10 new YA novels to make your holidays bright this December
By Lacy Baugher
Children of Virtue and Vengeance – Tomi Adeyemi
Children of Blood and Bone was one of the most popular and critically acclaimed releases of 2018. So, it probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that its follow-up is basically the most highly anticipated book hitting shelves this month. Entitled Children of Virtue and Vengeance, the sequel to author Tomi Adeyemi’s hit debut, picks up right where its predecessor left off.
The buzzy first novel in this series is full of magic, rich world-building and diverse characters, resulting in a story that was impossible to put down. There’s every reason to believe that Virtue and Vengeance will be much the same as magic returns to the land of Orisha and Zelie must work to put rebel princess Amari on the throne.
Adeyemi’s work revels in putting a new cultural spin on established fantasy tropes, giving us family power struggles, heartbreaking betrayals and an elaborate system of magic, but giving them all a distinctly West African feel. This universe feels fresh and exciting, and as though the story could go anywhere in the sequel.
The official synopsis explains a bit more about what to expect in this next phase of the story.
"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."
Children of Virtue and Vengeance is now available.