Book 8 - Juicy to Just Confused

Title: Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha #1)

Author: Tomi Adeyemi

Genre: YA fantasy

Initially, I really liked how Adeyemi skips over the most tedious aspects of typical world-spanning tales (i.e. the mechanics or travelling from A to B), and got right to the juicy bits, i.e. the action and the magic.

But then....

I dunno if I've just outgrown some of these YA fantasy books or what, but the further I got in the story the more juvenile the whole thing became. Like, there are 4 central characters, 2 sets of girl-guy siblings - 1 guess how the romantic pairings shake out...

There is also a whole lot of plot-driven character actions, instead of the more satisfying character-driven plots. For example, the main protag Zélie somehow convinces a group of mercenaries to help her on a dangerous mission by promising them the favour the gods and hypothetical gold when her and her quartet of revolutionaries bring magic back to the world.

Hmmm. Seems suspect.

My final criticism is around the magic system, which I find interesting but underdeveloped and lacking overall. Maybe it's the show VS tell thing? It wouldn't be that big of a deal - I don't mind just being along for the ride - except that the conclusion of the book hinges on an understanding of the magic's place in the world that the author does not successfully cultivate. Zélie's reaction, which ends the book, completely mystifies me. Are we confused? Are we having some epiphany? The implications of the last scene are lost on me, and as a result I'm left feeling pretty dang disappointed.

Rating: 🍓🍓🍓