#COVAV

[frantastichenrik]

Sincere question why does the "Legacy of Orïsha" trilogy lack a fandom? Like yeah, I see people praising the books, and I myself enjoy them (have not read #3 yet) , but there is not a huge following, not many fanfic or fan art) when the 1st book came out I was looking forward to seeing a new fandom grow but it never happen. I wonder what is going to happen when the movies come out?

[thekidsarentallright12]

You know I kinda hated the way Zelie was depicted with Eurocentric hair in the cover of Children of Blood & Bone series, but then I realized that’s kinda the point. Her hair contains her magic so by the time her wild mane of curls returns to her by the end of the book it means she has her power is back and I think that’s a beautiful message to send to little Black girls. Still hate the way that message went right over fan artists heads

[margieisntmyname]

legacy of orisha

desperately need someone to yap to about all my unrealized hopes and dreams for this series. Genuinely why did it end that way

[incorrectchildrenofbloodandbone]

I've finished Children of Blood and Bone and I feel satisfied knowing Saran is dead.

But where the fuck is Inan? I never got any confirmation of what happened to his dumbass. (He made me so mad I swear)

Reading Saran's death was one of my favorite parts of the book tbh. Have you started the second book yet? CoBaB made me so angry at him but CoVaV made me feel kind of bad for him, like every time he was there I just wanted him to take a nap or eat a meal. Dude was stressed as hell. I was still mad at him though lmao

[ba-mi-soro-orisha]

Sept 22, 2023

Put it in your calendars!!! Tentative release day for Children of Anguish and Anarchy, book 3 in the Children of Blood and Bone series!!!

[cobabquotes]

“Not like that," Na'imah instructs, shaking her head so hard that a shower of orange flower petals fall from her curls. Dragonflies orbit her head as she repositions a maji's hands around her cheetanaire's temples. "Feel the connection.”

Children of Virtue and Vengeance, written by Tomi Adeyemi

[rewrite-canon]

tragic / doomed sibling roulette

[granny-weatherwax]

This comment has me so confused. It's tragic because they lost both their parents in really painful ways and having to be separated from the only family they have left would be awful? The whole point is that this is tragic because they're family?

Does anyone know if Tzain was with Zelie at the end of CoV&V? We know Amari was and id be absolutely heartbroken if the ship was only magic-users and Tzain and Zelie we're separated

[cassandors]

im reading children of virtue and vengeance and i just cannot with inan he's so.

[teanderthalrex]

I finished reading the egalley given to me of Children of Anguish and Anarchy, the third and final installment of the Orisha trilogy, by Tomi Adeyemi.

It's no secret that I was disappointed by book two. I thought a lot of Zélie's actions seemed out of character from who we met in Children of Blood and Bone. I also didn't like Amari's storyline but I was willing to go with it in hopes it would have some kind of redemption or doubling down or any kind of payoff in this book. That cliffhanger was not something I thought we'd have to wait this long to have not-really-resolved.

So, was all that waiting worth it? Sadly, not for me. I loved parts of the world-building in Children of Anguish and Anarchy. I did. But other aspects, which I will discuss below, left me underwhelmed. The final book gets a 3/5 (2.5/5 really but rounded up bc I love these characters and I was just happy to see them again.)

Content warnings: Obviously, the usual violence, abuse, and death but also specifically at the beginning there's a lot of this Atlantic slave trade allegory and imagery, so be ready for that.

I wanted more interpersonal stories between the characters we already had and to deal with the outcome of the civil war from book two. So much of what happened in Children of Virtue and Vengeance is brushed aside in this book to make room for a new epic tale spanning three different empires. Zélie and Amari do NOT actually talk about what Amari did in book two, Amari and Tzain don't really talk either. Zélie and Inan are the only two that still vaguely kept the tension they had in CoVaV but again, it barely has the time it needs between everything else going on. We never find out what happened to Roen, nor do we really get any true discussions about how Orisha is going to recover from the political repercussions of the civil war. At the end of the book it's treated like people forgot all the prejudices they held for decades just because the skulls tried to invade and now that the skulls were defeated, everything is great and perfect and wonderful.

Tomi Adeyemi has a strong writing style when it comes to creating compelling fight scenes or describing new locations with gorgeous and lush visuals. And because so much of this book is spent outside of Orisha, battling a new enemy, you get a lot of that. We get introduced to two new empires in this book, that of the skulls and King Baldr, vaguely based on vikings, and New Gaia, which is based on South America and Indigenous peoples (although I think they are speaking Spanish or something close to Spanish and that's the colonizer's language and that kind of bugged me but it's also true to real life current South America so idk). And we meet a LOT of new characters.

Amari finally gets to be gay, so that's a win. There's a background thing going on with her and the hierophant of New Gaia. Woo! A queer relationship made it into this book, if you squint. But honestly that's the extent of what Amari does in this book.

I truly believe we could have pared down the slave boat thing at the beginning and replaced it with Zélie and Amari really talking to each other and maybe Nehanda and Inan making amends publicly or something. Then we could have seen the healing get started and I could have at least liked this book.

I will say I did like Tzain's story. His chapters were the highlight of the entire book. He gets his hands on one of the skull's weapons, which use blood magic and essentially make warriors into dnd barbarians, rage and all. Tzain uses that weapon to help save his people but he comes to realize hate and rage aren't how he wants to fight, that it doesn't make him strong really, and he finds a new source of energy for the battles ahead. You really see him dealing with the death of his mother, which he always felt helpless and guilty about, and accepting he couldn't have saved her.

The villain of this book, King Baldr, felt a tad cartoonish to me. He had this textbook skivvy-ness about him that just reminded me of a crappy MCU villain. I don't have much to say about him. For being the primary motivator of nearly every action the main protagonists make in this book, he is devastatingly underwhelming. It sucks we really had to wait until the last ten or so pages for Zélie to get her reaper powers back. That man could've easily been taken out by book one Zélie.

Despite Children of Anguish and Anarchy disappointing me, I would still recommend the entire trilogy. The world-building is phenomenal and its a great addition to any Young Adult collection. I do think that every single book in the series feels pretty disconnected from the others, but what can I say? The first book got me attached to the characters and part of me will read anything with them in it.

[sprnklersplashes]

Taylor wrote Castles Crumbling about Amari in CoVaV, change my mind

[once-upon-an-animation]

Every time I see fancasts for Children of Blood and Bone, I’m always disappointed with the lack of consideration for Nigerian actors, especially considering Tomi’s Nigerian heritage and the obvious Yoruba influences in the books.

[johnnyclash87]

This world needs more Legacy of Orisha art.

[powerwordsleep]

I'm reading Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi (2nd book in the Legacy of Orisha series) and looking in the tags for this is such a trashfire, because all anyone says about the character Inan is how much they want him to d!e and to suffer for the hurt he's caused. Which is a shame, because it's clear Adeyemi has taken great care to write Inan as a deeply flawed person with his heart in the right place, who unfortunately makes poor choices with harsh consequences. He is the epitome of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions".

We get his POV in both books so we know his thought process--we know he's trying to fight "for the greater good" and be a good ruler protecting his country. We see him quickly undergo the process of unlearning prejudice instilled in him since birth and abuse from his father. And then try to reform the monarchy from the inside out, but struggle with doing so because of the pressure, influence, and WAR going on. As if it could be reformed overnight. Inan is a tragic character. He is always so close to doing good rather than harm, but it fails.

It would be such a dissatisfying ending for him to be killed by Zelie. What would he have learned? Will that truly bring Zelie and Amari peace? How does that heal the hurt that's been caused by the monarchy? Especially with a character like Inan who wants to help and to heal.

[ninjawarriorprincess4]

manifesting

I rise from the dead because FINALLY updateeeessss!!!