Children of Virtue and Vengeance Book Review

Children of Virtue and Vengeance Book Cover

CHILDREN OF VIRTUE AND VENGENACE (Legacy of Orïsha #2)
By Tomi Adeyemi
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended For: Ages 15+ and fantasy lovers, especially those looking for stories based on cultures other than the typical Anglo/European tales.

After battling the impossible, Zélie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha. But the ritual was more powerful than they could’ve imagined, reigniting the powers of not only the maji, but of nobles with magic ancestry, too.

Now, Zélie struggles to unite the maji in an Orïsha where the enemy is just as powerful as they are. But when the monarchy and military unite to keep control of Orïsha, Zélie must fight to secure Amari’s right to the throne and protect the new maji from the monarchy’s wrath.

With civil war looming on the horizon, Zélie finds herself at a breaking point: she must discover a way to bring the kingdom together or watch as Orïsha tears itself apart.

The Hit List:

Continued excellence in world building of cultures, history and magic systems
Finally get to a variety of magic used and it’s mesmerizing
Poor character development (except for Amari, my new favorite)
A plot that seems to go nowhere
Very little forward movement in the series

The Review:

Adeyemi’s debut YA Fantasy novel was a smashing success and a truly excellent book. Unfortunately, the sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance fell far shorter than its predecessor. But let me start with the good stuff.

If you were left pulling out your hair with the cliffhangers from the end of Blood and Bone, don’t worry, lots of that gets resolved quickly, which is always satisfying.

One of the strengths of book one was the world building, and book two continues to build on it. Virtue and Vengeance delves into other parts of the world and we are introduced to other cultures, rich history and we finally get more glimpses at the breath-taking magic. On the magic, I was in awe of the descriptions and types of powers within the magic system Adeyemi has laid out in this book. Truly amazing.

And while most characters lacked growth and development in this book, one character stood out as a shining star. Amari certainly got the spotlight shone on her this time around. Her story line was by far the most interesting to me because she grew as a person and learned what her value was. She also made mistakes but she learned from them. Amari really grew into her own and it was exhilarating to watch.

But all these things weren’t enough to make me love this book. In general, the plot lacked forward motion and the repetitive nature of the action (fight, retreat, argue, fight, retreat, argue, etc) made for a predictable, and to be honest, slightly annoying story. A lot of what Adeyemi wrote about was realistic. In times of war, people argue. A lot. And they get mad at each other, then talk it out only to disagree and get mad again. But it feels tedious and frustrating if that is the only thing that happens. I think this is why it felt like there was no character development. Besides Amari, it seemed like no one learned from their experiences and changed.

Speaking of lack of character development, Zelie and Inan were both outstanding and complicated characters in book one. Man did I love them! But this book, they both felt one dimension and weak. I get characters having weak movements so they can rise above, but it seemed like the rise above part never really came. Both felt like watered down versions of who they were in book one.

Overall, this book suffered greatly from book two syndrome. The entire thing felt like an elaborate filler piece to get from book one to book three. However, given how excellent Blood and Bone was, I’m maintaining high hope for book three.