Bloodied but not Beaten

The Children of Blood and Bone is the first book in the Legacy of Orïsha series written by Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi. There are currently only two books in the trilogy with the third still being written. The production rights for the series was won by Paramount Pictures but a movie or show has not yet been announced.

The series is set in the country of Orïsha which is modeled after pre colonial Nigeria and is home to two very different groups of people. The first are the kosidán, the non magical majority who run the country. The second are the divîners who are marked by their distinct white hair and potential for magic and are oppressed and targeted for that potential.

The main character Zélie is one of the divîners who has the potential to unlock her magic and become a great maji just like her mother before her. Zélie and her brother Tzain encounter a noble girl while in the capital Lagos and help her escape with a stolen artifact.

This artifact is revealed to be a scroll which possesses the key to bringing back magic to all divîners in the land and give them the power they need to survive and make their lives better. So together they embark on a journey to complete the ritual to revive magic and fix the damage done to their country.

What makes this book so impactful for me is the way the author addresses so many topics that people prefer to avoid nowadays. These topics include race, class, slavery and colorism. I feel like these topics are things that are considered taboo for so many people and so they get ignored way too often in real life so maybe reading about them in a book might help people see the parallels in real life and aspire to change them.