Item: Children of Virtue and Vengeance
Rating: 2.00
Author: wordrevel

by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Virtue and Vengeance is the breathtaking second title in Tomi Adeyemi's YA fantasy trilogy, Legacy of Orisha, following her ground-breaking, West African-inspired debut Children of Blood and Bone.

After battling the impossible, Zelie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orisha. But the ritual was more powerful than they imagined, reigniting the powers of not only the maji but also some nobles with magic ancestry.

Now, Zelie struggles to unite the maji in an Orisha where the enemy is just as strong and magical as they are. When Amari's mother forms an army of royals with newly awakened powers, Zelie fights to secure Amari's right to the throne and protect the new maji from the monarchy's wrath.

But with civil war looming on the horizon, Zelie finds herself at a breaking point: she must find a way to bring the kingdom together or watch as Orisha tears itself apart.

Initial thoughts: After reading Children of Virtue and Vengeance, I think Children of Blood and Bone would've been better off a standalone novel. Just cut out the cliffhanger at the end and it would've been alright. This sequel didn't really mesh with the first book and didn't really extend an overarching narrative for me. Instead, this was felt like a completely different story that could've been the start to an entirely different series that I probably wouldn't be quite as interested to start.

What Children of Virtue and Vengeance did get right though in the storytelling was dramatising complicated family relationships among siblings and their parents. That made for a very compelling dynamic. Unfortunately, that dragged out to the point that the plot ran dry and I couldn't quite get myself to care about the outcome anymore by the time the resolution came into play.

Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orïsha, #2)

by Tomi Adeyemi

Reviewed by Joséphine on May 25, 2020

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