Tomi Adeyemi has been getting a lot of well-deserved buzz around her new book, Children of Blood and Bone. It’s the first book in a planned YA fantasy trilogy. It’s set in a fantasy version of West Africa, and all of the characters are people of color. I loved the setting and the use of fantasy and character to explore issues around racism and oppression. I was not as crazy about the graphic violence or the cliffhanger ending.

Here’s the basic plot of Children of Blood and Bone:

A generation ago, there was magic in the fictional West African country of Orisha. The magic users (maji) abused their powers and magic disappeared from the world. At their most vulnerable moment, King Saran ordered that all maji be killed in a terrible night known as “The Raid.” Now Orisha is divided into the lighter-skinned ruling class and the darker-skinned people who are related to the maji or have the potential to become maji themselves if magic were to return. These survivors are subject to oppression on systemic and individual levels, and targeted for raids, searches, tax increases, random executions, and sexual assaults.

Zelie’s mother was a magic user who was brutally killed during the Raid. Zelie’s father survived, but was so badly beaten that he never regained his full mental capacities. Zelie is born with the white hair that that all potential magic users have, but she can’t reach her potential since magic is gone. She is training to be a fighter, but she doesn’t have any patience or sense of strategy to go with her physical talents. She is impulsive and sometimes irresponsible, and because of her social status she is constantly in danger.

Zelie and her brother Tzain go to the big city to trade a fish so that they can pay taxes. All goes relatively well until Zelie stumbles on a girl who begs her to help her escape the city. From this point it’s a mad dash as Zelie, the girl (Amari, who is a runaway princess) and Zelie’s brother first try to avoid capture and then go on a quest to find the three magical artifacts that will bring magic back to the world. The prince (Inan, Amari’s brother) chases them but also establishes a mental link with Zelie, so that’s complicated.

This is a pretty straightforward YA Hero’s Journey story. The four main characters are teens. Zelie is The Chosen One who has to bring magic back to the world by finding the three MacGuffins. If she can bring magic back, then her people will be able to defeat the Evil King who is a terrifying example of what happens when fear, toxic masculinity, and bigotry are in control. Regardless of what complications occur, the central question is always, “Will Zelie be able to restore magic to Orisha?”

These elements are some of the most powerful ones we have, and here we get to see them play out in a new story in an African setting with Black characters on an epic, mythic scale. Plans for a movie are already underway. In terms of representation, this is thrilling news.

The combination of characters allows for layered relationships that also explore oppression in different ways. Tzain is consumed with anger and with fear that he won’t be able to protect his sister or his father. Amari acknowledges her privilege but also makes Zelie realize that oppression happens within the upper classes as well as the lower classes. Her problems reinforce the idea that bigotry and sexism in this society are systemic at every level. Inan is that guy who recognizes problems but wants to make superficial changes that don’t alter the structure of society. He’s the “But the guards at the palace are really nice so there must just be a few bad ones” guy. Also, there are two romances, and it thrills me to report that there are no love triangles.

Different readers will take different things away from this book. What struck me most powerfully was the way Zelie is afraid ALL THE TIME. In understanding Zelie, it’s important to read the author’s afterword, in which the author talks about her own reaction to systemic violence against people of color historically and today. Like so many Black people in this country, Zelie can come into contact with violence at any moment. She has no recourse against guards who take advantage of her financially, who grope her, and who murder her relatives “for the safety of Orisha.” It’s not that every moment of her life is violent and chaotic – it’s that in every moment of her life she knows that violence and chaos may erupt at any time and in any place and that there will be little she can do about it (until she gets the chance to find the magical three items and restore magic).

I did have some issues with this book. The most glaring is that it is it told from the point of view of multiple characters, but they aren’t given distinct voices. Ideally, every character in a book is recognizable the moment they speak, not for any glaring reason but because every real person sounds different when they talk. In this case, I often lost track of who was speaking.

Finally, and this is a personal point, I struggled with some of the depictions of graphic violence. In addition to scenes of battle, there is a very graphic and drawn out torture scene. I felt that the torture scene was gratuitous. I already knew that the king was evil. I didn’t need pools of blood to reinforce that.

Counting the author’s note, which I highly recommend you read, the 2018 hardcover version of this book is 527 pages long and it’s the first book in a planned trilogy. I can picture many teens and for that matter many adults racing through it. It has that same quality as other blockbuster YA series of making the reader compulsively wonder what will happen next.

And, I can’t say this enough, the themes of feminism, colorism, representation, social and racial and economic justice, and family are wonderful.