Children of Blood and Bone - book club discussion

[ufcasey]

It's book club discussion day! Today we'll be talking about Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.

Good review of characters and world building if you need a reminder: ew.com/books/2018/03/06/children-of-blood-and-bone-guide/

I don't have any questions for this book, so feel free to just give your overall opinions about it.

[ufcasey]

Tagging people who might have read this book:
aurora, underwaterrhymes, brainie, rootbeerfloat, travella, rainbowchip, charlatti, Vespasia, pinotgrig, isabel, wildrice, Nonny, doxies, wesleycrusher

[charlatti]

I know I really loved this book, but it’s been a year since I read it and I don’t remember specifics. I should do a reread before #2 is released.

[rainbowchip]

I was in complete denial that today could possibly be the last Wednesday of the month but it actually is. Where is this summer going?

I am very hot and cold on fantasy. I either love it or I hate it. This one I loved! The world building was fantastic! I loved the story. I loved the budding romances. I loved the characters. It was just fantastic! I can't wait to read the next book!

[wesleycrusher]

I didn't love this world. I'll agree she did a good job building it, but it wasn't my favorite. I liked it enough that I'll be reading the second one as soon as it is available at the library.

[ufcasey]

I read the first two chapters and just wasn't feeling it. But it was definitely a "it's me, not the book" kind of thing where I just wasn't in the mood for reading that type of book at the moment. I might go back and give it another try later.

This was very helpful commentary, I know!

[Nonny]

I finished it last night, and it was OK, but it was way to long for what it was. I actually really have no idea how magic got stolen from all the children (and the seemingly few adults who escaped The Raid). Was that explained and I just forgot (because it was so long?) or did she just gloss over that part? The mushiness of the magic system actually kind of bugged me a lot for a fantasy novel actually. Like, maybe give me a few more paragraphs about how the magic works and a few less paragraphs devoted to Amari being sad about Binti, Inan being a waffling asshole, and Zelie and Inan inexplicably falling in lurve.

[travella]

2.5* I think this book had a lot of potential. However, it didn't live up to it. The pacing was awkward and the magic felt like it was ill conceived and inconsistent.

[wildrice]

I read this book last year (September maybe?) so I don't recall a lot of the details. I remember I overall did like the book and the story, but that I found the pacing to be off and the result was that it took longer for me to read than it should have. I read it for a book club and I remember finishing it like 20 minutes before the meeting. I just couldn't push through it faster.

I will read the sequels.

I remember the ending was also very abrupt, which I disliked. I get leaving a cliffhanger for the next book, but it didn't feel like a complete story and given my crappy memory, leaving the story to pick up with the next book (whenever that is) means I'm going to have to somehow review what happened. I may have enjoyed that more if I read it when all the books were written so I could just move straight onto the next.

Despite those criticisms I did like the world that was built and found it interesting. Someone in my IRL book club said that some of the folklore/history was based on folklore from an actual African culture (though I'm ignorantly forgetting which one they said, sorry), which I thought was really interesting.

[scribellesam]

I did not like this book. I believe I gave it two stars, and finished it solely because of all the hype surrounding it. I loved the concept and the world building but I did not connect with the characters at all, and I particularly hated the romance between the two main characters. The “I hate you so much oops I fell in love with you” thing drives me up the wall when it feels rushed or not earned. I may still read the sequels because I want to support increasing diversity in fantasy novels, but I doubt I will change my opinion much.

[rootbeerfloat]

I also read it awhile ago and forget some of the detail, but I liked the world-building (descriptions of different regions, types of magic, animals).

I liked Amari and Zelie's brother (forget his name). I didn't like the romance and wasn't sad Iman died lol.

I'm looking forward to the sequels.

[aurora]

Finally found a chance to check in. Thanks for starting the discussion, ufcasey.

I listened to the audiobook and unfortunately had a pretty tight turnaround before the loan was due at my library, so I ended up listening to at least half at 1.25x, which means I'm sure I missed some things.

That said, I definitely enjoyed the story and the characters. I thought Zelie was compellingly written, though it seemed crazy for her to fall for Inan (maybe not that crazy for a teenager who has been through a lot, but crazy reading from the outside). She definitely reminded me of Katniss (not in a bad way), but of course some of that is just the genre. The class/race divides and analogies were clear and compelling. I appreciated the author's note at the end connecting to current events.

I will probably read the next book, but it's not a "must read" for me.

[aurora]

Jun 26, 2019 22:04:21 GMT -5 scribellesam said:

I did not like this book. I believe I gave it two stars, and finished it solely because of all the hype surrounding it. I loved the concept and the world building but I did not connect with the characters at all, and I particularly hated the romance between the two main characters. The “I hate you so much oops I fell in love with you” thing drives me up the wall when it feels rushed or not earned. I may still read the sequels because I want to support increasing diversity in fantasy novels, but I doubt I will change my opinion much.

This part was absolutely annoying, but saved by him dying.

[underwaterrhymes]

I have it on my Kindle, but haven’t read it yet. I need to get to it!

[expectantsteelerfan]

I'm a month late to this one because I kept putting off starting it because I haven't been in the mood for fantasy. Once I did start, I had to really force myself to keep picking it up. When I was actually reading it was mostly enjoyable, but once I put it down I didn't care about any of the characters.

I definitely agree about the inconsistent pacing and the romance of Zelie and Inan being super rushed and forced and annoying.

I won't be reading the sequel.