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3.75 stars

Children of Blood and Bone is a fantasy tale of magic that seeks its inspiration from Africa. To me, however, it appeared as though I was in the heart of Africa itself with all the characters reminding me of the cast of the newly-released movie, Black Panther. In fact, it was partially the reason why I plunged straight into the novel, as I wanted something unique.

To cut to the chase, the plot is cut into two halves, one half is taken over by the people who performed magic in the past known as the maji, while the other half is dominated by humans who fear magic. And you know what they say about fearing something (view spoiler)[kill it before it kills you. (hide spoiler)] To save the dead magic, however, Zelie is given a single chance to fix things in the favors of the maji. The story revolves around the subsequent adventures that Zelie and her accomplices make to save magic

The plot is well-paced except that it skitters to an excruciatingly slow place at some places. Nonetheless, I understand that such a pace and the explanations that come with it are the book’s necessity and are needed to fully unfold the history of magic. The characters are well-sketched but I couldn’t connect with them entirely.

Of all the characters, I connected best with Inan. Although, there are moments of doubt that flash in every character’s thoughts and moves yet Inan’s flaws, fears, misconceptions, beliefs, and doubts had the most genuine ring to them. (view spoiler)[So, when the author just sort-of killed Inan, I was shocked, which made this novel worth the read. But I still insist that Inan must be alive truly, as his father didn’t hit him with a second blow. (hide spoiler)]

Amari, the rogue princess exhibited a slow transformation from her meek princess-trapped-in-a-palace self to a rebel (view spoiler)[but something in her transformation was lacking. It was maybe the dearth of connection that I felt for her or because her relationship with Binta wasn’t portrayed as strongly as required. (hide spoiler)]

Tzain was real. He mirrored a typical brother. As far as Zelie is concerned, she is an impulsive character that doesn’t think before she makes a move. My feelings for her are strictly mixed.

Also, there is a lot of death in this book, which adds to the thrill of any fantasy novel except that I didn’t shed one tear at all the bloodshed. It felt that the characters were introduced strategically for the main character’s convenience. One character that didn’t sit well with me was Zu. Zelie described her as someone with a queen’s grace in her posture. But, in the next moment, the 13-year-old was literally jumping from one foot to another like a child does when she’s happy. So, that didn’t make sense to me.

As for the chemistry, I didn’t like it by much. (view spoiler)[Tzain and Amari are slow to let their attraction swell, which is senseful. But Tzain, the reserved kind of dude that he is portrayed just liked the princess in an instant like a street guy who sees a beautiful girl for the first time in his life, so that’s not my preference at all.

As for, Inan and Zelie, the chemistry was good, I anticipated it but I expected it to be slow and electric, which it wasn’t at all. I mean who falls in love in over two days? Plus, Zelie was all-too-trusting, which let me down since it is obvious that someone who has the ability to read your mind has an edge over you. (hide spoiler)]

The two things that were spellbinding in this novel were the action and the prose. The description takes you to a different world altogether which is amazing. As for the action, it is literally among the best that I have read. A few of my questions are left unanswered but I expect the sequel to answer them for me.

Briefly, this novel is a good read characterized by mesmerizing prose, killer action, an adequately paced plot, lots of death, and serious moments of indecision. This one shouldn’t slip your notice.