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A review by rmarcher
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
4.0
EDIT - 9/22/20
After remembering how I rated another book that I didn't personally connect with but appreciated for its craft, I've decided to give this book two ratings
Official rating: 4 stars
Personal rating: 3 stars
I also somehow managed to forget to mention that I loved the sibling dynamics, both between Zélie and Tzain and between Inan and Amari. Those relationships are a big part of what carried me through this whole book.
ORIGINAL REVIEW - 9/19/20
It's not you, it's me.
There were three main things that prevented me from enjoying this book.
1. The magic system just wasn't my thing. There's no denying that it was skillfully constructed and well-written; it just wasn't my cup of tea.
2. The relationship between Zélie and Inan. This was the biggest thing, and after a while I started to genuinely hate it because it was so detracting from my enjoyment of the book. Their knowledge of each other felt cheated, through magic, they had nothing in common, and their relationship focused too much on the physical. I couldn't get invested in it, and to add insult to injury it dominated the book for a solid chunk in the last half.
3. There were a couple of spots where the worldbuilding and worldview seemed to venture a little close to the real world and felt a little too much like social commentary and broke immersion, for me. That's totally just a personal taste thing; I don't think there was anything wrong with how it was portrayed.
Overall, I can't rate this higher than 3 stars (maybe 3.5) because I just personally didn't enjoy it all that much. However, the craft and quality of the book is unmistakable, and I appreciate the themes Adeyemi tackled.
After remembering how I rated another book that I didn't personally connect with but appreciated for its craft, I've decided to give this book two ratings
Official rating: 4 stars
Personal rating: 3 stars
I also somehow managed to forget to mention that I loved the sibling dynamics, both between Zélie and Tzain and between Inan and Amari. Those relationships are a big part of what carried me through this whole book.
ORIGINAL REVIEW - 9/19/20
It's not you, it's me.
There were three main things that prevented me from enjoying this book.
1. The magic system just wasn't my thing. There's no denying that it was skillfully constructed and well-written; it just wasn't my cup of tea.
2. The relationship between Zélie and Inan. This was the biggest thing, and after a while I started to genuinely hate it because it was so detracting from my enjoyment of the book. Their knowledge of each other felt cheated, through magic, they had nothing in common, and their relationship focused too much on the physical. I couldn't get invested in it, and to add insult to injury it dominated the book for a solid chunk in the last half.
3. There were a couple of spots where the worldbuilding and worldview seemed to venture a little close to the real world and felt a little too much like social commentary and broke immersion, for me. That's totally just a personal taste thing; I don't think there was anything wrong with how it was portrayed.
Overall, I can't rate this higher than 3 stars (maybe 3.5) because I just personally didn't enjoy it all that much. However, the craft and quality of the book is unmistakable, and I appreciate the themes Adeyemi tackled.