Of Children Of Virtue And Vengeance Book review

Almost 2 years after Mable introduced me to Tomi Adeyemi’s Children Of Blood And Bone the I finally got the news I had been waiting for that the Book 2 in the Legacy of Orïsha Children Of Virtue And Vengeance was ripe for the reading.

@Beatonm5 shall we? pic.twitter.com/zRggZdQFc5

— Reading Junkie (@Mablees) January 13, 2020

Tomi Adeyemi’s Children Of Virtue And Vengeance was officially released on December 3 2019 and yesterday I picked it up started reading and didn’t put it down until I stopped  #UNPUTDOWNABLE

Children Of Virtue And Vengeance picks up the story almost exactly where things got left off in the Children of Blood And Bone. There’s a over a year between the books but in the grand narrative of the story, only 2 moons have passed. If you are like me you have probably read hundreds of books between then and now and I recommend that you either re-read the first book or find a detailed synopsis because this books assumes you last read the story yesterday and that all the happenings are fresh in your mind.

I tried to prepare for reading this book by reading my review of Children Of Blood And Bone which you can also check out on the button below:

I absolutely loved Children Of Blood And Bone even if that review hardly gives away any valuable information…

I tried not to include any in your face spoilers but:

**this may contain some spoilers to Children Of Blood And Bone

-The story so far

The land of Orïsha was on the verge of genocide trying to eradicate a tribe of magic casters who could be identified by their distinct white locks. Magic was stripped away from the land leaving the Divîners vulnerable to abuse, slavery and all forms of persecution. A girl, her brother and a princess set on a quest to bring back magic so that the Divîners can get at least get a fighting chance…….

The first book ends just after the ritual to bring back magic, yes magic returns but at a cost and there’s unintended consequences….

**This contains some spoilers for Children Of Virtue and Vengeance

Children Of Virtue And Vengeance

The book follows the original 3 person point of view format, each chapter is from the vantage point of the three key characters. This makes for an interesting character development arc as you get a front row seat into each character’s internal conflict, emotions and motivations.

According to Tomi though she writes fantasy, she writes about things that people have gone through – that they are going to go through today, that they will go through tomorrow.

My books are about pain.

Tomi Adeyemi

And true to that statement the book opens with a funeral pyre and a few sentences into the first chapter there’s this chilling sentence:

“…I wonder why I thought burying one parent would prepare me to bury the next. My hands still shake with all the things left unsaid My throat burns from the screams I force into silent tears….”

Loss is central theme in the plot, how loss can define, make and break you. All the central characters battle with loss and it’s the crucible that moulds their behaviours.

“Too much has passed” he asks
“Too much has been taken away”
Silence descends as I sit back down, thinking of everything and everyone we’ve lost.

 Children of Virtue And Virtue begins with the return of magic to Orïsha but instead of giving the Divîners their fighting chance it turns out some of the nobles are now Tîtans and have their own brand of magic which is more powerful, chaotic and not bound by the laws that limit Divîners magic. Where Divîners magic is a needle wielded with precision and accuracy, Tîtan magic is like a hammer and so the annihilation continues, aggression and retribution, virtue and vengeance

Tomi Adeyemi was trying to show how achieving your goal or purpose may not be quite what you expect and that institution of oppression cannot be toppled simply by having more power, wealth, influence….

In this book Orïsha is on a bloody civil war clash one group wants to protect their power at all costs the other wants to secure their future again at all costs that will probably not stop until one side eradicates the other or both annihilate each other in the effort in a desperate bid for freedom, that has no room for negotiations, whatever the cost…..

That’s pretty much the story, when condensed like that it makes sense and I almost forget the were times I wanted to throw away the book not to mention that you are blind-sided by a sucker punch of a cliff hanger plot twist that has you asking what did I just read… boom white smoke…. and now we have to wait until the third and final installment while I pray geeez Tomi I so hope you did not go there!!!

Why I wanted to throw the book away

Children Of Blood And Bone set the bar extremely high and this felt like one convoluted misunderstanding between the central characters and I wished I could reach into the book and knock some sense into the characters heads and resolve some of their conflict and question their life choices.

“I didn’t have a choice__”
“You always have a choice. You just chose wrong”

The Misguided Prince who cant seem to make up his mind or at least make a decision and stick it through

The Soldier of Death who just wants to flee but still ends up in the thick of things just to kill one more person

The Well-meaning Princess who wants to be a queen, even if it means going the mad queen route

The Queen whose just evil I guess

And the weird love triangle:

The girl with the moonstone, the mercenary who calls her home and the boy who broke her heart….

Even though new magic got introduced Titan magic did quite get its moment in the sun, the explanation was rather rushed or implied and am still at was it blood magic or like blood magic, I mean I thought to practice blood magic you had to cut yourself…

And the animals I was rolling eyes at all the somethingnaires; lionare, hyenaire, leoponaires pantenaire, cheetanaire are we just adding naire to everything now without so much as description?

Why I didn’t put down the book

First I still eagerly await the next installment and hopefully it will redeem itself

Tomi can weave a good story and even if this book my suffer a bit from the classic case of the middle book syndrome, it’s an emotive read and Tomi can make her characters really get under your skin; fascinating and annoying at time.

You shall carry all of us in your heart
We shall live in every breath you take
Every incantation you speak

I still recommend the series so we can discuss this book to death while we wait for the next instalment……

Have you read this book? Are you going to read this book? Never heard of it? Then I suggest you start with Children Of Blood And Bone  

~B