Adeyemi’s sequel makes New York Times’ ‘explosive YA fiction’ pick

Nigeria’s Tomi Adeyemi’s sequel, ‘Children of Virtue and Vengeance,’ has made the New York Times’ ‘the explosive Y.A. novels fans have been waiting for’ pick. This featured in an article published on December 27 which also includes other books such as ‘Blood Heir’ by Amélie Wen Zhao, ‘Jackpot’ by Nic Stone, and ‘Are You Listening?’ […]

Nigeria’s Tomi Adeyemi’s sequel, ‘Children of Virtue and Vengeance,’ has made the New York Times’ ‘the explosive Y.A. novels fans have been waiting for’ pick.

This featured in an article published on December 27 which also includes other books such as ‘Blood Heir’ by Amélie Wen Zhao, ‘Jackpot’ by Nic Stone, and ‘Are You Listening?’ by Tillie Walden.

In ‘Children of Virtue and Vengeance,’ where magic has returned to Orïsha, Zélie and princess Amari join forces to ensure Zélie takes the throne in order to bring peace to the land. But things don’t go as planned when Zélie’s mother, in a surprising attack, snatches the seat of power.

A Good Morning America Book Club pick, Adeyemi’s new novel has been getting rave reviews with Entertainment Weekly describing her as the new J.K. Rowling.

A close look at reader reviews online, particularly on goodreads however shows very divergent views on the sequel. Some love the cover design and there is hardly anyone who seems to dislike it as far as reviews are concerned. There is also an entire discussion on the character, Inan, showing just how much readers are drawn in by Adeyemi’s heroes.

A good number of readers also felt that ‘Children of Bone and Vengeance’ didn’t meet their expectations. One Jessica wrote: “Well, this is a little bit disappointing. I finished this and all I could think was ‘that’s it!? I waited nearly two years for that!?’ maybe my expectations slowly became too high whilst I was anticipating this release, but wow, this is not at all what I was hoping it would be, sadly.”

Another fan, Warda, said “Am I the only one that’s losing interest here…? Debating whether I want to continue on with this series or not.”

Melissa wrote: “I didn’t love this one as much as the first one. It could just be me so I will try a reread back to back again later.”

But, released December 3, Adeyemi’s sequel has sailed to become An Amazon Best Book of December 2019. She was 24 when her debut Young Adult fantasy novel, ‘Children of Blood and Bone’, became a New York Times bestseller. Before its release on March 6, 2018, its cover, showing a white-haired girl with fierce grey eyes, appeared on a 42-foot high billboard not far from the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the United States of America. To cap it all, Fox 2000 acquired it for the screen even before its release, and it was described by Ebony as “the next big thing in literature and film.”

Earlier in 2019, a Nigerian-American filmmaker, Rick Famuyiwa, was made director of the film adaptation of ‘Children of Blood and Bone.’ Famuyiwa, once attached to DC’s upcoming ‘The Flash,’ is best-known for his coming-of-age critical hit, ‘Dope.’ Several of his films focus on the Black experience in America, including ‘The Wood’ and ‘Brown Sugar.’

‘Children of Blood and Bone’ is a Nigeria inspired fantasy epic that takes place in the once magical land of Orisha. Zelie Adebola has grown up in a land very different from the one in which her parents were raised, witnessing her mother’s death, as well as that of the other maji, due to a royal decree from the king. Adeyemi was 23 when the rights sold for seven figures after she pitched the book as an ‘African Last Airbender’ and ‘Black Panther with magic.’