Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Disappointing End to the Trilogy

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi

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Children of Virtue and Vengeance Although the blurb on this book primarily references Zélie, Amari’s POV seems to be in this novel at least as much as Zélie’s, certainly more so than in the first book. She’s an important part of the novel and also a frustrating one. There is a lot of repetition of characters’ thoughts and behaviors in this book. Set a few weeks after the events of the last book, civil war has essentially broken out. Zélie’s ritual didn’t just return magic […]

Magical Teens on a Quest

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

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Although it follows the beats of typical quest novel, I really enjoyed reading Children of Blood and Bone. The story is set in the country of Orïsha and told from the POVs of 3 characters, but the one who gets the most attention is Zélie. Her maji mother was killed when Zélie was a child after King Saran decided to eliminate magic from the land. Saran now oppresses people known as divîners, meaning they would have eventually become maji if he hadn’t ended magic. One […]

Fantasy shouldn’t make you feel your early middle age

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

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Bingo 20: Africa Children of Blood and Bone fits kind of into the Afro-futurism arena, and it’s also based on West African folklore/mythology and takes place is an African-esque setting. I was intrigued by the worldbuilding and some of the characters were interesting, but the plot and two of the three main characters were stupid teenagers making cringe-worthy teen angsty kinds of decisions. I know this is YA, but it’s kind of making me feel my age (barely 40+) a little. Zelie and her brother […]

Into Shadow Series Review

The Garden by Tomi Adeyemi

Persephone by Lev Grossman

The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow

Undercover by Tamsyn Muir

What the Dead Know by Nghi Vo

The Candles Are Burning by Veronica G. Henry

Out of the Mirror, Darkness by Garth Nix

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Wow. I really wish this series of short stories had been released around Halloween, some of the stories are very good and the horror/fantasy elements are great. There are at least two stories I wish had been longer novels (The Six Deaths of the Saint and Undercover) because of how good they were and how much I didn’t want the stories to be over when I got to the end. “The Garden” by Tomi Adeyemi (2 stars)-This one compared to the other books in the […]

Another roundup (sorry)

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

Transference by BT Keaton

Children of Virtue and Vengance by Tomi Adeyemi

How Much Of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang

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Another week, another reading roundup from me. Some of these I am sorry to not give more space to and some of these I’m just glad to have in the “done” column. We’ll start with the best of the bunch and then follow in no particular order. Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert The third in the Brown Sisters trilogy and each has gotten better and better. They’re all just very solid romance novels – engaging plot, endearing characters, quick witted dialogue, just a […]

A Great Story Ruined by Some Incel Behavior

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

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Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi My rating: 3 of 5 stars Zélie is a divîner, someone who’s magic hasn’t yet revealed itself. She believes she’ll never become a maji, someone who’s magic has developed, like her mother due to the king’s purging of all the maji in Orïsha and the disappearance. Little does she know that a chance encounter with princess Amari will change that. Once Amari and Zélie make contact, the story sets off on a quest to restore magic and […]



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