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Title: Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha #1)
Author: Tomi Adeyemi
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.9/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: March 9, 2018 to March 11, 2018
Book Summary: Tomi Adeyemi conjures a stunning world of dark magic and danger in her West African-inspired fantasy debut, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now, Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers—and her growing feelings for the enemy.
Book Review: Wow.

Just wow.

There are no words at this moment to tell you how amazing this book is and how this series will be.

Zélie has the blood of maji running through her veins. Her mother was a Reaper, a maji whom had the ability to raise the dead. For Orïsha, the power wielded by the maji were gifts from the Gods and meant to connect them to the Sky Mother and be used for the good of the people. Unfortunately, it ended one night. A night called the Raid where the connection with the Sky Mother was severed and many maji were killed off. Now those who have the marked with the white hair are living in fear of the royal family or the army that may one day come for them and finish what they have done during the raid.

Zélie and Tzain are doing everything they can to live normal lives. Unfortunately when their father is in a near-fatal accident, it sends the two on a trip to the another town to try to garner some money for the taxes that the army is demanding.

Amari and her brother, Inan, live a life of luxury within the palace. Their father, the King, has tried to install into them that those whom have the white hair are below them and everything he has done has been in the name of the good of the people of Orïsha before themselves. One night Amari witnesses the death of one of her friends, a servant named Binta. This forces Amari to reassess everything her father has said to her and she runs away.

At a market, Zélie and Amari's paths cross and sends the two of them (along with Tzain) on an adventure to bring the magic back. But Amari's brother, Inan, is on their trail and determined to bring back Amari to her father and destroy their mission to return the magic.

But Inan has a secret of his own that could unravel his world and bring him down all together.


I brought this book with me when my Mom was rushed up to the hospital. It drew me into a world filled with well-rounded characters and a world filled with African mythology. The characters are not perfect and have their own flaws. This book was amazing and I really had a hard time putting it down. The world building with the mixture of African Mytholgy is beautiful and yet its people are divided by racism. A racism built on oppression and a fear of others being different, a cruelty that can divide and eventually weaken a country.

Our heroine is one of those whom they fear. Her features set her apart from most of the population. Her hair is white and in her veins flows the magic of the maji that sets her apart from the population. Because of the Raid, many of the maji were killed off. Their offsprings and relatives seemed to have survived the massacre because they may not have shown their adversity for magic but despite this, they are still shunned and yet feared by the rest of the population. They believe, much like their king, that these people are the problem of the Orïsha and thus they should be shunned.

Amari is her opposite. She comes from a privileged life. But unlike her father, Amari has formed a friendship with a maggot. Binta has the white hair and the ability to conjuer magic but because the magic has been severed from the world, her magic was dormant. Despite all of this, they had what seemed to be a wonderful friendship. Then one night during a party, Amari removes herself from the lavish pageantry when she comes across her dearest friend being brought before Amari's father where she is forced to touch a scroll. Here Amari gets her first taste of seeing magic before her friend is murdered before her eyes. This really changes things for Amari because she witnesses the death of her friend and causes her to question everything.

The friendship between Zel and Amari builds nicely. Zel finds distrust in Amari but that changes with time and the two girls form a bond, almost sisterly. I really enjoyed the build-up between these two. I can understand the reasoning Zel had to not to trust Amari. After all, it is because of her father that Zel's mother is gone and so she sees Amari as everything her father is. But as the two become part of a quest, their friendship blossoms and grow.

And I really like the sweet relationship between Amari and Tzain.

This story is amazing. The characters are well-rounded. The story feels as if you are part of the world and apart of the scenes. There are no big surprises and the story flows nicely with each change of narration of character. The villian is flawed in his thinking and finds himself in the same sort of situation that the heroine is in.

I am quite looking forward what is in store in the next part of this series.