Thanks for such an in depth review. I like how you mentioned that at times debut novels are rushed but I guess it's part of the learning process for the author. I think the way you explain that Adeyemi's magical exploration was rich makes me wanna pick it up despite your unpopular opinion. Thanks for being so honest. I really like the COWRIE Shell Rating System. I've been researching about it I want to apply it for my reviews.
A Time to Share Books Thank you! I definitely want to hear more from Adeyemi. If you want to use the 7 Cowrie Shell rating system, check out my video where I explain the questions in-depth. Enjoy! Thanks for commenting.
I remember the author saying she was inspired by orishas from a South America vacation. Even though she is of Yoruba I feel she did get some things mixed because of research more of the dispora point of view. I enjoyed the story but felt things were a bit off for me also. I would have loved to hear more of the hidden community of Orishas. The history would have been so nice.Tomi also has mentioned growing up Nigerian in America and dismissing her culture out of half shame but feeling displaced for not being "black" from slavery. So I feel like Tomi's life comes out in her writing style of not knowing herself and only able to tell just enough of what she knows then dismisses it/destroys it. She's a young writer so I hope she finds more of herself in her writing styles and storytelling. I'm routing for her.
Monique Whack Monique! You hit the nail on the head. Something about what you said rings true. She is finding her way. How dare she, a daughter of the diaspora write a book about an ancient cosmology she just learned about?! lol. If she does continue writing - and I hope she does - I hope the historical underpinnings of her writing mature along with her. Thanks for your comments. They were clarifying for me!
@@ONYXPages I was let down a bit by this book as well. I just feel like it was sold as this very African story but didn't feel like an African fantasy It felt like standard YA fantasy but at the same time felt like Avatar the Last Airbender with black leads instead of Asian. I could heavily see the influence. I felt the world building really lacked and Tomi relied heavily on the action/violent scenes. I agree I felt The Black God's Drums did a better job explaining the Orisha.
I've been waiting for this! Thank you so much for sharing. I am also one of the few people who didn't love it as much as I thought I would. I think it stems from some of the things you mentioned, like the hastiness of the plot and some of the strange romance situations. However, I'm still glad I read it because despite flaws there are a number of discussions that can still be had about it, many of which you continued here with your awesome cowrie shell system. The categories and questions can help guide those discussions about history, relevance to current culture, oppressed characters, and the solutions we make for the future. Recently Jesse from Bowtiesandbooks put up a story asking that reviewers still try to discuss underlying themes in books (particularly by POC) even if they didn't especially like them, and I was reminded of that when watching your review. Would love to see a joint video!
@@ONYXPages I think it was an Instagram story (so it may have disappeared by now). They said their review of With the Fire on High was coming soon but in the meantime they just wanted to jump on and bring up the fact that a lot of the reviews were dismissive or glossed over some very important themes in the novel that were still worth discussing
In my review of the book, I also mentioned the insta-love business and how unbelievable it was. I wish the physical contact between Zelie and Inan had been about pure passion and/or a need to assuage turbulent feelings about their own magical natures. I was absolutely sure he was about to betray her. I felt like the book was foreshadowing a devastating betrayal. The book was also marketed as a story where we'd be able to discover the Orisha and I was so excited to delve into that. I was hoping for something greek-god like, but with African Gods and sensibilities.
This is a great review! I felt similarly about how exciting it was to read, and, at the same time, very confusing things like the uneven character development, Orisha inspiration and definitely the romances. Appreciate the clear view of this popular book 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I love this review! I was so grumpy about so much of this book. I don't really think I was the intended audience, and it did open up a few themes/avenues of thought I hadn't engaged with through literature frequently. However, I was so hung up on the tropes (angst, enemies to lovers, instalove, 30 days to save the world, grim-dark violence, magic system, unexplained animals, Prince Inan's whole character arc, dreamscape shenanigans (gag)) that I missed most of what the author was trying to say about opression, empowerment and creating a more equal world. I will pick up the other books you recommended (Black God's Drums has been on my wishlist for AGES!). Thanks for sharing your thoughts :)
Such a great review! I love how this system explores so many different elements. I loved Children of Blood and Bone when I read it, partly because of things you talked about and because in YA especially it felt ground-breaking in terms of having a commercially successful book exploring these themes and drawing on African mythology. In hindsight, it probably isn't perfect but I agree it is a significant contribution.
thank you so much for amazing and in depth review! i have been putting this book off for quite some time because of the mixed reviews i saw, but now i feel more confident in reading it.
ONYX Pages YOU'RE BACK!!! I stumbled upon your channel as I wanted recommendations on Black sci-fi/Magic realism novels and I am glad I did. Your 7 cowrie shell rating system is comprehensive and honest as you're able to fully critically critic a novel. I fell in love with COBAB because of the many fight scenes and a relationship I found to the Avatar: The Last Air Bender series. I will be following this series because I want to know what happens in Orisha. I appreciated the point you made about the magic system of Orisha, I too, found myself confused about Zelie's power and power of the other Orishas. I'm not familiar with Yoruba culture and would've love to learn more about the Orishas. Also, I did crave more about the community of diviners off in the woods, they died off so quickly and they had so much story to them. But I didn't like the relationship between Inan and Zelie I think they rushed into the love too quickly.
Owen Edwards I’M BACK(ish)! Thanks for your comments! Check out Nalo Hopkinson’s Brown Girl in the Ring and Sister Mine; and Djeli Clarke’s The Black God’s Drums for stories that centre the Orisha cosmology better.
Every single word!! I agree!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾. And also SAME!! I interpreted that Amari loves Binta which was confusing because then we got Amari with Zelie’s brother and I have like so many problems and questions with regards Zelie and Inan’s relationship as well! I wasn’t a fan of the book either. Like I enjoyed it but oh boy... the world building (just the map alone as is... like if you’ve lived in Nigeria, you would look at the map and be like huh??) and the mythology!! Gods the mythology. I remember reading it and concluding that she didn’t do enough research which was the only way I could make peace with the gaping holes in the story. But yeah, I am looking forward to Children of Virtue and Vengeance (I’ve preordered it to be honest). Keeping my fingers crossed that she’s learned from writing the first book and that things get better.
I agree with a lot of what you said. The community in the woods really annoyed me, I wanted to know more about them and we learnt nothing so when all that stuff went down I didn't have the emotional reaction I think Tomi was going for. I really like the review system you are using, it seems to be quite comprehensive, would you be able to link me to the video where you discuss it?
Ane Adores I felt sad about the battle scene (the one in the community in the woods) and the many deaths which occurred as a result. It seemed like their only function in the story was to show that magic isn’t dead and the genocide was survivable. But there was so much more to explore! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MS16aCC4Suo.html
Great to see another review from you! I read CoBB and was in the 'enjoyed but not as much as everyone else' camp. I thought the recurring image of Inan holding his chess piece was really poignant. I don't know if you watched Avatar the Last Airbender, but his pairing with Zelie reminded me of Zuko and Katara, so it didn't feel as weird to me. Still fraught/ tenuous though
Thistle & Verse Hey!!! I need to check out your channel updates. I know you’ve been reading a lot. Thanks for the comment. I watched, but don’t remember the Last Airbender. I should check it out. I liked the malacite chess piece!
Another great review Njeri! As you know I'm one of the people who Loved COBAB but that doesn't mean I can't see that there were some things other people may not have enjoyed. Since I'm not really familiar with the mythology, I hadn't realised how many liberties Adeyemi took with it, so thank you for bringing that up :)
I’m so glad you made this video. I was really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this book. You are thoughtful and thorough as always! Thank you for sharing!
I read a free sample to see if I wanted to check it out from my library, so maybe like the first three chapters or so. Loved the concept but wasn’t blown away by the writing really. I’d be more interested in books you think are better executed in the Afro-futurism genre. Like, what two or three books are the best representatives?
A Lovely Jaunt 1. Xenogenesis Series, Octavia E. Butler; 2. Elysium, by Jennifer Marie Brissett; 3. The Best of All Possible Worlds, Karen Lord; 4. An Unkindness of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon
Fantastic breakdown of the story, I really felt like you brought to light some of my own misgivings that I hadn’t been able to articulate. Thank you. Couldn’t agree more on the instalove situation.
Since I'm like 5 months late to this video, I'll cut to the tea. I wanted Zelie and Amari to have a sapphic slow burn relationship. I think the instalove killed the romance for me overall. Nobody listened to Tzain who had the most level head on his shoulders in the group. The pacing of the first 100-200 was crazy in comparison to the rest of the book. I agree with what you said w/r/t how Adeyemi didn't give enough reverence to the Orisha. And overall, I came in hot & hype and left feeling very let down. It felt like it was edited by a group of people who didn't talk to each other and then they bound it up and sold it. I'll probably give the sequel a shot but definitely not gonna be preordering it. The sneak peek that was released yesterday didn't pack the punch that I would have liked :(
@@ONYXPages I'm just a black woman who used to read my mama's E. Lynn Harris books along side my Babysitter's Club series. No but for real. I found your channel a while ago but the way these algorhithms are set up... I really appreciated the thoroughness of this review. What are your hopes for the sequel?
Interesting. I found the princess' relationship with her handmaiden to be a little Sapphic. I also felt romantic tension between the princess and Zelie and I was deeply annoyed when Zelie capitulated to the prince. But yeah, it hit me with that Cursed Child, coding Queer but going left to straight. Love your work, btw.
@@ONYXPages I have my copy but my BHM Fantasy reads are A Rage of Dragons and Sorcerors of the Wildeeps. The latter is includes a Gay demigod relationship if you're interested. I'll get to COVAV next month or in April. Excited to hear your thoughts about that too.
I admit I didn't know anything about the Yoruba people or their culture but when I found out this book was influenced by them I began doing a lot of research and hope she can add more of aspects of it into the book. The cosmology Tomi made was really beautiful and I loved her ability to describe the gods and how they look and connect with the people. I think Amari and Inan were similar in some ways. Both were naive about the real world and how truly corrupt and wicked their father was. But Amari was able to develop as a character and gain confidence in herself and proved she was stronger than even she or her family thought. Inan was a disappointment but like I said he was a result of how he was raised. I wish she hadn't made him and Zele have a romantic attachment as it seemed too sudden.
