What We Can Learn From Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

I finished reading the massive, gargantuan book that is Children of Blood and Bone on the first of November (when it really would have been more appropriate to do another Scorpio Races reread, but PRIORITIES, y'all), and I LOVED IT.

LOVED IT.

You guys were expecting a book review, huh? ;D Well, I already posted a review of it over on my YouTube channel (you can find it HERE!), and figured I wouldn't parrot all of that right back at you guys. So here we are with a post that's a little different from a book review, but it's still going to be a ton of fun.

Alright, ANYways, I think it's time we ask the question - what CAN we learn from Children of Blood and Bone?

- How to gracefully handle multiple POVS - 

First person POVS - even just ONE first person POV - can be a little difficult to handle. And CoBaB (does anyone else try to read that as kabob? No? Just me? Okay, carry on) didn't have just one first person POV. It also didn't have two.

It had THREE.

Normally, when there's this many differing POVS, they either a) start to all sound alike or b) I will be far more interested in one POV than I am in the others, and so I'll...ah...skip sections to return to said interesting person's POV. Oh, hush, you've probably done that too ;D.

But the three POVs (two gals, one guy) in CoBaB were all distinct and ALL interesting! How was this done, and how can you do it, too? Well:

- Know how your characters think. Just by reading CoBaB, you could tell that the author really knew her characters - which is super important when writing in multiple POVs. How else are you going to give each of your characters a distinct voice if you don't know how they think?  

- Keep the stakes high for everyone. This was a big portion of the reason why each POV was equally interesting to read - because the stakes were equally high for everyone. Keeping the stakes through the roof for each of your point-of-view characters really helps to keep reader's attention.

- How to build outside-the-box worlds - 

The worldbuilding for Children of Blood and Bone was INSANE, you guys - INSANE. It was super African-inspired and flat-out different from the other stuff I've read. But not only was it different, it was really, really vivid.

I have a weird problem, you guys. I sometimes have a really hard time picturing what the setting is like in the books I read - and I didn't have this problem AT ALL with Children of Blood and Bone. The world seemed to create itself in my head and it was wonderful. But what, exactly, made the worldbuilding so good and easy to imagine?

- Culture. Half of the reason that Children of Blood and Bone had such a vibrant world was because of the culture. CoBaB is very African-inspired, and the culture is, too, which made the world leap off the page that much more. Tying in your culture with your worldbuilding is a seriously great way to take it up another notch. 

- Changing Landscapes. *cheers madly for the fact that this book had vastly differing landscapes* And now we come to the other half of the reason why CoBaB's world was so great - it didn't stay the same. The characters were traveling a lot in the book, and the author changed up the landscape drastically multiple times, I adored the fact that it wasn't always the same.

- How to revive cliche plotlines - 

Okay, I'll admit - Children of Blood and Bone has the same plot line as...a lot of books. The "you're the chosen one, go save the world" type of plot line. I usually will get bored during books like that because GRACIOUS, they're all so similar!

But Children of Blood and Bone wasn't like that at all.

The author did a great job taking a tried-and-true plot line, and spicing it up to keep it from being dry. It's probably one of my top-favorite uses of the "quest to save the world" and "chosen one" plotlines! But WHY did I like it so much, and what saved the plot from dying?  

- Worldbuilding. Oh look, and we return to why this book is so incredibly epic! xD But the worldbuilding was a MAJOR part of why this plotline wasn't cliche for CoBaB. The world was so different that even if the plot had been cut-and-dried, I hardly think I would have noticed. The world was so vivid that it gave extra vibrancy to everything in the book. 

- Throw in a new twist. I can't tell you exactly what the twists were, because #spoilers - but Tomi Adeymi definitely added some great twists to the plot that I did NOT see coming, and this really help spice up the plot, and kept it from dragging at all. Throwing a new spin into an old plotline can ultimately be what saves it!

So, if you couldn't tell already - Children of Blood and Bone was a SERIOUSLY good book! ;D I really, really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it. (you should ready it for the worldbuilding alone, you guys! And the characters are AH-MAZING <3)

Oh, and like I said - I've done a book review for it over on my YouTube channel, if you want to get more of my thoughts on this amazing book.  I might have raved, just a wee bit xD. So that's there if you want to check it out!

Keep being epic, y'all! <3

~ Savannah Grace

have you read Children of Blood and Bone?

what's your favorite book with good worldbuilding?