Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi

I won’t let your ignorance silence my pain

*cue me tearing my hair out*

Okay, so I saw a lot (and I mean a LOT) of positive reviews for this one on Goodreads, so I absolutely could not wait to pick it up.

The reviewers were raving, the cover was gorgeous, the blurb promised the world…and what did I get?

A blender full of massacred YA tropes.

Courage does not always roar. Valor does not always shine.

(Come on, admit it – there’s at least 10 YA books who have use quotes like that).

Before I fully go off on this one, there were a few things I liked.

1) The scenery and setting was really well done. I loved the descriptions of the lands and all the details that brought the smaller moments to life. It helped immerse me into this world so different from my own.

(BUT NOTICE – how my favorite thing about the book is the scenery. The scenery! It’s never good when the background is the best part of your book!)

2) I also loved the concept – the whole rise up against the racism and oppression of the magic folks. Combine that with the setting, and I was so intrigued by how the book was going to turn out.

(BUT NOTICE – that the overall theme is rising up against racism and oppression…it’s not particularly unique in the YA world, is it?)

That being said, I was still rather excited when I finally got my hands on it.

And what was served to me? Petty squabbles and predictable plots.

Petty Squabbles and Other General Annoyances

You’re always screwing things up. Why stop now?

One of my greatest pet peeves is when banter becomes arguments. I love a good exchange of wits, but that often requires…wit.

They just felt like childish caricatures of YA characters. They each seemed to have a few phrases that were repeated ad nauseam throughout the book.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

Come on, really?

First of all, how often can that physically happen to someone without them passing out at least once? Second of all, that phrase…ugh. How did the editors let her get away with that cliche phrase?

In addition, the love felt very weak to me.

Love is too strong, too intense, for what I feel. For what I am allowed to feel.

Combine that with the fact that it happened over the course of hours…ugh.

It just felt so over the top that I honestly didn’t have the energy to care…and once that happens, it becomes very hard for me to enjoy the book.

Predictable Plots

They don’t hate you, my child. They hate what you were meant to become.

Destiny, limited timeline, find your true love….yadda yadda yadda.

Let it be known that I am NOT good at predicting books. I’m terrible.

When I was reading the Harry Potter books, I went into each book fully expecting Harry to die. (Mind you, I was like 12…but still, you’d think that I would’ve picked up on how the series is named after him, and killing him off in the third one wouldn’t make sense).

So, if I (of all people) can figure out where you are taking the book, then there’s a problem.

I wouldn’t have minded so much if it was just here and there. It was just constant.

The characters decide to do something, I have a little prediction pop up in my head, and then BOOM, that same thing happens. For 500+ pages.

And it’s not just general plot progress.

The character’s development, actions and decisions all felt very choreographed.

There wasn’t much (if anything) that surprised me throughout the book…which made the 500 pages feel so. dang. long.

Overall

I don’t know, maybe I just had a bad day with this one but I honestly don’t think I can keep going with this series. I’m done. I’m out.Interested in this one from Tomi Adeyemi? Buy it here:  Amazon