I've only read the first 6 chapters of this, but it was a good beginning and I can't wait to read the rest! I enjoyed the world building and the three points of view I've seen so far.

This is the first time I have ever read/reviewed an excerpt. It's a strange experience. I can say for sure that I enjoyed this first few chapters and DEFINITELY plan to read the rest of this book once it is published. It was a great and exciting start - already there is danger, a little romantic intrigue, beautifully begun world-building, multi-faceted characters that I am very interested in learning more about, and a fascinating pull on a mythical African-esque culture that I feel like is not widely enough represented in literature (in general, but also specifically in fantasy and YA fantasy).

I do hesitate to give a full 5 star review to the excerpt because I feel that I do not know enough at this this point. For one, as I mentioned, the world-building has started off really well (super and fantastically original). But there are a lot of details and I am still in the "learning" stage of reading this book. If it's fully rendered throughout the rest of the book then that will be fine (great, even), but depending on how much more we get (or not) will really affect my overall feel for the novel. I have similar feelings towards the character development. And honestly, plot-wise, so far it's definitely paced wonderfully, but it is possible that it's too run of the mill. It was fun to read, but nothing that hasn't been done before, in some way. So the way the characters and world get developed will be the greatest indicator of plot success (for me) and I don't have enough to go on there.

I realize that this is just an excerpt and so that's the nature of reading it, and ii for sure peaked my interest enough that I WILL be finishing the book. So in that respect, it definitely did it's job! But for now, I will hedge my feelings with the 4-star review and look forward to hopefully bumping that up after I finish the rest!

"Courage does not always roar, she said that day. Valor does not always shine."

Even though this was only a brief six chapter introduction to the Children Of Blood and Bone, this was the beginning of a magnificent story. A story filled with gorgeous imagery, rich history, and a intriguing new world. The story starts in the land of Orïsha. A land where the maji, a group with gorgeous dark skin with bright white hair, one held magical powers.

Due to their magical powers, the maji were seen as a threat and were executed. That was the day the magic of the world disappeared. Only the divîners, children of the fallen maji are left. They divîners are treated like second class citizens, some treated even sold as slaves. They are looked down not only for who they are but the threat of what they could be. We are introduced to Zélie, who is a divîner. A girl who wants to stand up for what is right, who wants to fight back against the injustice, and a girl who watched her mother be murdered for being a maji. The chapters are told from both Zélie and Amari the king's daughter, points of view. Both are from opposite worlds but circumstances bring them together. Just the brief introduction had me excited for more. Excited to what is next. It left me eager to know what really happened to the majis power and what is to come if the powers return. This was great start to the new world.

“You know how to win,” she says. “Just make sure you know when to fight.”

The preview chapters were amazing! I cannot wait to read the rest I need to know how it ends! The action kept going and it just completely hooks you in. I honestly cannot wait until I can get the whole thing!

Can we talk about this cover?! Rich Deas has a great deal of gorgeous work already in published covers, but this is truly one of my new favorites as I just find myself drawn to high contrast covers in the first place, while this is particularly stunning. I can't wait to physically hold it in my hands.

From the six chapter preview I've read, it is apparent this is no standard template medieval fantasy. We enter a truly imaginative secondary world where three young individuals (so far) are each struggling to navigate the challenges of the social identity they were born with, following along with each of their unique perspectives. Right from the beginning the story hooks you in completely with conflict and a quick pace, even so the transitions between characters are not jarring at all. Worth specifically noting some really engaging hand to hand combat sequences, which is often hard to portray in writing, but well done here.

It's easy to see this is going to be an impressive debut effort from Tomi Adeyemi, I feel will likely be enjoyable to readers of all ages. I'll be waiting with anticipation for the release.

I was entranced from the first page. The girls in this book kick major tail! The magical world's was set up so we'll with history sprinkled between action that constantly moved the story forward. Once magic was plentiful and those who wielded it called Magi were revered... Until the magic was abused and the gods took it away. The king attacked slaughtering , the Magi, and taking over. Magi aka Diviners are now now an unwelcome reminder of a world that once was... I was sad this was a preview , because I wanted to read the entire book!

I have to wait until MARCH?! :-)

This preview was the first 6 chapters of the book and I'm definitely already hooked.

In this preview the world-building was done well - I felt like I was getting a really good picture of this fantastical world and how it all works together. The characters introduced thus far are enjoyable and I'm incredibly interested to see what happens... !

I don't know if it was a mistake reading this 6 chapter extract six months before the release date but I do already know that this is guaranteed to make it onto my favourite books of 2018 list. Also that cover is among the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life.

It's already rich with world building, magic, intriguing characters and tragedy and I can't wait to get my hands on a finished copy (preferably an arc because I don't know if I can wait half a year!)

I just read the excerpt but the story starts off strong , grabbing readers attention. I loved the main character and her bold personality. I would love to read the full book and i recommend it to readers who like fantasy/fiction/action packed books.

Mini review:

I received this E-Sampler via the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I had been hearing about this book everywhere. I decided to see what it was about and requested the sampler. Omg it was so good! I am definitely getting myself a copy next year!

Highly recommended.

This is an excerpt of the book "Children of Blood and Bone" which will be published on March 2018.

First of all, the cover is strikingly beautiful. Second, the premise of the novel is very creative and features a strong female lead. The sampler includes six chapters and the story is told from different points of view.

This is a world where magic used to exist until a ruler arrived and suppressed it. But do not fear, one of our main characters Zelie will do everything in her power to bring it back with the help of unlikely allies.

Overall, I enjoyed the preview and I'm looking forward to reading the entire book.

From the introduction, I already started to feel a connection towards Zelie and the prejudice she had to over come on a daily basis. This immediately evokes a parallel with the racial tension in today's society.

The fact that events snowballed from one to the next kept the pace up and allowed there to be a constant hum of anticipation for what would happen next. By the end I was left intrigued over where Zelie and Amari's journey would take them and how their personalities will bounce off one another, as well as what secrets of magic they might unearth along the way.

Though classed as Teens/YA, from the except I would say Children of Blood and Bone lies more on the middle grade/teen side. Though the content deals with issues like abuse and discrimination which pushes towards an older audience, the writing drags it back towards a younger one.

A story I would most likely recommend to a younger audience especially those of an ethnic background.

The last half of the snippet really had me anticipating what was going to happen next. Amari and Zelie were really interesting characters and I'm actually looking forward for the whole thing to come out in March 2018. This excerpt was thrilling, insane, creative, and exciting

Edit 2: I read the first six chapters thanks to an excerpt on Netgalley and this it seems very promising. The world building in the first chapter along was amazing so I can't wait for this to come out next year! Zélie is already a badass protag in book which I can't wait to see her story unfold along with the rest of the characters.

I am thankful to Netgalley, Henry Holt and Co. and Tomi Adeyemi for the preview excerpt of Children of Blood and Bones that I received. Initially, the cover did not spark my interest. However, it did grow on me and after reading the sampler, I must admit that it perfectly exemplifies the story within. The novel is set in the fantasy world of Orisha where the once revered magis have been murdered and their descendants known as diviners are now targeted by an abusive king. In this world, Zelie must come to grips with a terrifying past that haunts her while staunchly fighting for a better way of life. If the first six chapters are any indication of the book as a whole, readers will not be able to put it down. Adeyemi's writing is beautifully descriptive and pulls the reader in. While undeniably unique, the writing style of Children of Blood and Bone reminds me of Steinbeck's "The Pearl." So far this has been an immensely entertaining novel. I am only disappointed that I cannot finish the book at this time. Absolutely recommend to fans of fantasy looking for an uncommon perspective.

I received a copy of this sneak peek from Henry Holt Books for Young Readers through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

I only had a small taste of this tale and I am hooked. There is so much that I need to know yet, and so much for me to learn about this world still, but I want to learn it so badly. What I do know about this fantasy world is that it seems to be based on Africa, at least I was using Africa as my reference point because the people have dark skin, the diviners are cursed with the darkest skin which is part of what sets them apart from the other citizens of this world and marks them as lesser people. The attitude towards skin color in this sneak peek kind of made me think about what I learned about slavery in America before the Civil War, but I also saw some parallels with more recent events in America as well.

This story is told from multiple points of view. I got to see three of them in the sneak peek with the most time spent inside Zélie's head. And Zélie is fierce! From what I can gather, she spends her days training to be a warrior under the guise of working for a seamstress, but I don't really know why the girls are being trained exactly yet. I imagine it's for some rebellion that will be organized at a later date, but it's possible that it's just as a means of self-defense. I really don't know, but I want to.

I think Amira is probably my favorite character though, at least she is so far. She's royalty but has no interest in lightening her skin (among the nobility at least, lighter skin is much desired), and her best friend is a diviner who works as a servant in the king's household. This girl doesn't seem to have a mean bone in her body. She almost certainly becomes a sidekick type character, but I have high hopes for her.

Now I've gotta' say that whoever chose where to end this sneak peek is an evil genius. We end up in Amira's brother's head, and he has just found out a kind of big secret about his sister. Somehow I'm supposed to just be okay with pausing the story there? I don't think so. I need the rest of this book ASAP.

So will I be buying this book? Abso-freaking-lutely. Possibly on release day if I don't have anything else I HAVE to be reading right then, but it's far enough away that I can't really plan my reading then yet. But I will absolutely be reading the rest of this book.

First Reaction Review!

Nigerians are slaying this writing game and are pushing the writing and reading culture in our country! I can't wait for the day when Reading is a popular thing here and not just political and business reading, reading for fun and just taking in good fiction.

So I've only read the first six chapters and omg I need more! It's so good and I'm in love. I just can't wait to have more. I already love the world building and I love how I can relate because these characters have Yoruba blood in them. Don't you just love when you read a book with a language that isn't English and you don't have to look up the meaning because you understand the words and language perfectly?

I can't wait for next year, so I can get my hands on this book and gladly finish it and the others that will follow it. Don't sleep on this wonderful book, with the most majificent cover, yes I said majificent.

Cover: is actually representative of what is in the novel. The colors are is so eye-catching and vibrant.

Pros
1.Fantasy world- it’s not clunky/info-dumpy, it is interesting to have a world that is majority if not completely filled with black people
2.How it deals with the problems of the world- the greatest thing about having a world with majority/completely filled with black people is that the story can be intraracial issues such as colorism. It also does a good representation of systematic oppression ( there is even some commentary about misogynoir )
3.Brutal- the stakes are high and real

I really did not have anything I did not like about it so I’m ready for it to come out. I’m actually a bit annoyed at myself for sampling something coming out next year in March.

I was absolutely thrilled when I saw Children of Blood and Bone as a sampler up on Netgalley. I knew I had to request it right away. It has been on my want to read list ever since I heard about it. Having read the sampler, I am just more convinced that I need this book in my life. Commence requesting this absolutely everywhere I see it.

And I have got to say that, even in the sampler alone, we get a taste of everything that this blurb promises: the bitter taste of injustice, the burning rage of vengeance, and the sweet hope of promise. I was immediately taken in by the lyrical narration style as it enfolds us in this cocoon – much like a spider. In one sense there’s fabulous writing and lush scenery, but a very real sense of danger and inequality on the surface.

We are introduced to the world via an oral tale, if I seriously needed more reasons to love this, and taken into a mysterious setting rife with breeding resentment and a history that is fragile. The characters, especially Zélie, are amazingly complex and rich – even for the brief time I got to know them. There are noble hearted princesses, fierce blooded staff-wielding girls, and when these combine, the world will burst into flames. We become attached to both feelings of oppression, the many forms it takes, as well as the powerlessness we have to stop the rolling tidal waves against us. But Adeyemi takes us on a different journey, one that challenges us to fight our inner strength and change the world.

I immediately found this strange fantasy world captivating. In the first chapter we get a great explanation of the history and society of the world. It took a few pages to get used to the terms commonly used in the book like diviner and maji. Tomi Adeyemi explains the complexity of her society well enough that by the end of the 6th chapter I had really gotten to love the world and was left wanting more.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy novel. I loved how graphic her writing is, she easily explained the details of the action scenes, creating a tangible image.

I enjoy how Adeyemi introduces her characters. Zelie is the most intriguing character, her actions driven by an inner heroism that she doesn’t even know she possesses. She has a realistically hard and vicious exterior, but as the reader we see the inner workings of her mind, her flaws and her constant inner dialogue, seeing how her actions are driven by her need to protect the ones she loves. We can see some of the other characters such as Amari, Mama Agba and Tzain have important roles to play to further the plot of the novel.

I love the book cover, and I can’t wait to read the finished product when it is published.