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Legacy of Orïsha #3
Children of Anguish and Anarchy
New allies rise.
The Blood Moon nears.
Zélie faces her final enemy.
The king who hunts her heart.
When Zelie seized the royal palace that fateful night, she thought her battles had come to an end. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Zélie never expected to find herself locked in a cage and trapped on a foreign ship. Now warriors with iron skulls traffic her and her people across the seas, far from their homeland.
Then everything changes when Zélie meets King Baldyr, her true captor, the ruler of the Skulls, and the man who has ravaged entire civilizations to find her. Baldyr’s quest to harness Zélie’s strength sends Zélie, Amari, and Tzain searching for allies in unknown lands.
But as Baldyr closes in, catastrophe charges Orïsha’s shores. It will take everything Zélie has to face her final enemy and save her people before the Skulls annihilate them for good.
The Blood Moon nears.
Zélie faces her final enemy.
The king who hunts her heart.
When Zelie seized the royal palace that fateful night, she thought her battles had come to an end. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Zélie never expected to find herself locked in a cage and trapped on a foreign ship. Now warriors with iron skulls traffic her and her people across the seas, far from their homeland.
Then everything changes when Zélie meets King Baldyr, her true captor, the ruler of the Skulls, and the man who has ravaged entire civilizations to find her. Baldyr’s quest to harness Zélie’s strength sends Zélie, Amari, and Tzain searching for allies in unknown lands.
But as Baldyr closes in, catastrophe charges Orïsha’s shores. It will take everything Zélie has to face her final enemy and save her people before the Skulls annihilate them for good.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published June 25, 2024
About the author
Tomi Adeyemi
10 books20.3k followersTomi Adeyemi is a Nigerian-American writer and creative writing coach based in San Diego, California. Her debut novel, CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE, comes out March 6th, 2018 and the movie is currently in development at Fox with the producers of Twilight and The Maze Runner attached. After graduating Harvard University with an honors degree in English literature, she received a fellowship that allowed her to study West African mythology and culture in Salvador, Brazil. When she’s not working on her novels or watching Scandal, she can be found blogging and teaching creative writing to her 3,500 subscribers at tomiadeyemi.com. Her website has been named one of the 101 best websites for writers by Writer’s Digest.
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January 10, 2024edit-THAT COVER! And the allegory for the origins of the African Diaspora, I'm shook.
edit-Children of Anguish and Anarchy?!!!! If Black kids are burning institutions down in this one it's already gonna get five stars from me.
after cvv's ending, my soul will not be healed until this book drops
edit-Children of Anguish and Anarchy?!!!! If Black kids are burning institutions down in this one it's already gonna get five stars from me.
after cvv's ending, my soul will not be healed until this book drops
Want to read
October 3, 202310.2.2023
I'm SAT and ready to experience both anguish and anarchy when this comes out.
6.27.22
An appetizer has been served! The title is apparently - Children of Anguish and Anarchy. Something tells me that I will never recover from the anguish this book will cause me.
2/23/2021 -
STILL NEED THEM. HAVE BEEN SUSTAINED BY NOTHING–not even a DESCRIPTION. A TENTATIVE RELEASE DATE. NADA.
12/5/2019I NEED ANSWERS
I'm SAT and ready to experience both anguish and anarchy when this comes out.
6.27.22
An appetizer has been served! The title is apparently - Children of Anguish and Anarchy. Something tells me that I will never recover from the anguish this book will cause me.
2/23/2021 -
STILL NEED THEM. HAVE BEEN SUSTAINED BY NOTHING–not even a DESCRIPTION. A TENTATIVE RELEASE DATE. NADA.
12/5/2019I NEED ANSWERS
Want to read
February 7, 2020I think this one should be called Children of Death and Desire.
Want to read
December 26, 2019Really Tomi you’re just going to break my heart like that? I mean what do I even do now?
I CAN’T😭
I CAN’T😭
Want to read
May 7, 2021At this point I’m curious if this book is even still happening lmao
June 27, 2024
It actually hurts me to say this, but Children of Anguish and Anarchy was a huge disappointment.
After waiting almost 4 years for the conclusion to this trilogy, I find the final instalment malformed and rushed.
I was immediately not a fan of the enslavement parallels at the very start of the book and by almost 20 chapters we were still fighting to get off the boat after being captured by a brand-new enemy who had not previously featured. We all know how much I despise the slave narrative and while this was not a central focus of the book, having this magical Black cast in this type of bondage for so long admittedly made me dislike it a lot more than I probably would have. The author has taken everything that was magical and special about this world and its people and joined it into struggle and plight and I hated that about this.
Where this book ultimately doesn’t work is that it is completely disjointed from its predecessors. Everything about Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance seems to be completely forgotten. Characters are gone, motives disappear and even certain people are literally killed off so that we don’t have to deal with them anymore. It genuinely feels like this plot was an afterthought and simply inserted just to bring the series to an end when no thought on how to do so had previously been established.
The pacing and quadruple POV’s create a choppy narrative that even though I have found to be better for reading in previous stories, just made this feel too fast and unrealistic. Zelie is meant to learn how to control her new powers from new allies and I have no idea how she did it. I felt like they spent more time beautifying her then actually teaching anything which made everything feel sacrificial which I didnt care for. At one point, someone says theyd trained for 9 days but were suddenly capableof taking on armies. The rituals didnt make sense. The villain deaths were super easy and i had no clue how they were travelling back and forth so easily across the oceans.
While there was a solid attempt at worldbuilding around Orisha, I'm not entirely sure where they are and how the two worlds are connected. The use of their language while wonderful to see included felt unnecessary because you can't pronounce them anyway. I wanted to feel more connected with this and whenever a book has too much of a language I don't understand, it takes me out of the story.
I hated the ending and while I understand that you might not always get the ending you desire, this did not feel well thought out enough for it to be accepted as the ending that was needed. The deaths felt transient and unfair and the sacrifices hollow in order to pander to current tropes.
I will always be grateful to the author for paving the way for mainstream Black lead fantasy but unfortunately and to my utter heartbreak, the conclusion was not as mighty as the people it portrays.
Further thoughts are on my Youtube here
Thank you to netgalley and publishers for the arc. All thoughts are my own.
After waiting almost 4 years for the conclusion to this trilogy, I find the final instalment malformed and rushed.
I was immediately not a fan of the enslavement parallels at the very start of the book and by almost 20 chapters we were still fighting to get off the boat after being captured by a brand-new enemy who had not previously featured. We all know how much I despise the slave narrative and while this was not a central focus of the book, having this magical Black cast in this type of bondage for so long admittedly made me dislike it a lot more than I probably would have. The author has taken everything that was magical and special about this world and its people and joined it into struggle and plight and I hated that about this.
Where this book ultimately doesn’t work is that it is completely disjointed from its predecessors. Everything about Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance seems to be completely forgotten. Characters are gone, motives disappear and even certain people are literally killed off so that we don’t have to deal with them anymore. It genuinely feels like this plot was an afterthought and simply inserted just to bring the series to an end when no thought on how to do so had previously been established.
The pacing and quadruple POV’s create a choppy narrative that even though I have found to be better for reading in previous stories, just made this feel too fast and unrealistic. Zelie is meant to learn how to control her new powers from new allies and I have no idea how she did it. I felt like they spent more time beautifying her then actually teaching anything which made everything feel sacrificial which I didnt care for. At one point, someone says theyd trained for 9 days but were suddenly capableof taking on armies. The rituals didnt make sense. The villain deaths were super easy and i had no clue how they were travelling back and forth so easily across the oceans.
While there was a solid attempt at worldbuilding around Orisha, I'm not entirely sure where they are and how the two worlds are connected. The use of their language while wonderful to see included felt unnecessary because you can't pronounce them anyway. I wanted to feel more connected with this and whenever a book has too much of a language I don't understand, it takes me out of the story.
I hated the ending and while I understand that you might not always get the ending you desire, this did not feel well thought out enough for it to be accepted as the ending that was needed. The deaths felt transient and unfair and the sacrifices hollow in order to pander to current tropes.
I will always be grateful to the author for paving the way for mainstream Black lead fantasy but unfortunately and to my utter heartbreak, the conclusion was not as mighty as the people it portrays.
Further thoughts are on my Youtube here
Thank you to netgalley and publishers for the arc. All thoughts are my own.
January 22, 2020
Can we not have to wait 4 years and 2 moons for this 1 please Tomi!!!
April 28, 2024
No one is more gutted than me… :((
Zélie believed she had won. She seized the royal palace. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Yet now, Zélie and her fellow comrades are locked in cages and trapped on a foreign ship. The Skull King wants her and her magic.
This felt like an entirely new book rather than a finale to a series. It discounted all the conflict of the first two books to concentrate on uniting against a foreign power.
Whilst this felt almost like a cheat out of the building plot from the first two books, I did like seeing more incredibly vivid worldbuilding as our characters ventured further from their kingdom.
I do appreciate that the romance never overtook the main plot as tends to happen in YA series. There was actually a nice twist which I thought enjoyed and think other readers will too!
”I teach you to be warriors in the garden so you will never be gardeners in the war.”
This was extremely fast paced and oddly short for what I was expecting. Yet it meant I flew through it, and I think this will appeal to transitioning readers.
However, the sudden change of purpose to the series and shortness did mean that certain arcs felt incomplete and certain characters were just never brought up which was a shame. Cough cough, Roën.
Moreover, the ending was extremely abrupt and left me feeling extremely dissatisfied.
All in all, I am crushingly disappointed. Book one was one of my favourite releases, but the series struggled to continue this momentum.
If you enjoyed this series, I would recommend The Gilded Ones!
Thank you to MacMillan for providing an arc in exchange for a review!
Bookstagram
Zélie believed she had won. She seized the royal palace. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Yet now, Zélie and her fellow comrades are locked in cages and trapped on a foreign ship. The Skull King wants her and her magic.
This felt like an entirely new book rather than a finale to a series. It discounted all the conflict of the first two books to concentrate on uniting against a foreign power.
Whilst this felt almost like a cheat out of the building plot from the first two books, I did like seeing more incredibly vivid worldbuilding as our characters ventured further from their kingdom.
I do appreciate that the romance never overtook the main plot as tends to happen in YA series. There was actually a nice twist which I thought enjoyed and think other readers will too!
”I teach you to be warriors in the garden so you will never be gardeners in the war.”
This was extremely fast paced and oddly short for what I was expecting. Yet it meant I flew through it, and I think this will appeal to transitioning readers.
However, the sudden change of purpose to the series and shortness did mean that certain arcs felt incomplete and certain characters were just never brought up which was a shame. Cough cough, Roën.
Moreover, the ending was extremely abrupt and left me feeling extremely dissatisfied.
All in all, I am crushingly disappointed. Book one was one of my favourite releases, but the series struggled to continue this momentum.
If you enjoyed this series, I would recommend The Gilded Ones!
Thank you to MacMillan for providing an arc in exchange for a review!
Bookstagram
Want to read
April 19, 2022book 2 was so bad I hope this is better but tbh I don’t see why the series was even so hyped in the first place lol
February 10, 2024
I’m so sad. I was so so stoked for this finale. Easily one of my most anticipated.
But it did not deliver.
Zelie’s magic completely changed. There was a brand new enemy all of a sudden. And we needed brand new allies to defeat these new enemies. All these new elements felt ill introduced.
The maji were no longer the centre of this story. They did not get the true redemption that was owed to them at all. Which could be on purpose in the light of the story Tomi is really telling. But it left so much unresolved.
The end battle was extremely underwhelming. And very rushed. Two short chapters from the end we didn’t have a wrap up of anything. Epilogue wasn’t even a real ending.
There are characters I never got closure for. Not once did I figure out what happened to Roen. Amari got a new romance after everything we were building prior to this. It felt like so much got left behind in the years we’ve waited for this story.
This story was still incredible. But not the story we’ve been building to at all.
But it did not deliver.
Zelie’s magic completely changed. There was a brand new enemy all of a sudden. And we needed brand new allies to defeat these new enemies. All these new elements felt ill introduced.
The maji were no longer the centre of this story. They did not get the true redemption that was owed to them at all. Which could be on purpose in the light of the story Tomi is really telling. But it left so much unresolved.
The end battle was extremely underwhelming. And very rushed. Two short chapters from the end we didn’t have a wrap up of anything. Epilogue wasn’t even a real ending.
There are characters I never got closure for. Not once did I figure out what happened to Roen. Amari got a new romance after everything we were building prior to this. It felt like so much got left behind in the years we’ve waited for this story.
This story was still incredible. But not the story we’ve been building to at all.
Want to read
March 29, 2021still no news on this? really? it's been over a year.... i want some news 🥲
Want to read
December 30, 2018I suppose I'm in this 'til the end, huh.
February 25, 2024
Oh boy. This book was bad, but Amari's gay thoughts were finally recognized and acted on so I guess that's a small win.
This trilogy is quite possibly one of the most frustrating ones I've ever read. Every book feels so disjointed from the others, and it's so weird and sad because I think the first one is pretty universally acknowledged as the best one, with the rest going downhill from there. There were just way too many new things, plots, worldbuilding, and characters introduced in this finale to the trilogy. Pretty much nothing felt like it logically connected to what was set up in previous books, and as I write this, I'm realizing that certain characters just completely vanished from the story here? Very very bizarre. If you liked the first book in this trilogy, I'd recommend skipping the rest and saving the souring of that first book, unfortunately.
This trilogy is quite possibly one of the most frustrating ones I've ever read. Every book feels so disjointed from the others, and it's so weird and sad because I think the first one is pretty universally acknowledged as the best one, with the rest going downhill from there. There were just way too many new things, plots, worldbuilding, and characters introduced in this finale to the trilogy. Pretty much nothing felt like it logically connected to what was set up in previous books, and as I write this, I'm realizing that certain characters just completely vanished from the story here? Very very bizarre. If you liked the first book in this trilogy, I'd recommend skipping the rest and saving the souring of that first book, unfortunately.
June 26, 2024
I loved the first 2 books. This book was really really disappointing to me. The plot just lost its way. There's practically zero romance except for the very sudden romance of Amari and Mae'e. They know each other for a few weeks, and Mae'e goes off to battle and tells Amari she loves her. It's very rushed. But my biggest disappointment with this book is that Roen is referenced once. For like 2 sentences. And then never spoken of again. He was a main love interest and just completely dropped from the story with no explanation! Everything was wrapped up really quickly in a very unsatisfying way. It really feels like in the 6 years since the 2nd book the author lost interest.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2024
Unfortunately this last book was a disappointment‼️ Which really pisses me off to say… cause I am OBSESSED with the first 2 books ‼️‼️😩😩
I feel like I was reading a brand new book. Nothing from the 1st/2nd book was explained or barely revisited for that matter. and a new Bad Guy has come in and basically wiped away everything we actually knew from the Gods in the story before down to how the magic works. We LOST CHARACTERS with absolutely NO CONTEXT of what happened to them and we have a new person who the new all powerful
I honestly just felt Confused and frustrated the whole time. The first two books = AMAZING but I could have done without this last one 😩😩
I feel like I was reading a brand new book. Nothing from the 1st/2nd book was explained or barely revisited for that matter. and a new Bad Guy has come in and basically wiped away everything we actually knew from the Gods in the story before down to how the magic works. We LOST CHARACTERS with absolutely NO CONTEXT of what happened to them and we have a new person who the new all powerful
I honestly just felt Confused and frustrated the whole time. The first two books = AMAZING but I could have done without this last one 😩😩
July 7, 2024
I consumed book 1 & 2 in less than a week. I have fallen in love with the characters, their flaws and their strengths. I pray book 3 doesn't fall into the European slavery trope. It will not do the story of these vibrant characters justice.
Update: Reread Blood and Bone & Virtue and Vengeance to prepare for Anguish and Anarchy. I powered through and finished it in last night. Book 1 remains my favorite. Book 3 finished the story the way the author saw fit. If I wasn't committed to the storyline I wouldn't have finished. With that said I have much respect for Tomi Adeyemi for writing this work.
Update: Reread Blood and Bone & Virtue and Vengeance to prepare for Anguish and Anarchy. I powered through and finished it in last night. Book 1 remains my favorite. Book 3 finished the story the way the author saw fit. If I wasn't committed to the storyline I wouldn't have finished. With that said I have much respect for Tomi Adeyemi for writing this work.
Want to read
April 25, 2021So, there's no book three?? Is that it??
July 3, 2024
I'm so confused. This book was a first for me in the worst way. I don't think I've ever read a series where the author just completely erases an entire character from the final book. Just like he never even existed. And a MAIN character at that. THE main character's love interest. The man she literally ties her heart to and connected their souls to prevent his death. I am so unbelievably confused as to how she just never told us what happened to him. But let me start from the beginning.
I was already a little worried about what to expect with this book considering it took her five years to write it after the second book when there was only a year between the first two. And I got even more concerned when I saw how short this book was, shorter than the other two by far. I absolutely loved the first book. It was such a great story with diverse characters, interesting West African mythology, and an exciting magic system and storyline. And while the second book didn't quite live up to the first, it was still a great book. And a big part of that was because of the introduction of Roen, Zelie's new love interest.
A mercenary with sarcasm for days, hilarious one-liners, and a soft spot reserved only for Zelie. He quickly became my favorite character, and I wanted so badly for them to end up together. And it really seemed like they would after they confessed their feelings for each other, saved each other's lives, and became connected by magic. The second book ends with him sprinting to save her from the impending white mist before they both collapse. And that's literally the last we ever see or hear from this character. It is SO bizarre that the author chose to act as if he never existed. To give no ending to this character. Not even just to say he died. Zelie, who cared SO much about him, mentions one time that she wonders if he's alive and that's it. I honestly want to give this book negative stars for this reason alone. I have never read a book that just erases such an important character from the final book. That doesn't even bother to so much as hint at his fate. I truly do not understand how Adeyemi's editors didn't push this point. If she wanted to leave it ambiguous, Zelie should've at least thought about him a few more times. But it's essentially like he never existed.
Moving past that serious flaw in the storyline, the overall plot of this novel felt extremely rushed and a bit confusing. We're introduced to this new enemy but never really given any backstory. What is Baldyr's story? How did he learn about that ritual? Where did the medallions come from? How did he become King and why is he able to become a God? The whole thing felt like it just wasn't really thought out and that the passion the author had when writing the first and second books just vanished. I'm not sure what happened over the course of those five years, but it felt very clear that she didn't want to write this novel or maybe just had no idea what she wanted to write. While overall I thought the enemy was confusing and poorly explained, I will say that their blood axes and the magic surrounding them were pretty cool.
Another example of how rushed and breezed over it all was: the Maji and the Monarchy are fighting for yearsss and for the entirety of the first two books. In this book, they reach an agreement and get over it within like 5 pages. Just like that. And then it's never really addressed again. There are so many characters that we get zero closure for. Like to the point that we don't even know their fates. Do the maji continue to rule Lagos? Does the peace last?
The big war lasts like 20 pages. For whatever reason, the people from New Gaia are left to fight alone for most of it. They don't even get like 2 Maji to come help, which makes zero sense considering a Burner or Cancer could've helped A LOT. All that work to bring magic back and yet Inan goes off alone to help everyone else fight the Skulls. I get that they needed to defend Orïsha, but again, even a couple of Maji could've made a big difference.
Amari and Tzain are randomly over because she falls in love with the princess of the new world. I mean what? They were the OG couple, the one that started in the first book and prevailed through the second, and for what? Nothing comes from it. Yes, they break up after Amari almost gets Zelie killed, but it felt so certain that they'd overcome it. Where does this random love for this random princess that she barely knows come from? They spend like one month together and Amari forgets Tzain just like that. So does she end up with the princess? Is she going to go live in New Gaia? Does New Gaia get rebuilt? Did the emperor live? Did Nehanda live? Is Zelie going to be queen? No one knows. We never get any of those answers. Inan dies randomly. And it was meant to be all meaningful and sweet, but it happened too fast with no real build up or explanation, so it completely fell flat. Of course he tells Zelie he loves her first and she essentially reciprocates it (again - where tf is Roen?!) So basically all of the couples we rooted for in the first two books completely fall apart.
The only thing I thought was good about this book was the introduction of New Gaia. It was the only moment that I saw any of that passion and beautiful writing from the author. Her descriptions of the other kingdom were stunning and vivid. It was a creative and incredible new setting, and she did a great job of painting an image in my head. The people and the culture were really interesting. Mae'e was a great character. The Lamina were so unique and their method of drawing weapons from their bodies was really cool. I truly wish Adeyemi has actually put time and more effort into this book because the brief bit we got of New Gaia was like a teasing hint of what could have been. Of the potential for a book as incredible as the first.
After the release, she gave an interview about how stressful she found this series and unfortunately, it's just really apparent that she pushed this novel out to finally end it. It's like 5 years had passed and she knew she needed to finish it, so she put the bare minimum into it and got it over with. And it's such a disappointment because she had something truly special in this series. I was invested in it and grew to love so many of the characters, and I hate that we'll never get to see what could've been. The drop in quality from the first two books to this one is mind-blowing. Plot aside, there were actual mistakes with consistency that clearly were missed in editing: like one scene where two characters are walking up stairs and talking and it's night time but then suddenly it's the middle of the day like 5 seconds later. And the location of the medallion embedded in Zelie changed from being in her chest to her ribcage and back again.
I debated giving this book 2 stars, but idk, I just really feel like there were too many significant problems with it. I'd like to give it 1.5 stars, but if I have to choose between rounding up or rounding down, unfortunately I have to go with down.
I was already a little worried about what to expect with this book considering it took her five years to write it after the second book when there was only a year between the first two. And I got even more concerned when I saw how short this book was, shorter than the other two by far. I absolutely loved the first book. It was such a great story with diverse characters, interesting West African mythology, and an exciting magic system and storyline. And while the second book didn't quite live up to the first, it was still a great book. And a big part of that was because of the introduction of Roen, Zelie's new love interest.
A mercenary with sarcasm for days, hilarious one-liners, and a soft spot reserved only for Zelie. He quickly became my favorite character, and I wanted so badly for them to end up together. And it really seemed like they would after they confessed their feelings for each other, saved each other's lives, and became connected by magic. The second book ends with him sprinting to save her from the impending white mist before they both collapse. And that's literally the last we ever see or hear from this character. It is SO bizarre that the author chose to act as if he never existed. To give no ending to this character. Not even just to say he died. Zelie, who cared SO much about him, mentions one time that she wonders if he's alive and that's it. I honestly want to give this book negative stars for this reason alone. I have never read a book that just erases such an important character from the final book. That doesn't even bother to so much as hint at his fate. I truly do not understand how Adeyemi's editors didn't push this point. If she wanted to leave it ambiguous, Zelie should've at least thought about him a few more times. But it's essentially like he never existed.
Moving past that serious flaw in the storyline, the overall plot of this novel felt extremely rushed and a bit confusing. We're introduced to this new enemy but never really given any backstory. What is Baldyr's story? How did he learn about that ritual? Where did the medallions come from? How did he become King and why is he able to become a God? The whole thing felt like it just wasn't really thought out and that the passion the author had when writing the first and second books just vanished. I'm not sure what happened over the course of those five years, but it felt very clear that she didn't want to write this novel or maybe just had no idea what she wanted to write. While overall I thought the enemy was confusing and poorly explained, I will say that their blood axes and the magic surrounding them were pretty cool.
Another example of how rushed and breezed over it all was: the Maji and the Monarchy are fighting for yearsss and for the entirety of the first two books. In this book, they reach an agreement and get over it within like 5 pages. Just like that. And then it's never really addressed again. There are so many characters that we get zero closure for. Like to the point that we don't even know their fates. Do the maji continue to rule Lagos? Does the peace last?
The big war lasts like 20 pages. For whatever reason, the people from New Gaia are left to fight alone for most of it. They don't even get like 2 Maji to come help, which makes zero sense considering a Burner or Cancer could've helped A LOT. All that work to bring magic back and yet Inan goes off alone to help everyone else fight the Skulls. I get that they needed to defend Orïsha, but again, even a couple of Maji could've made a big difference.
Amari and Tzain are randomly over because she falls in love with the princess of the new world. I mean what? They were the OG couple, the one that started in the first book and prevailed through the second, and for what? Nothing comes from it. Yes, they break up after Amari almost gets Zelie killed, but it felt so certain that they'd overcome it. Where does this random love for this random princess that she barely knows come from? They spend like one month together and Amari forgets Tzain just like that. So does she end up with the princess? Is she going to go live in New Gaia? Does New Gaia get rebuilt? Did the emperor live? Did Nehanda live? Is Zelie going to be queen? No one knows. We never get any of those answers. Inan dies randomly. And it was meant to be all meaningful and sweet, but it happened too fast with no real build up or explanation, so it completely fell flat. Of course he tells Zelie he loves her first and she essentially reciprocates it (again - where tf is Roen?!) So basically all of the couples we rooted for in the first two books completely fall apart.
The only thing I thought was good about this book was the introduction of New Gaia. It was the only moment that I saw any of that passion and beautiful writing from the author. Her descriptions of the other kingdom were stunning and vivid. It was a creative and incredible new setting, and she did a great job of painting an image in my head. The people and the culture were really interesting. Mae'e was a great character. The Lamina were so unique and their method of drawing weapons from their bodies was really cool. I truly wish Adeyemi has actually put time and more effort into this book because the brief bit we got of New Gaia was like a teasing hint of what could have been. Of the potential for a book as incredible as the first.
After the release, she gave an interview about how stressful she found this series and unfortunately, it's just really apparent that she pushed this novel out to finally end it. It's like 5 years had passed and she knew she needed to finish it, so she put the bare minimum into it and got it over with. And it's such a disappointment because she had something truly special in this series. I was invested in it and grew to love so many of the characters, and I hate that we'll never get to see what could've been. The drop in quality from the first two books to this one is mind-blowing. Plot aside, there were actual mistakes with consistency that clearly were missed in editing: like one scene where two characters are walking up stairs and talking and it's night time but then suddenly it's the middle of the day like 5 seconds later. And the location of the medallion embedded in Zelie changed from being in her chest to her ribcage and back again.
I debated giving this book 2 stars, but idk, I just really feel like there were too many significant problems with it. I'd like to give it 1.5 stars, but if I have to choose between rounding up or rounding down, unfortunately I have to go with down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
January 4, 2020ANSWERS ANSWERS ANSWERS ANSWERS ANSWERS ANSWERS ANSWERS ANSWERS!!!!!
Shelved as 'project-worldwide'
September 29, 2023Okokokokokok I have my own weird beef with this series because I loved book 1 so much and I was so sadly disappointed by book 2 BUT THIS COVER SERVES AND EATS AND LEAVES NO CRUMBS wow this is stunning, now I am excited
June 28, 2024
Okay friends strap in.
Giving this book only 1 star hurts me more than you would believe. The first two books were two of my favorite YA books that I’ve ever read, I loved them. Maybe that’s why I’m going to give the review I am, but this author had a lot to live up to because of her previous work.
I’m going to write two parts of a review, the first part will be spoiler-free and the rest will have specifics and spoilers. I’ll indicate where the shift is so don’t fret.
While I do still love the writing itself and the style, this book feels almost completely disconnected to the first two books. You know how the Percy Jackson has the original series with 5 books then it goes into the Heroes of Olympus series with the same characters but new villain/characters? Well this book felt like the beginning of a whole new series, but at least Percy Jackson wrapped itself up before going into the next series. This book ignores plot that happened in the last book and the CHARACTERS. There’s a specific character in mind that will be mentioned later because WHERE WERE THEY? And this is the last and final book? And we never saw them again? The plot was very rushed and I just didn’t feel connected to anyone. Sure the new land and the new people were cool and all, I just don’t see where they fit in.
Anyways, let’s get into specifics and here come the spoilers.
***SPOILERS***
So Baldyr? Who is he and why have we just never heard of him or the skulls before? Where did they come from? This is the type of antagonist for his own series not a 350 page book ending of a trilogy out of NO WHERE. I just don’t see where this fits in! There was a civil war and then all the sudden Orïsha is just unified to fight an enemy country and that’s that? It was too easy. The easy way out to end her series. It just feels like she couldn’t think of anything else and so she just threw all these new elements at us. CAN WE ALSO TALK ABOUT ROËN?? WHERE. WAS. HE? He was mentioned like twice when Zelie was thinking of him, but we just… never see him again? That’s also why this got such a low rating because it doesn’t make any sense. Did the author just forget about him??
Giving this book only 1 star hurts me more than you would believe. The first two books were two of my favorite YA books that I’ve ever read, I loved them. Maybe that’s why I’m going to give the review I am, but this author had a lot to live up to because of her previous work.
I’m going to write two parts of a review, the first part will be spoiler-free and the rest will have specifics and spoilers. I’ll indicate where the shift is so don’t fret.
While I do still love the writing itself and the style, this book feels almost completely disconnected to the first two books. You know how the Percy Jackson has the original series with 5 books then it goes into the Heroes of Olympus series with the same characters but new villain/characters? Well this book felt like the beginning of a whole new series, but at least Percy Jackson wrapped itself up before going into the next series. This book ignores plot that happened in the last book and the CHARACTERS. There’s a specific character in mind that will be mentioned later because WHERE WERE THEY? And this is the last and final book? And we never saw them again? The plot was very rushed and I just didn’t feel connected to anyone. Sure the new land and the new people were cool and all, I just don’t see where they fit in.
Anyways, let’s get into specifics and here come the spoilers.
***SPOILERS***
So Baldyr? Who is he and why have we just never heard of him or the skulls before? Where did they come from? This is the type of antagonist for his own series not a 350 page book ending of a trilogy out of NO WHERE. I just don’t see where this fits in! There was a civil war and then all the sudden Orïsha is just unified to fight an enemy country and that’s that? It was too easy. The easy way out to end her series. It just feels like she couldn’t think of anything else and so she just threw all these new elements at us. CAN WE ALSO TALK ABOUT ROËN?? WHERE. WAS. HE? He was mentioned like twice when Zelie was thinking of him, but we just… never see him again? That’s also why this got such a low rating because it doesn’t make any sense. Did the author just forget about him??
November 18, 2023
This book was so disappointing. It ruined everything that was built up in 2 books. Felt completely foreign and unfinished. Key characters from previous books weren’t even there and we know nothing about what happened to them and it’s brushed away. A whole new villain is introduce?? Like really?? I’m hoping there’s a secret plan for a book 4 or a new spin off because this was a terrible way to end it. Ugh.
June 27, 2024
I cannot even begin to explain how disappointing this book was. Gone are any of the interesting characters arcs, gone are the discussions of privilege and oppression. The Maji are background characters in the book series based on them. Amari is completely sidelined to having a romance plot. The tension due to the civil war is never properly addressed, the characters just ignore it. And no I don’t think the war room scene was good enough, they only agreed due to fear. The only thing I liked was Inan’s sacrifice, because he finally got a chance to stop being a Zuko rip off.
I seriously think this book needed a lot more at the end. What is the political situation between Orisha and the New Gaians? Does Amari stay on New Gaia for Mae’e or does she help rebuild Orisha? What becomes of the skull nation after their failures? What happens to the previously conquered nations? Does Zelie ever fully get back her original powers? Why was Tzain even there? (Sorry Tzain lovers, he’s just so forgettable).
I am mostly disappointed by how the ending just brushed over the Titân problem. Are they just accepted by the Maji and vice versa? Who the hell even runs Orisha anymore?? Is there still a caste system or are we supposed to just believe that a common enemy would remove hundreds of years of hatred.
I’m not being negative for no reason, I was a genuine fan of this series and was very excited for this release.
If anybody wants to read a similar series that is much better written I would suggest “The gilded ones” trilogy. I think it deals with themes of oppression much better and doesn’t just drop them for plot convenience.
Or even for an adult fantasy series I would suggest “The final strife”. One of the main characters is literally just Amari , even down to the lesbian romance.
I seriously think this book needed a lot more at the end. What is the political situation between Orisha and the New Gaians? Does Amari stay on New Gaia for Mae’e or does she help rebuild Orisha? What becomes of the skull nation after their failures? What happens to the previously conquered nations? Does Zelie ever fully get back her original powers? Why was Tzain even there? (Sorry Tzain lovers, he’s just so forgettable).
I am mostly disappointed by how the ending just brushed over the Titân problem. Are they just accepted by the Maji and vice versa? Who the hell even runs Orisha anymore?? Is there still a caste system or are we supposed to just believe that a common enemy would remove hundreds of years of hatred.
I’m not being negative for no reason, I was a genuine fan of this series and was very excited for this release.
If anybody wants to read a similar series that is much better written I would suggest “The gilded ones” trilogy. I think it deals with themes of oppression much better and doesn’t just drop them for plot convenience.
Or even for an adult fantasy series I would suggest “The final strife”. One of the main characters is literally just Amari , even down to the lesbian romance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2024
I feel like the author gave up on this series and released this book only because she felt she had to. This book is incredibly rushed and feels almost nothing like the previous two books. And characters we grew to love in the previous books are also absent?? With no explanation at all??? The new villain is boring and generic. I could really care less about that whole storyline. This was a horribly disappointing ending to a series that had so much potential. Two stars because I liked some of the world-building and introduction of a new culture and the wlw romance (even though it was also very, very rushed).
June 7, 2024
A weird one because the story was pretty good, but it felt quite disjointed from the first two books - an entirely new enemy is introduced and I wish we had more of a continuation of the previous conflicts within Orïsha. The ending was also super abrupt for a finale, it all wrapped up within the last 15 pages or so.
Also where did Röen go? I loved him
Also where did Röen go? I loved him
June 24, 2024
Disappointing doesn’t even begin to cover it.
May 15, 2024
eARC provided by the publisher through Netgalley
Rating - 2⭐️
This was one of my highly anticipated book releases this year but unfortunately, I was quite disappointed with the direction this book went in.
I felt like the plot was too fast-paced so we didn’t get to go deeper into each of the main character’s pov chapters. And I think the characters forgave each other way too easily? Just for the sake of beating a more dangerous foe. They all had issues and problems with each other in the previous books and I wasn’t really satisfied with the way it was dealt with.
There are some very evident plot holes and I was very upset that a character (Roën) who plays an important role in Zélie’s life wasn’t even present in this book and I got confused about what even happened to him. I kept hoping he’d eventually show up but his name was only mentioned twice in this entire book and I still don’t know what has become of him despite him and Zëlie being a couple.
Overall, I didn’t like how this series concluded and I’m so sad I didn’t love this book as much as I wanted to because I was so obsessed with the first two books.
Rating - 2⭐️
This was one of my highly anticipated book releases this year but unfortunately, I was quite disappointed with the direction this book went in.
I felt like the plot was too fast-paced so we didn’t get to go deeper into each of the main character’s pov chapters. And I think the characters forgave each other way too easily? Just for the sake of beating a more dangerous foe. They all had issues and problems with each other in the previous books and I wasn’t really satisfied with the way it was dealt with.
There are some very evident plot holes and I was very upset that a character (Roën) who plays an important role in Zélie’s life wasn’t even present in this book and I got confused about what even happened to him. I kept hoping he’d eventually show up but his name was only mentioned twice in this entire book and I still don’t know what has become of him despite him and Zëlie being a couple.
Overall, I didn’t like how this series concluded and I’m so sad I didn’t love this book as much as I wanted to because I was so obsessed with the first two books.
January 24, 2021
I just had a thought. At the end of book #2 they were surrounded by water. Before the blast, Roën had a mask on. What if it’s Roën? ALWHAT IF ROËN IS THE NEXT BAD GUYYYYYY
June 30, 2024
I was going to rate this two stars but the last chapter/epilogue angered me.
This whole book was too fast, nothing felt earned, whether in terms of relationships (not only the romances but also the friendships; for instance Zélie and Amari's conflict was resolved in one line...) or of plot. I feel like the author didn't know how to end the series and so she introduced a whole new enemy so that she wouldn't have to deal with the events of the last two books. It was incredibly disappointing, and the ending felt a bit disrespectful to the fans of this series who waited for so long for this last book.
This whole book was too fast, nothing felt earned, whether in terms of relationships (not only the romances but also the friendships; for instance Zélie and Amari's conflict was resolved in one line...) or of plot. I feel like the author didn't know how to end the series and so she introduced a whole new enemy so that she wouldn't have to deal with the events of the last two books. It was incredibly disappointing, and the ending felt a bit disrespectful to the fans of this series who waited for so long for this last book.
July 10, 2024
I received this book from Book Break UK in exchange for an honest review.
Oh goodness, where to start with this one. The best thing about this book is the stunning cover and I must say the cover designer for all three Orisha books did a great job as they’re all so beautiful. Unfortunately that’s where the good ends and everything from the first page onwards was downhill for me.
We meet with Zelie once again following the events from book 2 which saw Zelie and her companions knocked out and waking up on some kind of prison ship. From the start of book 3, we find out that this actually has nothing to do with Nehanda and the titans but is in face a brand new enemy they call the ‘Skulls’ led by someone called King Baldyr who wants to harness Zelie’s magic and has no issue with sacrificing Orishans as he goes.
Zelie soon has visions of another girl who Baldyr needs to complete his journey to a living god - and she must get to her first so that’s what she does alongside Tzain and Amari. You might be wondering but what about Inan and the Orisha they left behind? Well it appears we are more or less done with that story and that fight as now all they have to do is say ‘hey look at these new enemies. Let’s all make up so we can fight these guys instead’ and this somehow solves decades of fighting and maltreatment of the magi. Super lazy writing.
The new enemies really threw me off - and the story went in a completely different direction to what I thought it would. I think if we knew more about the Skulls in book 2 or even had the first half of book 3 in book 2, the books would have felt more linear. But I felt completely discombobulated that everything we had worked toward in the first books were just forgotten about in an instant.
We do travel away from Orisha and discover the lands of Gaia where Mae’e lives. Here Amari finally gets the lesbian love story that was very obvious from how she talked about Binta (they were never just friends, come on) but the problem is it’s so rushed and insta love - but then again I have found all the love relationships in this trilogy to be super quick and intense with not much believable time. The only good thing about this book was the lack of Zelie and Inan’s boring love-hate-love relationship. I did much prefer Zelie’s relationship with Roen but unfortunately there’s no update on this as Roen has simply completely disappeared - he was mentioned once in an ‘I hope he’s alright’ though by Zelie but other than that, nothing. Which is WILD and I don’t understand it at all - he was a major love interest in book 2 and had quite a bit to do with the rebellion yet he’s hardly even mentioned in book 3. WHAT!
The timeline as well for this book zipped through so fast, it didn’t make sense either. How quickly could everyone sail? It felt like they were in a game of Pokemon and could traverse seas within minutes. Once they reached Gaia, Tzain goes off to become some kind of ultra warrior within a week or so - and listen I love me a training montage but Tzain has been such a vanilla side character, it felt odd to have his POV thrown into the mix all of a sudden and I didn’t really care about his hulk axe.
The final battle was fine, the sacrifices were expected and the epilogue was awful - again nothing really actually sorted just some kind of magical ‘we’re all best friends now’. You’re telling me the Nehanda we know from book 2 would suddenly be besties with the magi even after
I’m not sure what happened with this. The hype for book 1 was so real and it had such a sense of beautiful magic and a story focused on black history and characters in a way I feel we hadn’t seen before. Maybe the pressure got to the author but there was such a large time gap between book 2 and 3 - and then for book 3 to be so poor, it’s so sad. This whole book felt rushed and ill thought out and I just really feel like the author wanted to or maybe was contractually obliged to finish it up by a certain date.
Oh goodness, where to start with this one. The best thing about this book is the stunning cover and I must say the cover designer for all three Orisha books did a great job as they’re all so beautiful. Unfortunately that’s where the good ends and everything from the first page onwards was downhill for me.
We meet with Zelie once again following the events from book 2 which saw Zelie and her companions knocked out and waking up on some kind of prison ship. From the start of book 3, we find out that this actually has nothing to do with Nehanda and the titans but is in face a brand new enemy they call the ‘Skulls’ led by someone called King Baldyr who wants to harness Zelie’s magic and has no issue with sacrificing Orishans as he goes.
Zelie soon has visions of another girl who Baldyr needs to complete his journey to a living god - and she must get to her first so that’s what she does alongside Tzain and Amari. You might be wondering but what about Inan and the Orisha they left behind? Well it appears we are more or less done with that story and that fight as now all they have to do is say ‘hey look at these new enemies. Let’s all make up so we can fight these guys instead’ and this somehow solves decades of fighting and maltreatment of the magi. Super lazy writing.
The new enemies really threw me off - and the story went in a completely different direction to what I thought it would. I think if we knew more about the Skulls in book 2 or even had the first half of book 3 in book 2, the books would have felt more linear. But I felt completely discombobulated that everything we had worked toward in the first books were just forgotten about in an instant.
We do travel away from Orisha and discover the lands of Gaia where Mae’e lives. Here Amari finally gets the lesbian love story that was very obvious from how she talked about Binta (they were never just friends, come on) but the problem is it’s so rushed and insta love - but then again I have found all the love relationships in this trilogy to be super quick and intense with not much believable time. The only good thing about this book was the lack of Zelie and Inan’s boring love-hate-love relationship. I did much prefer Zelie’s relationship with Roen but unfortunately there’s no update on this as Roen has simply completely disappeared - he was mentioned once in an ‘I hope he’s alright’ though by Zelie but other than that, nothing. Which is WILD and I don’t understand it at all - he was a major love interest in book 2 and had quite a bit to do with the rebellion yet he’s hardly even mentioned in book 3. WHAT!
The timeline as well for this book zipped through so fast, it didn’t make sense either. How quickly could everyone sail? It felt like they were in a game of Pokemon and could traverse seas within minutes. Once they reached Gaia, Tzain goes off to become some kind of ultra warrior within a week or so - and listen I love me a training montage but Tzain has been such a vanilla side character, it felt odd to have his POV thrown into the mix all of a sudden and I didn’t really care about his hulk axe.
The final battle was fine, the sacrifices were expected and the epilogue was awful - again nothing really actually sorted just some kind of magical ‘we’re all best friends now’. You’re telling me the Nehanda we know from book 2 would suddenly be besties with the magi even after
I’m not sure what happened with this. The hype for book 1 was so real and it had such a sense of beautiful magic and a story focused on black history and characters in a way I feel we hadn’t seen before. Maybe the pressure got to the author but there was such a large time gap between book 2 and 3 - and then for book 3 to be so poor, it’s so sad. This whole book felt rushed and ill thought out and I just really feel like the author wanted to or maybe was contractually obliged to finish it up by a certain date.
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