Children of Virtue and Vengeance

I read this in two days, because I needed to know what's happening.
I was a bit annoyed at the constant shifting of plans and opinions between Amari and Zélie. Everytime one changed their mind the other did too and they wouldn't just agree on anything. Sometimes when I read a new chapter it wasn't entirely clear which voice I was reading, as both of them were too similar.
I wasn't a fan of the cliffhanger/ending at all, because it seemed very out if the blue. Not sure if this is just because it's supposed to be a trilogy. You could've wrapped this up nicely in just a duology too.

Review will be live December 26th latest.

This review is hard to write without excessive use of caps lock and expletives purely for all the action, twists and turns Tomi threw into this book 🙈

Just like its predecessor, Children of Virtue and Vengeance is brilliant! The sequel is just as special as the original and I loved being back in Orisha with Zelie and Amari and everyone else ❤

The characters are just as strong and conflicted, potentially even more so 😆 their relationships built, destroyed and rebuilt. Empires rising and falling.

The plot is fast paced and thrilling. It is action packed with the right amount of drama and heartache but still a nice amount of romance and heartwarming platonic relationships built up that leave you seriously invested in the characters 😍

If you haven't read any of Tomi's books I heartily recommend you do ❤

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙬𝙤. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙚."

Children of Blood and Bone: 5 ⭐️
Children of Virtue and Vengeance: 4 ⭐️

This book was intense! It was entertaining, full of heartbreak, strong world building, and a magic system that had developed so much from the first book.

I really loved Roen and Zelie's relationship in this. But I am forever team Inan! He makes a lot of awful decisions, but at least he’s trying. And after that ending I don’t trust Roen at all. Amari was my favourite, which is surprising because she messes up BADLY, but I loved how she was finally thinking for herself, and fighting back. 

The main problem I had with this book is that the plot never really progressed, and was very repetitive. The ending was also VERY sudden, but is obviously setting up for the next book. Plus, Inan and Zelie were super annoying. Inan could never make up his mind as he was always influenced by his mother. And Zelie is so consumed by hate towards him, that it prevented her from ever moving forward. But the letters Inan wrote were so sweet! He's definitely redeeming himself.

I really enjoyed Children of Virtue and Vengeance. It was an immersive read, and I cannot wait for the last book, especially after that awful cliffhanger.

Recommend for: anyone after a fantasy full of rich world and character building.

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com.

Children of Virtue and Vengence picks up where it's predecessor left off. Zelie and co have succeeded in bringing magic back to Orisha, and now their sights are set on the monarchy who have brought them nothing but pain. Not only has magic been brought back to the maji, but some of the nobles who have magical ancestry within them. The fight for Orisha will not be as easy as first thought now that there is a new magical foe to face. The fight rages on and Zelie a tempts to put Amari on the throne before Orisha crumbles underneath them. Can Zelie lead the maji to victory before it's to late?

Actual rating of 3.75

When I saw this available for request I nearly died. Then when I was accepted to review it I thought I was dreaming. I've got so many eARC galleys still waiting to be read, but I just had to push this one to the front of the queue. I absolutely fell in love with the first instalment, it really touched on some real world issues in a YA fantasy setting that was incredibly relevant to what has been happening over the last few years.

The characters are the same that we fell in love with in CoBaB, though I have to admit, I wanted to simultaneously shake, slap and throttle three of them. For a good majority of the book, Zelie is wallowing in self pity and is really laying on the woe is me. I'm not going to lie, it really began to bug the hell out of me, I get it, she's gone through a lot, but there is no time to wallow and cry about it, we have a monarchy to take down and a new world to usher in!! And Amari, oh Amari, I found myself absolutely appalled by a lot of her decisions, her opinions are valid but come on woman, THINK!! Ask yourself, "would my rather have done this?" If the answer is yes, DON'T DO IT!!! I have however developed a major soft spot for Roën.

There's not a great deal of worldbuilding happening in this one as it was mostly set up in the first one, however we are treated to a beautiful setting that is ancient to the maji and I adored it. Some truths come to light about the war and such, and while it did give me a holy crap moment, I was not surprised by the revelations.

I did find the pacing at times to be lagging a bit and it felt like it took me WAY too long to get through something I was so excited about. Granted, I've had a lot going on lately, it still took me a while to get through it. I feel that the story really ramped it up in the last 20% hence the higher rating, and the cliff hanger has definitely left me hanging for the next one!!

Apologies for the short review, I've been impacted by the bushfires ravaging Australia at the moment and am typing this on my tablet, so short and sweet is where it's at right now x

The Kingdom of Orïsha has been decimated in a centuries long conflict between Divĩner communities and the monarchy of Orïsha. Zélie Adebola has empowered her community, her ashê laden blood igniting a revolution against the oppression and genocide of the monarchy who have ravaged her community, her country and Zélie resolves to end their reign.

Zélie is a remarkable character, compassionate and intelligent, although a reluctant revolutionary. In Children of Blood and Bone, Zélie resurrected the ashê of the Divĩners. Burners, Tiders and Reapers no longer defenceless against the monarchy. In Children of Virtue and Vengeance, Zélie is a warrior seeking retribution and although fiercely shielding her community, she's vulnerable and grieves for the life that has been taken from her. Zélie's distress is palpable, she's survived the genocide of her community, her friends and family and now Zélie has become the Soldier of Death, a symbol of resilience among the Orïshan. Amari Olúborí is heir to the Orïshan throne and although Zélie harbours an intense animosity towards the monarchy, she advocates for Amari's ascension..

Zélie and Amari are grieving. Amari for the loss of her father and Brother, Inan the Crown Prince. Isolated and resented for her privileged heritage, Amari is determined to represent all Orïshans and bring to fruition her brother's legacy. Rebels have infiltrated the royal palatial home and Queen Nehanda is gathering a legion of Tîtáns, the sacred ritual igniting nobility abilities.

In Children of Virtue and Vengeance, Winders, Connectors, Burners, Grounders, Lighters and Healers have ignited to join the resistance, cooperating as the Lyika rebellion. The Lyika are striving to eradicate the monarchy and the disconnection of caste divisions before the nation is ravaged by conflict. Beneath the conflict both Zélie and Amari feel the tension and ache of a fractured friendship and although both young women have developed into respective leaders, they've lost the capacity to communicate with one another.

Zélie's brother Tzain is a wonderfully gentle character and although he's enamoured by Amari, is unwavering in support of his sister. Roën is as bewildering as he is delightful and a significant character in Children of Virtue and Vengeance. Although he seemingly cares for Zélie, Roën's allegiance still remains with his mercenary crewmen. Throughout the narrative, we're introduced to the Lyika rebellion, characters in which Zélie forms an attachment. Zélie adopts a motivational and motherly role towards the younger, inexperienced members of the Lyika, creating tenderhearted and gentle relationships with those she pledges to protect.

The kingdom of Orïsha ignites discussion of segregation, displacement, discrimination, racism and genocide, parallel to our own world. Nobility and the monarch are affluent, swathed within the city of Lagos. Communities blessed by the Sky Mother are historically oppressed and persecuted by the Orïshan monarchy, living within impoverished communities. The Raid decimated families, many still enduring intergenerational trauma.

The mysticism and mythology of the Legacy of Orïsha series is breathtaking. Transcendent and exhilarating, Children of Virtue and Vengeance is ethereal and beautifully written.

As promised by the cliffhanger ending of Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi is back in the second book of her hit YA Legacy of Orïsha series. The sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, picks up one month after the world-changing events of the first book. After overturning the status quo, the sequel delivers more of what made the first book so successful with its young adult target market. For those who have not read the first book and are interested in this series this review will contain some mild spoilers for that book.
Magic user Zélie has managed to bring magic back to the Kingdom of Orïsha but at great and traumatic personal cost. Her father is dead as, it seems, is her frenemy Prince Inan who ended up betraying her. And while she has been successful in returning magic to the common people who can be recognised by their white hair, the spell has also given magic back to the aristocracy who now have a white streak in their hair. So rather than redressing the existing power imbalance in her country where the magic users (or maji) were reviled, a new, magic fuelled imbalance has arisen. Her comrade, former princess Amari, who now also has magic abilities, believes she can heal this rift and become a queen who unites all of the people. But her first major speech to the people is disrupted by her mother (Queen Nehanda – who turns out to be as black a villain as her dead husband) who’s aim is to use the new power of the ruling class to finally put an end to the maji.
The stage is then set for huge set piece magic battles as the two sides dig in against each other. Each time it feels like some progress will be made towards peace, the weight of historical animosity comes to the fore and the battle intensifies another notch. And these battles are epic, the range of magical powers (power over air, water, fire, earth, spirits etc) give this volume even more of a Last Airbender/Legend of Korra feel than the previous volume. But the magic-fuelled battles are epic and well handled by Adeyemi.
While it once again wears its YA fantasy influences on its sleeve, this series stands apart due to its well realised African setting. Much like Tade Thompson’s recent Wormwood trilogy, Adeyemi does more than just locate the action in an alternative Africa but uses the often bloody colonial history as the basis and template for her fantasy world. She uses this world to explore the often violent imbalance between rich and poor and, in particular, the pervasive nature of cycles of violence. When this book opens it is the newly awakened maji who have turned to violence to take their resentment out on the aristocracy. After that each step is just another rehashing and step-up of historical grievances leaving plenty of bodies on both sides.
But this is still a YA book where the main characters are teenagers. This means that much of the action is driven by young people having to step up and make hard decisions. There is plenty here about loyalty to your friends, to your tribe, to your people. This is particularly the case for royal Amari who tries to find her place among the maji but also to follow her greater vision of ruling a united Orïsha. Her boyfriend, and Zélie’s brother Tzain is particularly torn between his sister’s quest for revenge and Amari’s sometimes questionable methods for achieving peace. Zélie herself, still hurting from her relationship with Inan, also finds herself a roguish Han Solo-esque new love interest just to complicate matters a little further.
Children of Virtue and Vengeance continues to flesh out and test the limits of Adeyemi’s world anchored by engagingly flawed characters and plenty of thrilling moments, huge battles and major revelations. But after all that, there is little resolution here. This is the second book of a trilogy and given the first book ended on a cliffhanger that upended the world it is no surprise that this book does too in a way that will leave fans hanging for the final instalment.

I was SO excited for this sequel but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. I enjoyed it but didn't love it. Similar to the first book in the series, I thought the pacing was a bit off and I just couldn't really get into the world building. Two books into the series, and I still can't quite explain to you how the magic system works or the motivations of the characters or how the rivalries and relationships all came to develop (other than one side has magic and wants to preserve it, while the other side hates magic and wants to destroy it). It also jumps straight into the action following the end of the first book without any recap so I felt a little lost right from the beginning (I would recommend a re-read of at least the ending of the first book before diving into this one!) Having said that, there is so much action in this book which made for a great page turner. I loved how the author explored the idea of vengeance and the cycle of constantly wanting to get revenge against someone who has wronged you in the past. I will still read the third book and am super excited for the movie!

"I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review"

After battling the impossible, Zélie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha. But the ritual was more powerful than they could’ve imagined, reigniting the powers of not only the maji, but of nobles with magic ancestry, too.
Now, Zélie struggles to unite the maji in an Orïsha where the enemy is just as powerful as they are. But when the monarchy and military unite to keep control of Orïsha, Zélie must fight to secure Amari's right to the throne and protect the new maji from the monarchy's wrath.
With civil war looming on the horizon, Zélie finds herself at a breaking point: she must discover a way to bring the kingdom together or watch as Orïsha tears itself apart.

Wow, this book messed with my emotions in a way I was not expecting I will admit I enjoyed the first book but this one has me more invested and wanting to keep reading so I knew what would happen next. I had no idea whose side I was on and who I was angry at because things changed so quickly and rolls swapped all throughout the book. The characters angered me all throughout the book but I have to say that even when saying that I still wanted to know how it was going to backfire on them each and every time.

The story was additive and gripping from the very first page and has left with a cliffhanger I was not expecting and has left me needing the next book right now. I ended up rating this 4.5 stars and the only reason it wasn't a 5 star book was because I wanted to yell at the characters all the time and I think I got a few more grey hairs because of them.