Children of Virtue and Vengeance | Book Rant

7.12.20

BLURB :

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. (Goodreads)

“From the gods comes the gift of life,” I whisper the Yoruba. “To the gods, that gift must be returned.”

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

Title: Children Of Virtue and Vengeance
Author: Tomi Adeyemi
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy
Goodreads rating: 3.90
Pages: 404 pages
Publication: 3rd December , 2019 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Source: Roving Heights Bookstore
Reading Format: Hardcopy
Standalone/Series: Series

My Rating : 3 stars ⭐️

REVIEW | Mini RANT

This is the second book of the series ; Legacy of Orisha by Tomi Adeyemi and I can only ask what was that? Please Tomi , never again. I am begging you.

I’m guessing that my expectations were very high which ended up not only disappointing me but leaving me with a headache.

Warning ⚠️ ; There’s going to be more of ranting than an actual review so let’s know it’s a rant in review rant book blog post.

This book centers on Zelie and the Iyika (the revolutionary force) , mostly led by Mama Agba and the Maji trying to avenge their land and take back what belongs to them. Even after magic is back, it seems like it was never the solution to it afterall. It’s the monarchy. Inan makes a comeback in this book which I most definitely expected and this time , he even comes back with the best version of bad luck and misunderstanding. He is on the opposing team with his mom and the Titans. Lagos has to be back to the way it was and he has to be a better King than his father. His people are looking up to him and his mom , will stop at nothing to make sure they defeat the Iyika.

The love triangles in this book are the worst and I’m talking about Amari and Tzain and even Zelie and Inan with a little bit of Roen. I don’t understand why they must fall in love. Is it by force?😒 Is love going to win the war for them?. Zelie and Inan’s connection , one century later , hundred and a few pages in sparked up my interest to even read more. I did not understand the meaning of the running around the guava tree that these little kids were doing. Then even the least mentioned characters that had nothing to do with the story entered to show us pepper. As we no get boo. I did not like the love interest or whatever spark .

Tzain wasn’t even mentioned so much. It’s as if he was washed out of the story and only appeared to be Amari’s backbone as if he is her guardian Angel. Why wasn’t he mentioned so much and even Nailah the lionnaire. I wasn’t understanding those parts and the author trying to make them so irrelevant.

I don’t even want to start with Amari and her wonderful switch up from Selfless and confident to confused and scary / Creepy or Zelie and her usual annoying self.

The only thing that really melted my heart was Mama Agba’s selflessness which is a theme I picked up from the book. It’s very rare to put other’s first when faced with that kind of situation. She did it and honestly, that’s something to really love and adore . The quality of putting other people first.

Everyone got ahead of themselves in the book and the new characters, Ojore , Roen and friends. Don’t even get me started with the point red confusion why they were they outdid themselves there.

It wasn’t rushed , but very slow and honestly if I go on , I’ll get a headache again so I’ll wrap this post up in a bit.

The book is not bad and other people enjoyed it. I don’t get the hype though ( maybe it’s sprouting from the first book anyways). I hope the third book explains why and how it ended so abruptly . I had discussions and the best conclusion from suggestions was Slavery and I totally agree with that. I wonder the new adventure in stall for Zelie and her annoying self.

If you are a fantasy and YA (!Young Adult) fan that loves a bit of twists and turns and can handle annoying tropes especially love book tropes , then this book is for you. I loved the map illustration and the african fantasy vibes. That has always been why I loved the first book in the first place. And who else noticed the rich mention of Nigerian culture ( I’m aware its a Nigerian African fantasy book). I mean the mention of the states , including Adichie ( I know we all know why That particular name has my heart. Okay ! Some of us ) from the legendary Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( I’m hoping that’s where the reference(s) are from. The use of yoruba language. I don’t like that sometimes, it wasn’t interpreted ( not everyone is yoruba ) we need interpretations and yes! Things like this in books annoy me.

Wasn’t able to highlight quotes because yes! I flew through it literally by skimming the pages because of lack of interest.

I hope we enjoyed the book rant. Let me know if you have any addictions or interest from the book and if you have read or wish to read it.

Till I’m back next time , see you.

Ernestine 💕.