If you’re looking for an in-depth review of book one of Tomi Adeyemi’s West African–inspired magic trilogy, you won’t find it here. I read it about a year ago, but can’t remember enough to give a detailed review. (Sorry, did you think you were coming to a reputable book review site?) Here’s what I can tell you: The writing is solid. The romances are good but kinda forced. The magic system is unique. And I loved the characters. So, like, read that right now and then come back to see if you should bother with book two.

*Cue Final Jeopardy tune*

All caught up? Great! A lot of cool shit went down, right? (Right? Seriously, I can’t remember, remember?) Anyway, let’s get started.

Just cut to the chase. Should I read the second book?

I’ll say yes, but I don’t say it confidently. Why? Because I didn’t enjoy this one as much as Children of Blood and Bone. I picked the first one up because Entertainment Weekly told me that Adeyemi’s series might become the next Harry Potter. Do I agree? Absolutely not. I still don’t understand how that claim made it past several editors before publishing. And my opinion still stands after reading Children of Virtue and Vengeance.

What happens in this one?

The story begins right after Zelie succeeds in bringing back magic (after getting betrayed by the love of her life, witnessing her father get murdered by the king, and then watching the king get murdered by her new best friend—and his daughter—Amari. Amari, Zelie, and her brother Tzain now have to fight for the kingdom, which is now ruled by a psycho bitch queen. Also, magic has not only returned to the maji, but it’s also awoken in a few non-magic folk, who are referred to as tîtáns. Can Amari rise up to rule? Can Zélie recover from that traumatic experience to help save her home? And what really happened to Inan?

That actually sounds cool…

It does! Which was why I was so excited to pick it up. However, that excitement puttered out quickly before I even reached the halfway point. It wasn’t the writing; Adeyemi has a nice way with words. She just didn’t nail everything else—most notably, unconvincing character motives and an insubstantial concept. The plot seemed to only involve constant fighting between the majis and the Queen’s forces. If they weren’t fighting each other then they were just fighting amongst themselves. Zelie with Amari. Amari with the majis. Zélie with Roën. It was a lot of bickering over virtues and vengeance—a title that has been taken so literally it makes my head spin. This could have been avoided if there were one or two interesting subplots sprinkled into the mix.

Bickering?

By far and away, the biggest issue was character development. And by that, I mean there was zero character development. Not a single character could make up their minds about anything. They made choices for questionable reasons, and then flipped on those ideas for even more confusing reasons. I lost trust in them, then got angry with them, and then finally became uninterested in them altogether. Amari served up the hardest pill to swallow. Her whole schtick was about becoming a better leader than her father, which should have been incredibly easy considering he was a mass murderer and psychopath. It’s astonishing where she ends up (as well as the rollercoaster ride of how she gets there). Tzain really has no purpose, again, except to be Amari’s arm candy (but what a refreshing gender reversal that was).

I was counting on Zélie to become the badass master maji we all expected. To be fair, she actually did that. Her abilities became more advanced, but we didn’t see much of it. It was as if Adeyemi only thought of her as fulfilling the “vengeance” part of the novel’s title. We were introduced to a few new characters but none of them made a lasting impression on me, nor did they further the plot in any way. I think I only kept reading because I wanted to see what Roën would do next. I love the potential of a baddie-gone-good scenario.

It sounds like you don’t want me to read this book…

I guess it does, but I like a redemption arc. Book two may have disappointed, but the ending left me on a cliffhanger that has definitely given me a reason to pick up the next one, whenever that comes out. This storyline is in desperate need of more conflict that doesn’t revolve around the back and forth of this boring war. Based on the ending, it sounds like a new outside force is coming to town to shake shit up.

Spoiler Rant

– Can we just talk about how Amari talks shit about her father throughout the entire book, and then randomly comes to the conclusion near the end that she needs to act like him to get what she wants? She EASILY convinced herself to kill hundreds of innocent people to get to her mother. Like, she didn’t even debate it internally. Where the hell did that come from? Also, why do the maji suddenly trust her? Did they forget she was a royal and that they’ve been giving her the cold shoulder all this time? Or was it the fact that Zélie pulled a very unZélie-like move and suggested they all run away instead of fight? I guess that’s reason enough to side with the traitor.
– Inan is such a little bitch. The number of opportunities he had to turn this whole thing around and take control of his army was astronomical. This story should have lasted two chapters.
– One more thing: Raise your hand if you found more than one typo.
Read more

Too lazy to check Goodreads? I got you:

Title: Children of Virtue and Vengeance
Author: Tomi Adeyemi
Series: Legacy of Orïsha #2
Pages: 448 (ebook)
Publish Date: December 3, 2019

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