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A review by picklesoup
Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
3.0
Rating: 3.75/5
This entire book had me conflicted throughout the entire story. My review is kinda a mess so please bare through it.
The Plot: Looking at the plot as a whole, it was quite slow. There were multiple times where scenes it felt as though they weren't contributing towards the plot as much. Although I enjoyed reading it, the plot was rocky and at times it felt as though it wasn't even there. There were multiple different times where I was confused myself about what's going on because the plot wasn't as solid as comparing the Children of Blood and Bone. It wasn't until the last 200 pages where the plot began to pick up in its pace and the tension was slowly increasing.
The Writing: The writing felt completely different than what we were first introduced which was heavily shown through the characters and the plot. The entire writing style seemed to switch halfway throughout the book. Having the first half being really slow and maybe even questionable... but the second half truly felt like the sequel to an amazing novel, is the fast-paced and solid writing we all feel in love with. I truly wished the writing had stayed consistent from the start of the novel because it felt as though I was reading a completely different novel at the beginning and wasn't until the end were it felt I was reading the sequel.
The Characters: Ooo now I got a lot to say about theses character.
For starters, Tzain is completely irrelevant in this novel, its almost as though he isn't even in there. It wasn't until the second half were we start seeing him more but even then he doesn't have much of a role. In Children of Blood and Bone, he was one of the non-official main characters. Having quite a role in the first novel with helping bring magic back to Orisha. It seems as though he's role in the first novel to this one seemed to completely disappear. I wished we had seen more of Tzain in this novel and learn more about him, but sadly he had a little to no role in this novel.
Amari: From the start, I felt for her from the way she was being treated. From the beginning of the novel, it seems as though everybody wanted to eraser her role in bringing back magic and wanted to downplay her multiple different times. It seems as though no one had cared about her anymore. However, throughout the novel, we get to see the way her character develops and it was something that I wasn't expecting. I was rooting for Amari from the start and wanted her to get the recognition that she deserved. But as the story continued and she began developing, it's almost as though she is a completely different person. From the beginning of Children of Blood and Bone to the end of Children of Virtue and Vengeance, Amari was the one that has changed the most and her character arc is the one that shocked me the most. At first, I wasn't completely sure if I had liked Amari's character arc but the more I think about the more I enjoyed the way Adeyemi had handled Amari's story. Showing how much the entire situation took a hold on Amari and completely changed her from who we first met.
Zelie: She was a character that I had the most difficulties on liking, sadly. In the first half, it angered me on how she was treating everyone around her. Going through a grieving phase, she mainly placed all of her anger on Amari because she couldn't go and place it on Inan. That was something that truly made me begin to despise Zelie as a character, having her characteristic slowly begin to become quite toxic and very much not thinking anything through. There were parts where we saw the Zelie we all know and love and it wasn't until the second half were her character finally began to think shit through and not be a dumb dumb. Anyways, her character had truly turned into a very complex and interesting character to read. I can feel her pain and suffering and throughout the novel, you can see how much of a toll all of the events have been on her. Once I stopped hating on her, I enjoyed her character, and watching her grow was something that I enjoyed reading.
Inan: Oh my god, what in the world do I say about this boy. Inan has been a complex character from the start. Always getting caught up between what is right and wrong and never knowing which one is the correct one. In this novel, it expands on that and all of the pressure starts to build upon him. Watching him having to make all of the theses difficult decisions when not even he knows what he is doing, was something that put me on edge a lot of the time. I always enjoyed reading Inan's chapters, they were times where I was very much questioning him, but in the end, he was the character that I enjoyed the most.
Romance & Interactions: I'm going to start off with the romance. Romance isn't a heavy plot point in this series but it's still there so I'm going to talk about it.
Starting with Tzain and Amari, who we've already seen a glimpse of in the first novel. In this novel, since Tzain wasn't featured that frequently here, there were only like one or two scenes between the two. I was hoping we were going to get more scenes with the two, but sadly that wasn't the case.
Zelie and Roen, these two have an insta love type of romance. Typically I am not a fan of insta love, I'm all about the slow burn type of romance, but the way Roen cares about Zelie made me let these two slides for once. They were really cute together, however, there were multiple different times were I wondering why Zelie even bothers with Roen because they too don't interact as often and cause of the multiple different things Roen has done and who he works for.
For the interactions, the one that caught my eye the most and probably the reason why it was so difficult for me to enjoy the story, in the beginning, was the interaction between Amari and Zelie. At the end of Children of Blood and Bone, we see the two grow close and even referring to each other as family. In Children of Virtue and Vengeance, it seems as though all of that process of the two learning to trust each other seemed to be thrown out of the window. Having the two of them wanting to reach the same goal, but the two have a very different way of how they want to achieve it, their relationship began to strain. Throughout the book, it seems as though they lost in touch with each other and the friendship that I was so excited to see blossom, only seemed to die. It was really interesting watching the two interact with one another when they have a completely different point of view on things and struggling through their differences.
In the end, I enjoyed reading Children of Virtue and Vengeance. The begining was a struggle for me and I had to push through it, but I'm glad that I did. The way the story ended had my jaw on the ground, screaming for more answers. I would recommend reading this book if you already have read the first book and I would be reading the third book once it comes out.
This entire book had me conflicted throughout the entire story. My review is kinda a mess so please bare through it.
The Plot: Looking at the plot as a whole, it was quite slow. There were multiple times where scenes it felt as though they weren't contributing towards the plot as much. Although I enjoyed reading it, the plot was rocky and at times it felt as though it wasn't even there. There were multiple different times where I was confused myself about what's going on because the plot wasn't as solid as comparing the Children of Blood and Bone. It wasn't until the last 200 pages where the plot began to pick up in its pace and the tension was slowly increasing.
The Writing: The writing felt completely different than what we were first introduced which was heavily shown through the characters and the plot. The entire writing style seemed to switch halfway throughout the book. Having the first half being really slow and maybe even questionable... but the second half truly felt like the sequel to an amazing novel, is the fast-paced and solid writing we all feel in love with. I truly wished the writing had stayed consistent from the start of the novel because it felt as though I was reading a completely different novel at the beginning and wasn't until the end were it felt I was reading the sequel.
The Characters: Ooo now I got a lot to say about theses character.
For starters, Tzain is completely irrelevant in this novel, its almost as though he isn't even in there. It wasn't until the second half were we start seeing him more but even then he doesn't have much of a role. In Children of Blood and Bone, he was one of the non-official main characters. Having quite a role in the first novel with helping bring magic back to Orisha. It seems as though he's role in the first novel to this one seemed to completely disappear. I wished we had seen more of Tzain in this novel and learn more about him, but sadly he had a little to no role in this novel.
Amari: From the start, I felt for her from the way she was being treated. From the beginning of the novel, it seems as though everybody wanted to eraser her role in bringing back magic and wanted to downplay her multiple different times. It seems as though no one had cared about her anymore. However, throughout the novel, we get to see the way her character develops and it was something that I wasn't expecting. I was rooting for Amari from the start and wanted her to get the recognition that she deserved. But as the story continued and she began developing, it's almost as though she is a completely different person. From the beginning of Children of Blood and Bone to the end of Children of Virtue and Vengeance, Amari was the one that has changed the most and her character arc is the one that shocked me the most. At first, I wasn't completely sure if I had liked Amari's character arc but the more I think about the more I enjoyed the way Adeyemi had handled Amari's story. Showing how much the entire situation took a hold on Amari and completely changed her from who we first met.
Zelie: She was a character that I had the most difficulties on liking, sadly. In the first half, it angered me on how she was treating everyone around her. Going through a grieving phase, she mainly placed all of her anger on Amari because she couldn't go and place it on Inan. That was something that truly made me begin to despise Zelie as a character, having her characteristic slowly begin to become quite toxic and very much not thinking anything through. There were parts where we saw the Zelie we all know and love and it wasn't until the second half were her character finally began to think shit through and not be a dumb dumb. Anyways, her character had truly turned into a very complex and interesting character to read. I can feel her pain and suffering and throughout the novel, you can see how much of a toll all of the events have been on her. Once I stopped hating on her, I enjoyed her character, and watching her grow was something that I enjoyed reading.
Inan: Oh my god, what in the world do I say about this boy. Inan has been a complex character from the start. Always getting caught up between what is right and wrong and never knowing which one is the correct one. In this novel, it expands on that and all of the pressure starts to build upon him. Watching him having to make all of the theses difficult decisions when not even he knows what he is doing, was something that put me on edge a lot of the time. I always enjoyed reading Inan's chapters, they were times where I was very much questioning him, but in the end, he was the character that I enjoyed the most.
Romance & Interactions: I'm going to start off with the romance. Romance isn't a heavy plot point in this series but it's still there so I'm going to talk about it.
Starting with Tzain and Amari, who we've already seen a glimpse of in the first novel. In this novel, since Tzain wasn't featured that frequently here, there were only like one or two scenes between the two. I was hoping we were going to get more scenes with the two, but sadly that wasn't the case.
Zelie and Roen, these two have an insta love type of romance. Typically I am not a fan of insta love, I'm all about the slow burn type of romance, but the way Roen cares about Zelie made me let these two slides for once. They were really cute together, however, there were multiple different times were I wondering why Zelie even bothers with Roen because they too don't interact as often and cause of the multiple different things Roen has done and who he works for.
For the interactions, the one that caught my eye the most and probably the reason why it was so difficult for me to enjoy the story, in the beginning, was the interaction between Amari and Zelie. At the end of Children of Blood and Bone, we see the two grow close and even referring to each other as family. In Children of Virtue and Vengeance, it seems as though all of that process of the two learning to trust each other seemed to be thrown out of the window. Having the two of them wanting to reach the same goal, but the two have a very different way of how they want to achieve it, their relationship began to strain. Throughout the book, it seems as though they lost in touch with each other and the friendship that I was so excited to see blossom, only seemed to die. It was really interesting watching the two interact with one another when they have a completely different point of view on things and struggling through their differences.
In the end, I enjoyed reading Children of Virtue and Vengeance. The begining was a struggle for me and I had to push through it, but I'm glad that I did. The way the story ended had my jaw on the ground, screaming for more answers. I would recommend reading this book if you already have read the first book and I would be reading the third book once it comes out.