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gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is an amazing read, and now I shall wait for the third book.
This book hits the ground running. There is so much going on when reading. The drama, betrayals, and the fights this book has and even the series as a whole so far is just ahh. I love every moment of it. The plot carries on from the first book along with the character growth, which is just perfect.
I cannot wait for the third book. I highly highly recommend reading this series.
This book hits the ground running. There is so much going on when reading. The drama, betrayals, and the fights this book has and even the series as a whole so far is just ahh. I love every moment of it. The plot carries on from the first book along with the character growth, which is just perfect.
I cannot wait for the third book. I highly highly recommend reading this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
lucille_c's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol
andromeda_1998's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Well let’s say I’m conflicted, I liked children of blood and bone, it wasn’t the best book ever but I liked it still… but this sequel isn’t it for me and I don’t need to read book 3. I’m going to end things here. The characters where annoying, the plot was cluttered and the ending… well the ending was a dumpster fire 🔥. I wanted to love this book so badly or at least enjoy it but it just wasn’t for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War
beccaand's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War
Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content and Fire/Fire injury
le3713's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is fundamentally a war novel and, like many middle books in a fantasy trilogy, has neither the fun of introducing a new world and characters, nor the satisfaction of a conclusion. All three of the protagonists were incredibly frustrating, though there were some great supporting characters. That said, I need the final book ASAP!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
mnbesser522's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
charlottebreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.0
cw/tw: death, blood, grief, genocide
age rating: 13+
plot
- there was none. literally nothing happened.
- the villain was just the evil king from COBAB with super powers and a different name.
- there was a freedom-fighter-esque group called the Iyika. think jet's freedom fighters in ATLA — they were basically the same thing. they both do really stupid things, like try to take out an entire town of innocent people because their enemies are inside it, to further their cause.
they also randomly get kidnapped at the end.
- the plot went around in circles. the book could have been 200 pages shorter if the characters had just communicated.
characters
zelie : she became so self-righteous throughout the book. she always thought she was right, and the Iyika worshipped the ground she walked on. also she was horrible to amari.
amari : i despised what adeyemi did with amari. her character was completely butchered. i didn't like that nobody listened to her just because she was a tîtán. i also didn't like how she was written completely out of character to show how the crown corrupts even the nicest people.
tzain : tzain, who? he was barely there. the only thing he did was leave amari for zélie, because amari sucks and zélie is the best, obviously :/
inan : he was trying so hard to make peace with the Ikiya, but they were too self-righteous to realise. he was also quite wishy-washy and did whatever his mother told him. whatever spine he had in COBAB disappeared in COVAV.
roën : the most vanilla love interest ever. he had zero character depth. inan was better.
queen nailah : she was basically the same as the king from COBAB with superpowers. no motivation whatsoever.
the ikiya : very self-righteous, perfect for zélie tbh. so self-righteous that they destroyed all of the food that inan was giving to the maji, just because it was from the monarchy. it's like, people are hungry but you'll DESTROY THE FREE FOOD AND THEN COMPLAIN THAT THE MONARCHY ISN'T DOING ANYTHING TO HELP MAJI!!! WHATTT!!!
ojore : idek. WHAT WAS HIS PURPOSE?! he literally does nothing.
mama agba : the only good character. i'm surprised that she could put up with everyone. the only issue i have with her is that she thought zélie was right.
in conclusion
children of virtue & vengeance does not exist.
children of blood & bone is a stand-alone and will stay a stand-alone until the series redeems itself.
age rating: 13+
- there was none. literally nothing happened.
- the villain was just the evil king from COBAB with super powers and a different name.
- there was a freedom-fighter-esque group called the Iyika. think jet's freedom fighters in ATLA — they were basically the same thing. they both do really stupid things, like try to take out an entire town of innocent people because their enemies are inside it, to further their cause.
they also randomly get kidnapped at the end.
- the plot went around in circles. the book could have been 200 pages shorter if the characters had just communicated.
characters
zelie : she became so self-righteous throughout the book. she always thought she was right, and the Iyika worshipped the ground she walked on. also she was horrible to amari.
amari : i despised what adeyemi did with amari. her character was completely butchered. i didn't like that nobody listened to her just because she was a tîtán. i also didn't like how she was written completely out of character to show how the crown corrupts even the nicest people.
tzain : tzain, who? he was barely there. the only thing he did was leave amari for zélie, because amari sucks and zélie is the best, obviously :/
inan : he was trying so hard to make peace with the Ikiya, but they were too self-righteous to realise. he was also quite wishy-washy and did whatever his mother told him. whatever spine he had in COBAB disappeared in COVAV.
roën : the most vanilla love interest ever. he had zero character depth. inan was better.
queen nailah : she was basically the same as the king from COBAB with superpowers. no motivation whatsoever.
the ikiya : very self-righteous, perfect for zélie tbh. so self-righteous that they destroyed all of the food that inan was giving to the maji, just because it was from the monarchy. it's like, people are hungry but you'll DESTROY THE FREE FOOD AND THEN COMPLAIN THAT THE MONARCHY ISN'T DOING ANYTHING TO HELP MAJI!!! WHATTT!!!
ojore : idek. WHAT WAS HIS PURPOSE?! he literally does nothing.
mama agba : the only good character. i'm surprised that she could put up with everyone. the only issue i have with her is that she thought zélie was right.
in conclusion
children of virtue & vengeance does not exist.
children of blood & bone is a stand-alone and will stay a stand-alone until the series redeems itself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Genocide
Moderate: Violence and Grief
Minor: Sexual content
kristinesreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
toribrake17's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
internalnonsense's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
3 feels pretty generous for how underwhelmed I am by this sequel, but disappointed expectations doesn't inherently diminish the quality. It did offer more diversity, more magic, more Mama Agba. There were good set piece moments and some compelling writing.
It just did not continue the story or the character's stories in a way I enjoyed or engaged with. Some characters are set back to square one, some are just pushed to the side, and others are jerked along as the plot requires. They introduced a lot of new characters who, with the exception of two more plot-relevant ones, blended together. The world building expanded some, but there wasn't a moment where I felt it really built from what's been established, as much as playing with new elements. One piece of backstory actively ruined a pretty essential element of the conflict for me. That all said, I do see the vision, the why of the overall story, and I can see of how it can arrive at the same place in a way that really satisfies. As for the last minute twist, I'm not going to say I saw it coming but it didn't catch me entirely off guard. It also justified Ronan's prominence, which felt like a sore thumb for me. Still, what foreshadowing there was was sparse and blunt so the twist still feels abrupt. Again, I can see how it could work, but right now it isn't and doesn't set up enough for the next book.
It just did not continue the story or the character's stories in a way I enjoyed or engaged with. Some characters are set back to square one, some are just pushed to the side, and others are jerked along as the plot requires. They introduced a lot of new characters who, with the exception of two more plot-relevant ones, blended together. The world building expanded some, but there wasn't a moment where I felt it really built from what's been established, as much as playing with new elements. One piece of backstory actively ruined a pretty essential element of the conflict for me. That all said, I do see the vision, the why of the overall story, and I can see of how it can arrive at the same place in a way that really satisfies.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual content, and Death of parent