Children of Blood and Bone (2018) by Tomi Adeyemi is a young adult fantasy novel and the first book in the Legacy of Orϊsha trilogy. Adeyemi is a Nigerian American author and creative writing coach who graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English literature. Following her graduation, she studied West African mythology in Brazil, which partly inspired her to write Children of Blood and Bone. Adeyemi also wrote Children of Blood and Bone in response to racialized violence in the United States and police brutality. The novel, which is Adeyemi’s first, earned the 2019 Waterstone Book Prize, the 2019 Hugo Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and debuted as the number one New York Times Bestseller. Another novel from Adeyemi is Children of Virtue and Vengeance.

This study guide references the 2018 Henry Holt hardcover edition of the book.

Please be advised that Children of Blood and Bone contains depictions of racism, graphic violence, emotional abuse, forced labor, and sexual assault and harassment.

Plot Summary

Set in a fictionalized, pre-colonial African country called Orїsha, Children of Blood and Bone takes place 11 years after the disappearance of magic and the mass murder of magical adults called maji. The children of these adults, called divîners because of their unrealized magical potential, are discriminated against through high taxes, forced labor, segregation, and frequent assaults. Zélie, a divîner, her brother Tzain, and her father struggle financially, targeted by local guards and tax collectors. After traveling to the capitol city of Lagos to earn money, Zélie saves a girl running from King Saran’s guards. The girl is revealed to be Princess Amari and holds a scroll capable of returning magic to the divîners. Amari stole the scroll after her father had her divîner maid, Binta, murdered because Binta’s magical powers awoke after touching the scroll. Zélie touches the scroll and becomes a Reaper, a magi possessing strong death magic like her mother before her.

Zélie, Amari, and Tzain travel back to Zélie’s home, only for it to be destroyed by the Prince Inan (Amari’s brother), the King’s Admiral Kaea, and soldiers. The trio then travels to the sacred temple of Chândomblé where its guardian, Lekan, tells them that to restore magic to all divîners, they must perform a sacred ritual on the island of the gods. The ritual requires the stolen scroll they already possess, the bone knife, and the sunstone, all sacred artifacts. Lekan gives them the bone knife and directs them to where they can find the sunstone, performing a ritual on Zélie so that she will be able to complete the ceremony. Lekan sacrifices himself when the King’s guards arrive, allowing the three to escape. In the confusion, it is revealed that Prince Inan also has magical powers that were restored by touching the scroll. Inan hides his abilities, knowing that his father, King Saran, would kill him if discovered. Inan kills Kaea accidentally when she sees his abilities.

In the desert city of Ibeji, Zélie, Amari, and Tzain join teams of enslaved divîners to compete in a deadly battle for the sunstone. Victorious, they travel into the woods, only to be discovered by Inan. Amari and Tzain are taken captive by a group of masked warriors, forcing Inan and Zélie to work together to save their siblings. As they do, they develop an attraction to one another. When they find the settlement Tzain and Amari have been taken to, Inan and Zélie realize it is a rebel group of divîners. The divîners offer to help the trio complete their mission and Inan joins them, swayed by his affection for Zélie. The rebels host a celebration in honor of the Sky Mother but the event is interrupted by an attack from King Saran’s soldiers. Zélie is taken captive. Inan is terrified of the display of magic from those who have touched the scroll, particularly when a man named Kwame uses blood magic to self-immolate and kill the soldiers around him.

King Saran tortures Zélie, who reveals that the scroll can be destroyed with magic. Zélie is rescued by Tzain, Amari, and a group of freshly-awoken maji, but her trauma causes her to lose her magic. The trio hires a band of mercenaries to escort them to the gods’ temple, guarded by Saran’s forces. The group sneaks into the temple but are ambushed by Saran and Inan, who have taken Zélie’s father captive. To save her father’s life, they demand that Zélie trade the sacred artifacts required for the ceremony to restore magic. Zélie agrees, but her father is killed by an arrow. His death awakens blood magic in Zélie, which she uses to attack Saran’s soldiers. Inan exploits Zélie’s rage, tricking her into destroying the scroll with her magic. Inan exposes himself as magical; Saran kills him but is then killed in turn by Amari.

Zélie, desperate, uses blood magic to become a conduit for ancient spirits. The spirits use her body to perform a ritual, but the effort of doing so kills Zélie. She awakens in the afterlife, where she is reunited with her mother. Her mother commends her for what she has done but sends Zélie back to the world of the living, claiming there is still too much to do. Zélie awakens surrounded by her companions, connects with her own magical ability, and sees that Amari is capable of magic.