This post written by Charity West, managing editor.
The Story:
When magic disappeared from Orïsha, its once-powerful practitioners were murdered by a ruthless king, leaving their children alone and oppressed. Zélie is one of these children, and she has trained secretly her whole life to fight the king she hates. But when the king’s daughter begs Zélie for help, impulsive Zélie can’t say no.
As unlikely allies, the two set off on a path to restore magic to Orïsha—before it can be destroyed for good.
Why I Loved It:
I loved this story right from the first page. Zélie is a compelling character—passionate, brave, skilled, but also flawed—and she was a delight to follow through her quest to return magic to the world. The story also gives us the viewpoint of Amari, the princess, who is seeking justice for her murdered friend, and Inan, the crown prince intent on catching them.
The characters are compelling and the world is rich, making this one of my favorite reads of last year.
One of my favorite things about it was how seamlessly Adeyemi was able to weave her exposition into the narrative.
This is a complex world, with lots of history, magic, and personal conflicts that all need to be understood in order to enjoy the story. Adeyemi artfully communicated all of these world elements, building them into the story through the different point-of-view characters.
The Craft: Layering
Every writer knows to avoid infodumps like the plague, but that often leaves writers with the conundrum of how to tell readers about their world and characters without, you know, telling them. Writers need to be able to weave these elements into the story, adding character, setting, and exposition around the dialogue and action. Children of Blood and Bone is a great illustration of layering these elements.
Take the first page for example. If we color-code the different elements, we can see how Adeyemi worked so much information into just a few paragraphs.
We’ll use the following key:
Isn’t it incredible? We learned so much about this world, without ever being “told” anything. She didn’t have to start with a sentence telling us it was morning, that the climate is hot, that this takes place in a village, etc. Those details are woven seamlessly into the narrative. Same with the details about how important this moment is to the main character, and the explanation of what this match is all about.
Color-coding is a useful exercise when reading or revising your own work. Check out our video on the new Manuscript Dr YouTube channel for more tips on color-coding.
And check out Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi, for a masterful example.
Find Children of Blood and Bone on Amazon or add to your Goodreads list.
Find Children of Blood and Bone on Amazon or add to your Goodreads list.