Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

I finally turned the last “page” of Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone yesterday night, on my Kindle, and I waited. For that empty feeling that comes when a tale well told comes to a finish. For that rush when you know that, that book’s sequel is coming soon. But I didn’t feel any of this. I only felt a mixture of disappointment and relief.

For the last couple of months I would open my Goodreads page, everyday, to see yet another glowing review of Children of Blood and Bone. My mind would slurp in anticipation of when I would get to savour this delicious read. When I finally did, I was gutted as early as about 30 or 40 pages in when I felt my attention already flagging, and when I could already recognize so many parallels to Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes. So many, that I made a small list! Readers of Tahir will recognize the two most glaring ones – the frequent use of ‘skies’ and the fact that Zelie’s most precious connection to her mother is her amulet. Fans will recognize many more. Inan reminded me of Elias, Commander Kaea is, of course, Keris Veturius aka The Commandant, Zelie is Helene… see the drift?

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Adeyemi cites Tahir’s book as one of her inspirations, along with a couple of others, so it’s not a surprise that story elements might appear similar. But too many, and it fails to be just an inspiration any more, methinks. Anyway, I did try and ignore these factors, and read the book with an unbiased view.

Though it did get exciting in parts, and I enjoyed some of the writing, I somehow wasn’t hooked. Too many new words, especially for animals, like antelopentai and panthenaire seemed contrived. There were too many repetitions – case in point, the reliving of how Zelie’s mother was taken away and murdered. I couldn’t connect well with the characters either with Inan seeming too vague, and Zelie appearing all-powerful most of the time. And the unnecessary length was the final straw that weakened its appeal for me. If it was leaner and tighter, losing about 100 odd pages, I might have enjoyed it a little more.

I am glad that the AVClub agrees with me, in one of the rare negative reviews I have seen of this book. I also liked this review by Soaring Swords, which gives a dissatisfied Nigerian’s perspective.

I would not be going in for the sequel, sadly. Adeyemi is just 24 and it’s an achievement to have a book published at that age. She does show promise in her turns of phrase, and I am hoping to read more books from her in the future. Just more balanced, and better wrought.

Verdict: Read this before you read An Ember in the Ashes

Rating: 2/5