My copy of Tomi Adeyemi's "Children of Blood and Bone" is the 2018 MacMillan Children's Book paperback edition.