The first 6 chapters had me hooked!! I can't wait to read the full book. The writing is so beautiful and the world building and character development is amazing.

OMG THIS WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!! I WAS SO UPSET WHEN I GOT TO THE END OF THE SAMPLE!! PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME MORE GIVE ME MORRRRREEE.

Since I only read the preview and not the whole book, I wasn't going to give a star rating. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free preview.

The cover is really eye-catching. The start of the book alternates mainly between 2 POVs, both young female protagonists. Zelie lives a life of prosecution, her mother was hung and her father beaten. She is in constant fear due to being a diviner, which is seen as being akin to 'maggots' in her land. Amari, in contrast, is a princess who lives in luxury but is under the strict control of her parents and station. Things become exciting when the two of them cross paths after Amari steals an important magical scroll artifact and becomes a fugitive.

Racial diversity is prominent in the book, with emphasis on dark-skinned people. There is even a short mention of how the darker skinned noblewomen bleach their skin or cover themselves from the sun to become paler. This is a little disappointing to me because in a fantasy world, why should the views from our world transpose there? Related to that, the author has written animals such as 'snow leopanaires', 'black panthenaires' and 'hyenaires' in her fantasy novel. Why not just call them leopards, panthers and hyenas instead of adding unnecessary suffixes since they're so readily recognizable?

Note that this is a YA fantasy novel. I'm sure Zelie and Amari will have interesting adventures for the rest of the book.

Review of the first 72 pages:

As a frequent fantasy reader, this book felt comfortably familiar to me, like returning to your hometown after a long absence, even as the author, characters, and location were completely new to me.

The book seems to follow two young women. Zelie is the descendant of a small minority that once wielded magic, but who has lost their ability and become a persecuted underclass subject to arbitrary harassment, abuse, and even slavery and rape. She struggles to take care of her brother and her brain-damaged father, secretly learning defensive combat.

Amari is a young noblewoman distressed by the treatment of Zelie's people, who runs away from her life of privilege and embarks on a dangerous adventure to try and make a difference. In her great escape, she crosses paths with Zelie, who protects her.

I'm looking forward to seeing what these dangerous and brave young ladies get into.

Wow... Just, wow. This excerpt was only a couple of chapters long, but the story still felt oh so rich and fascinating. For once, this is a YA fantasy that doesn't feel inspired by European folklore, and the protagonist is a woman of colour, which is desperately needed in YA. I don't feel like I can properly summarize this book having only read a few chapters, but I can tell that this has the potential of being the next big thing. The writing is lush and rich, and I grew attached to the protagonist, Zélie, as early on as the first chapter. I couldn't stop reading this once I started it, and I can't believe I'll have to wait for so long before I get to read the rest of it. Still, I know this will be worth the wait. Honestly, I've fallen in love with this story.

(Preview Excerpt only)
This sneak peek caught my interest and is on my to-read list. Magic and mystery combine to form a tantalizing peek at a new book that is first in a projected series. For fans of Harry Potter.

The first five chapters of Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone are the most stressful things that I’ve ever read. And believe me, they’re so worth it.

When I first heard of Adeyemi’s success and talent (the bidding war and the upcoming movie), people were comparing her to George R. R. Martin. I get it. I do. At this point, when faced with an epic fantasy series full to the brim with political intrigue and the kind of vivid writing that leaves you able to visualize the world, Martin’s works are kind of the “go-to” for that sort of thing.

But Adeyemi’s writing is next level amazing. (I’m not going to be like “She’s better than Martin” but like…)

In the five-chapter preview, we’re introduced to three very different characters in different roles of life. There’s Zélie, a diviner trained to fight against the guards that oppress her and others like her in the name of King Saran. Then, there’s King Saran’s two children: Amari, who comes face to face with ugliness in her family, and her brother Inan, a young man who appears to be torn between duty and desire.

All three of the POV characters introduced in the first five chapters are fascinating figures that I want to know more about. The world they live in is dark and distressing, but even in these five chapters, I got the feeling that we’re going to see so much more unfold as the book (and subsequent series) goes on.

I think that the best thing about The Children of Blood and Bone is seeing multiple characters on the page that look like me and my family. Epic fantasy series aren’t exactly known for their stunning racial diversity and it’s been hard to get into the subgenre of fantasy considering it’s yet another one that I can’t picture myself in.

But I can with this book. I can visualize the characters and the setting they live in without having to jump through hoops like whoa. I know that when the movie comes out, it’ll be like Black Panther where I sob all over the place from the first trailer on (but better) because Black people – especially Black women – don’t get to be the Chosen One. We don’t get to save the day or have a prince (maybe) fall in love with us.

We deserve that.

We do.

And Adeyemi delivers in a big way.

You can check out the synopsis for Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone on her website along with the first few chapters of the novel. If you read the preview and like what you see, consider not only pre-ordering the book, but spreading the word!

I really liked the sample of this story and look forward to reading the whole novel when it is available.

I really want the whole book now. This preview was not nearly enough!

First of all, let me say that this is probably the largest 'excerpt I've ever received: it's a 72-page PDF file, which is more than enough to tell you whether or not this book is for you. Luckily for me, I found the writing and story to be entirely captivating, and I can safely say that I will DEFINITELY be picking up the full book at the first chance I get!

More like 2.5 stars. This was quite a generous sized sample! The story has a really interesting plot and setting, but for me the execution fell flat. I wasn't a fan of the writing style; first person narration is not my favorite and takes a lot to be done well in my opinion. The writing felt novice and conflicts in the story were resolved too easily. The main character, Zélie, was flat and annoying: nothing special really about her. Amari and Inan have some potential for growth and are set up to be interesting characters. The King seems to be one of those villains who's evil for the sake of being evil; that doesn't make a good antagonist to me. The magic system and the mythology of this world are intriguing; further exploration would definitely add to the story. The setting was quite interesting as well and would benefit from deeper world building. Overall, this was an okay story, or at least the glimpse into the story we get from this sample. It does seem like the story will get better as it goes on, but the beginning isn't a strong one.

I requested this not realizing it was a preview excerpt, and I avoid preview excerpts like the plague, b/c they make my eyes twitchy.

Within the first pages, it's clear that Children of Blood and Bone is going to be fresh, brutal and powerful. A few POVs are introduced in this sampler, but rather than trying to squeeze them all in right at the start, each character's perspective is introduced as is naturally melds with the storyline. I'm eager to see how the magi culture develops as Zélie attempts to bring back magic and reclaim what has been taken from her people. The idea that the diviners' darker skin represents power and heavenly blessings is a powerful one. Clearly, every aspect of characterization and cultural development in Children of Blood and Bone has been meticulously thought out.

This book was so good! I can't wait for the full book to come out. I'm so excited!!

I've only read the first 6 chapters of this, but it was a good beginning and I can't wait to read the rest! I enjoyed the world building and the three points of view I've seen so far.

This is the first time I have ever read/reviewed an excerpt. It's a strange experience. I can say for sure that I enjoyed this first few chapters and DEFINITELY plan to read the rest of this book once it is published. It was a great and exciting start - already there is danger, a little romantic intrigue, beautifully begun world-building, multi-faceted characters that I am very interested in learning more about, and a fascinating pull on a mythical African-esque culture that I feel like is not widely enough represented in literature (in general, but also specifically in fantasy and YA fantasy).

I do hesitate to give a full 5 star review to the excerpt because I feel that I do not know enough at this this point. For one, as I mentioned, the world-building has started off really well (super and fantastically original). But there are a lot of details and I am still in the "learning" stage of reading this book. If it's fully rendered throughout the rest of the book then that will be fine (great, even), but depending on how much more we get (or not) will really affect my overall feel for the novel. I have similar feelings towards the character development. And honestly, plot-wise, so far it's definitely paced wonderfully, but it is possible that it's too run of the mill. It was fun to read, but nothing that hasn't been done before, in some way. So the way the characters and world get developed will be the greatest indicator of plot success (for me) and I don't have enough to go on there.

I realize that this is just an excerpt and so that's the nature of reading it, and ii for sure peaked my interest enough that I WILL be finishing the book. So in that respect, it definitely did it's job! But for now, I will hedge my feelings with the 4-star review and look forward to hopefully bumping that up after I finish the rest!

"Courage does not always roar, she said that day. Valor does not always shine."

Even though this was only a brief six chapter introduction to the Children Of Blood and Bone, this was the beginning of a magnificent story. A story filled with gorgeous imagery, rich history, and a intriguing new world. The story starts in the land of Orïsha. A land where the maji, a group with gorgeous dark skin with bright white hair, one held magical powers.

Due to their magical powers, the maji were seen as a threat and were executed. That was the day the magic of the world disappeared. Only the divîners, children of the fallen maji are left. They divîners are treated like second class citizens, some treated even sold as slaves. They are looked down not only for who they are but the threat of what they could be. We are introduced to Zélie, who is a divîner. A girl who wants to stand up for what is right, who wants to fight back against the injustice, and a girl who watched her mother be murdered for being a maji. The chapters are told from both Zélie and Amari the king's daughter, points of view. Both are from opposite worlds but circumstances bring them together. Just the brief introduction had me excited for more. Excited to what is next. It left me eager to know what really happened to the majis power and what is to come if the powers return. This was great start to the new world.

“You know how to win,” she says. “Just make sure you know when to fight.”

The preview chapters were amazing! I cannot wait to read the rest I need to know how it ends! The action kept going and it just completely hooks you in. I honestly cannot wait until I can get the whole thing!

Can we talk about this cover?! Rich Deas has a great deal of gorgeous work already in published covers, but this is truly one of my new favorites as I just find myself drawn to high contrast covers in the first place, while this is particularly stunning. I can't wait to physically hold it in my hands.

From the six chapter preview I've read, it is apparent this is no standard template medieval fantasy. We enter a truly imaginative secondary world where three young individuals (so far) are each struggling to navigate the challenges of the social identity they were born with, following along with each of their unique perspectives. Right from the beginning the story hooks you in completely with conflict and a quick pace, even so the transitions between characters are not jarring at all. Worth specifically noting some really engaging hand to hand combat sequences, which is often hard to portray in writing, but well done here.

It's easy to see this is going to be an impressive debut effort from Tomi Adeyemi, I feel will likely be enjoyable to readers of all ages. I'll be waiting with anticipation for the release.