Children of Virtue and Vengeance
by Tomi Adeyemi
High School    Holt    405 pp.
12/19    978-1-250-17099-6    $19.99

In Orïsha, where magic has recently been restored (Children of Blood and Bone, rev. 5/18), Princess Amari tries to unite the kingdom to prevent it being torn apart by the magic-using rebels called the Iyika, “the revolution.” Unfortunately, her authoritarian brother Inan — thought dead at the end of the last book — returns to reinstate the anti-magic crackdown started by their late father, and he’s backed by his mother, now a powerful magic-wielder. Zélie, the maji who worked the spell to restore magic, has her own problems summoning up her new abilities. The passion and drama in the writing are as powerful as ever, and Adeyemi has invented some distinctive new ways to deploy her gods-and-clan-based magic. A vivid setting and strong-willed characters propel the action; though Zélie’s romance with royal prince Inan crashed and burned in the previous volume, this time around the author hints at her finding love with a soft-hearted mercenary. Readers delighted by the complex, politically sophisticated kingdom of Orïsha will cheer its return in this alluring sequel.

From the March/April 2020 Horn Book Magazine.