Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone is a richly built fantasy based off of Nigerian culture and myth. That is reason enough to recommend this book to audiences who need to expand their reading horizons. There is a great deal more to recommend in Children of Blood and Bone beyond decolonizing your bookcase. It is a story that flips the waning magic trope on its head. It tackles racism and discrimination, and does not shy away from making painful yet realistic character decisions. I had to remind myself that these characters were only teenagers—and it hasn’t been since Harry Potter that I truly enjoyed following teenage protagonists. But Zélie, Amari, and Inan are well written young adults struggling with the pressures placed upon them.
After all, it’s hard to be the Chosen One.
“I begin to realise how far others will go to keep us down.”
SPOILERS AHEAD: BETRAYAL AND ANGST DONE RIGHT
I don’t tend to enjoy reading teenage protagonists because if done well, they’re as hormonal and angsty as actual teenagers. Children of Blood and Bone has angst and hormones in abundance but it also has the maturity to handle the teenage protagonists. Each of these characters has a different Chosen One journey to follow. Zélie, who is genuinely chosen by gods to bring magic back to the world, shoulders not only those pressures but also the constant pressures of a racist system. Amari becomes a Chosen One by choosing to do the right thing. She grows from a sheltered, abused princess into a fighter and a leader. Then there is Inan, the heir to the Orïshan throne, with all the pressures put upon him by his father to uphold the racist system that keeps them in power. A prince under pressure to uphold the status quo is confronted by that oppression in a powerful, personal way. In the end, when confronted with doing the comfortable thing or doing the right thing, Inan’s budding morality dies under his father’s firm hand. It is disappointing and frustrating, but as much as I hated it I love that Tomi Adeyemi had the guts to write it that way. Young love does not always stand a chance against ingrained abuse. It isn’t always enough for real redemption.
MAGIC FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
I love it when ideas are flipped on their head. When something uncomfortable is made comfortable. Death is a struggle. It is feared. When we write magic to do with death, it is often villainous and frightening. It is rarely comforting. It is refreshing to see a type of necromancy that comes into its own as something powerful and dangerous, but also comforting and necessary. That death is a part of life, and those with such magic can help smooth the passage of the soul to the afterlife. On the flip side, healing magic is not all that it seems. Growth can be dangerous when it’s a tumour. Adeyemi has a truly unique magic system steeped in intriguing dualities. I highly encourage reading this book both simply to enjoy it, but also to learn from if you’re writing fantasy.
4/5 stars.
L.J.
“Duty Before Self. Kingdom Before King”
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