Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi, is a YA fantasy novel that combines magic and West African folklore into a lush, vibrant mythological world.

The beginning of the book was a cold water dive – the reader has to quickly pick up on the language of an unfamiliar world to understand what’s going on. Once you’re in the groove, it’s smooth sailing into an adventure.

I read this title on the recommendation of a friend from my fiction book club, so it was purely for fun. In YA book club, though, we often roll our eyes over some of the tropes of the genre – overly dramatic language, glossing over deep subjects young readers may not want to/be able to deal with, silly romance and its rules, terribly one-dimensional parents who are hated, disposable, or not even there, teenagers who are so amazing they save the world when no one else can, and no one questions their authority or lack of experience.

Children of Blood and Bone certainly contains some typical YA fare, but it doesn’t get sucked into all the YA stereotypes. Adeyemi builds a vibrant world full of injustice and unrest, but also beauty and magic. And her heroine has the brains to have a bit of imposter syndrome.

The story explores family connections, duty and betrayal, culture and religion, identity, and sibling relationships. Yes, there are some crappy parents here, but also wise, loving adults. The story also metaphorically has something to say about the value we place on culture dependent on who has power in a society.

Have you ever read a book that didn’t have any white characters? Until this one, I’m not sure if I had. The many descriptions of hair texture, eye color, and skin tone was reminiscent of the project that matched people’s skin tones with Pantone colors, a reminder of the diversity that exists within the inadequate “black,” “brown,” and “white” labels we use.

The folklore tapped in the story is also likely to be unfamiliar, which made it all the more wonderful.

Many of the descriptions in the book made me think it could make a movie with visuals on par with Avatar. As of August 2019, it had been optioned by Lucasfilms/Disney, who were turning it into a screen play. As recently as mid-December, Disney is still talking about it being in the works.

This is the type of story that could make an amazing animated film OR a regular movie, and I’m looking forward to see what Disney does with it. The costumes! The settings! The fantastical creatures! This book has promise as a viewing feast, especially with a Disney-sized budget.

(Taking a page from Levar Burton…) In the meantime, though, don’t wait to pick up the book and read it yourself. That way, you’ll know what the movie left out.