Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orïsha #2) by Tomi Adeyemi

I commend the willingness to use far more original cultural elements than in book one. It gives the book a semblance of originality, which I greatly appreciate

Oh well, I cannot deny CoVaV was an improvement on Children of Blood and Bone.

In writing this series, Tomi Adeyemi has decided to dive into unknown waters to tap into the vast mines of dormant African mythology. It hasn’t come out as altogether bad, but I really can’t say it’s been spectacular altogether.

There’s a marked improvement in the naming system. Many of the names are quite original. The author also shows a commendable willingness to use the Yoruba language in character dialogue, quite several scenes at that. It is certainly not flawless, though.

There are obvious blunders, mixing up of semantics and syntax, phrases totally out of context, and translation issues arising from the fact that the work is supposed to be African fantasy masquerading as American YA. Much of my discontent with this series originally stems from my dissatisfaction with the use of the Yoruba language and all the elements of the culture in use in the text.

Anyway, I commend the willingness to use far more original cultural elements than in book one. It gives the book a semblance of originality, which I greatly appreciate. A direct implication of this is the much improved magic system as opposed to the crumbs we were treated to in book one. But again, it could have been so much more.

While the magic is based on myths, there are still far too many elements of regular YA for me to enjoy the distinct African feel I have come to expect, as well as the demand of the author.

Character-wise, I will admit that Tomi did a rather admirable job of building up the characters the way she did. Their actions are realistic, and the author doesn’t try to force anything, which, again, I appreciate. Zelie, Inan, Tzain, and Amari are eased along, plot thread by plot thread…

The plot in itself, I did not find the least bit spectacular or intriguing, a major reason this book is getting three instead of four stars. The thrill is poor, the action not well written, and ultimately not intriguing at the very least. At least for me. I can imagine many readers enjoying this read very much, but unfortunately, I cannot say the same.

The final cliffhanger was a half-hearted attempt at boosting an absolutely disappointing finale. We got caught up in the personal insecurities of the POVs instead of getting treated to a nail-biting session of action, a climaxing, suspense-filled end to the frankly boring proceedings. In a nutshell, the finale was the opposite of epic.

CoVaV was disappointing, I must say. But I have an illogical emotional attachment to the author, so I will certainly read book 3 when it comes out.