Children of Blood and Bone

Title: Children of Blood and Bone

Author: Tomi Adeyemi

Performer: Bahni Turpin

Length: 17 hr, 51 min, 58 sec

Series: Legacy of Orïsha, Book 1

Publishing Date/Publisher: 2018 by MacMillan Audio

Format: eAudiobook

Review: Let me start off by saying, this book deserves all the accolades it has been receiving.  The world building in this story is truly phenomenal, and the African mythology woven into it is masterfully done.  Although lengthy, the pacing of the book moves rapidly and by the end, the reader is left wanting more.  Luckily, this book has been announced as part of a series, and there will certainly be more to come.

When I first started this book, I was convinced that I would be rating it with five stars; however, as the plot progressed, I found myself becoming increasingly disenchanted by the romantic angle that suddenly emerged midway through the story.  The romance not only seemed unprecedented, but rather forced.  Although I could see what the author was trying to do, it just did not seem to fit right with what I knew about the characters.  I think a romance such as this would need a lot more build up to be plausible, but it was sped along in the interest of furthering the plot.  It is not necessarily that I did not want the characters to end up together, but that I think it could have been done better.  For this reason, I lowered my rating to four stars.

Regardless of how I feel about the romantic subplot, I found this to be a complex and well-written story.  As a history major, I could appreciate the parallels to real life events such as apartheid, colonialism, segregation, etc.  There are many layers to this story, and many layers to each character.  It will be exciting to see where this story goes.

As an additional note, I HIGHLY recommend enjoying this book in audiobook format.  Some stories are just meant to be shared orally, especially those with deep roots in traditional mythology.  Bahni Turpin does an excellent job creating personas for each character, and the accents she created really bring the story to life and lend a little something extra to the listening experience.

Reader: Bekah

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