Children of Blood and Bone

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"I read @tomi_adeyemi's brilliant novel Children of Blood and Bone while I was on vacation. It was an exhilarating read on many levels--a thrilling page-turner that's also deeply moving and incisive." John Green author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE They killed my mother. They took our magic. They tried to bury us. NOW WE RISE. Zelie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orisha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie's Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and killed, leaving Zelie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zelie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zelie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good. Danger lurks in Orisha, where snow leoponaires prowl, and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zelie herself as she struggles to control her powers - and her growing feelings for an enemy. As seen on Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show Book Club LONGLISTED FOR THE SILVER INKY AWARD 2019 PRAISE FOR CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE "Storms the boundaries of imagination" The New York Times "A brutal, beautiful tale of revolution, faith, and star-crossed love" Publisher's Weekly "Epic fantasy YA debut of magic and war" Guardian "A luxe tale of magic, adventure, and forbidden love... Fans of Leigh Bardugo and Game of Thrones will gobble this up" BuzzFeed "Adeyemi's lush world-building and consummate plotting breathes new life into a YA fantasy epic" Observer "A masterful debut." Melinda Salisbury, author of The Sin Eater's Daughter "Epic" Marie Lu, author of Legend "A phenomenon" Entertainment Weekly "A fantasy that promises to be enthralling and to totally ensnare you within its world, plot, and characters" BookRiot "Poised to be this year's big fantasy breakout... [an] epic story of family, love and magic" Stylist "A timely study on race, colorism, and power and injustice" Kirkus "Epic in scale and size... it's a whirlwind read" The Bookseller

Tomi Adeyemi is a Nigerian-American writer and creative-writing coach based in San Diego, California. After graduating from Harvard University with an honours degree in English Literature, she studied West African mythology and culture in Salvador, Brazil. When not writing novels or watching Scandal, Tomi teaches and blogs about creative writing at tomiadeyemi.com, named one of the 101 best websites for writers by Writer's Digest.

Black Girl Magic indeed! It's no surprise that this epic trilogy opener has already been optioned for film. Full of cinematic action sequences (the most memorable of them set underwater and employing an army of the dead) and creatures worthy of Star Wars (horse-sized 'lionaires' have saber teeth and horns), it storms the boundaries of imagination. Yet it also confronts the conscience. Adeyemi's brutally depicted war between the noble, lighter-skinned kosidans, and the enslaved, darker-skinned majis poses thought-provoking questions about race, class, and authority that hold up a warning mirror to our sharply divided society. * The New York Times * Infused with rich mythology of west Africa, Adeyemi's lush world-building and consummate plotting breathes new life into a YA fantasy epic. Themes of oppression and racism resonate all too strongly in today's political climate. The cliffhanger ending may leave some readers reeling but, rest assured, this is first in a trilogy. * Observer * Epic fantasy YA debut of magic and war. * Guardian * Tomi Adeyemi has created a lush, vibrant world, full of legend and lore, more than enough to sate even the most ravenous fantasy fan. She deserves special commendation for steering away from the creatures so often shoe-horned into fantasy novels, and instead creating her own magical beasts, who fit seamlessly into the narrative. There are swoony moments, shocking moments, terrifying moments, and heartbreaking moments. It's a masterful debut, and one many readers will adore. -- Melinda Salisbury, author Sin Eater's Daughter This highly anticipated fantasy novel earned its 23-year-old Nigerian-American author a seven-figure deal. The first instalment of a three-part young adult trilogy, it draws on African myth and folklore and was reportedly inspired by the Black Lives Matters movement. The film rights were snapped up before the book was even published. * Irish Independent * In one of the most highly-anticipated fantasy releases this year, Tomi Adeyemi spins a luxe tale of magic, adventure, and forbidden love. Zelie lives in a world once ruled by magic, but mass-murders decreed by a new king have all but stamped her people out, and she has a narrow window to bring the magic of her lands back to life. Fans of Leigh Bardugo and Game of Thrones will gobble this up. * BuzzFeed * Epic in scale and size... it's a whirlwind read thanks to immersive world-building, powerful characters and ferocious plotting. Themes of prejudice and oppression are particularly poignant in the current political climate. * The Bookseller * The Harry Potter I should have had. * MostlyLit Podcast * All our bookselling instincts tell us Children of Blood and Bone is a book apart. Posted to YouTube, author Tomi Adeyemi's surge of tearful joy at seeing her debut in the flesh instantly went viral, lending something very real and important to the long journey of her novel finally finding print. This is a tale brimming with courage, injustice, magic and star-crossed love, as young Zelie comes to terms with the extraordinary gifts she has been forced to keep hidden and the revenge that burns in her heart. With sweeping, prescient themes of race and heritage, Children of Blood and Bone is poised to be the breakout YA hit of 2018. * Waterstones Loves * This year's big fantasy breakout... [an] epic story of family, love and magic. * Stylist * A hugely enjoyable escapist story that makes you re-examine the world around you. It is a miraculous achievement. -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave * Guardian * Hugely gripping and original... Three perspectives, complex world-building and superlative characterisation make this a must for fantasy fans. -- Imogen Russell Williams * Metro * This book gripped me from page one. The magic, the characters and raw history in this book blew me away. Adeyemi's world building is fantastic, I felt completely immersed in the savage yet beautiful world of Orisha that Zelie lives in." [...] The first thing I did after reading this book - instead of marking it read on my Goodreads page- was google when the next one is coming out. -- Laura Andrews * Yorkshire Evening Post * Immerses you in a fantasy world of magic and myth. * Belfast Telegraph * A meaty, multi-voiced epic with a west African-inspired setting. * Guardian * We're in an entirely other culture - a Nigeria-inspired kingdom of magic and mythology - but are utterly at home. The first chapter, alone, is so rich in detail, action, scene and character. And wonderful prose. * i News *