Children of Virtue and Vengeance, by Tomi Adeyemi

This book has completely let me down, to the point that it hurts my heart. I want to make this as brief and without yelling as I can since I am emotionally tired. Children of Blood and Bone was so fantastic that I awarded it a five-star rating. I'm only giving this three stars because it's not a terrible book and I don't want it to sound like I'm doing it out of respect for Tomi Adeyemi.

Marlon James draws on numerous cultures and knowledge systems - with a lot of creative reimagining - in creating the world and characters in BLRW. There were elements of Yoruba, Massai, Xhosa and Swahili culture and language.

Towards the end Tracker comes across a creature in the forest that is called ‘Nan Si’. The second I read that my brain automatically jumped to the folktales about Anansi - who takes the shape of a spider and is considered the God of knowledge. Then as I’m reading, I start to see how the narrative is being woven from the threads of those stories and my mind was blown.

I think part of the problem people have with this book is that if you don’t have a basic grasp of certain histories, knowledge systems and storytelling forms - it is hard to get into it. BLRW relies heavily on elements of oral history and storytelling (I mean the whole book is a retelling to the Inquisitor).

My main critique is that the narrative style he uses is unnecessarily confusing. I always feel like it’s unwise to have a complex plot further complicated by the complex writing style. It has to be one or the other - otherwise, readers get frustrated and give up. Which maybe is more us problem than a Marlon James problem? I don’t know, I just think it could have been made easier to read.

Here’s the thing about BLRW….it is undeniably a challenging read. It requires your undivided attention - you need to focus to follow along.

The writing is brilliant - after COBAB I expected nothing less tbh. It is fast-paced and there is constant action; I was not bored for even one chapter. Every scene and every interaction has a purpose. One of Tomi Adeyemi’s gifts is her ability to imbed all the key information in the action of the text. Everything you need to know about Orisha and the dynamics between the maji and monarchs, is revealed to you as soon as you need to know it. There are no guessing games; she doesn’t play hide-and-seek with critical information. I appreciate that as a reader.

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There is a richness to the way she writes that really illustrates her knowledge of West African mythology. She also is very respectful about the way she repurposes that mythology to fit her fictional world.

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What Tomi Adeyemi does so well is create characters that are ever-evolving and so complex that you actually never can tell who is right and who is wrong and whose team you are actually on. Without spoiling the book, I. Just. Have to say that that Daenarys Targaryan moment that Amari had at the end had my real real shook.

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Can we talk about that ending??? WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ENDING??? One part of me is like “Really Tomi? Really?” and the other part of me is so so so excited for Book 3 because that ending is opening up a whole new avenue of possibilities. That ending changes EVERYTHING!