Here’s All We Know About Tomi Adeyemi’s ‘Children Of Virtue And Vengeance’

About a year ago, Tomi Adeyemi announced that she will be releasing the sequel to her critically acclaimed debut novel, Children of Blood and Bone. Understandably excited for this sequel titled Children of Virtue and Vengeance, we have been keenly keeping up with everything Tomi Adeyemi. 

So, for those like us who can’t wait to get their hands on a copy, here’s everything we know about the impending Children of Virtue and Vengeance.

New Release Date

At the start of the year, Tomi Adeyemi announced that Children of Virtue and Vengeance would be available on June 4, this year. However, back in March she openly appeared on Twitter with a new release date, December 3, although the book is available for pre-order already. 

Explaining why the date was pushed, Adeyemi told her followers:

“I don’t want the book to be fast, I want it to be right.”

She honestly explains that she is giving her all to achieve her best on this book, but she can’t do so by rushing to meet the June deadline. Although it was a bit of a blow, we must say that we are very happy to wait, because Tomi Adeyemi’s best is the best, and we wouldn’t settle for anything less!

hey guys, bare with me –
i got some news about the publication date of #childrenofvirtueandvengeance pic.twitter.com/bpjMa3YB1N

— Tomi Adeyemi (@tomi_adeyemi) March 1, 2019

Book Cover

Children of Blood and Bone was an incredibly seminal read for black children, because it finally gave them the opportunity to see themselves in fantasy fiction, a genre black people are often excluded from.

Working on the cover for Children of Virtue and Vengeance, Tomi Adeyemi once again put black people at the forefront of the process, choosing Sarah Jones as the artist to bring her imaginations to life. In an interview with ESSENCE, Tomi Adeyemi explains her choice, saying: 

“[Her work] was so black and it was so elegant, and it was so powerful, and it was so majestic, and that’s everything I wanted for Zélie.”

And Sarah Jones succeeds, even transforming Zélie’s straight weave on the cover of Children of Blood and Bone into a captivating white 4C afro. 

Plot

After the cliff-hanger that ends Children of Blood and Bone, comes Children of Virtue and Vengeance, the second novel in Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orïsha trilogy. 

In this story, Zélie and Amari finally succeed in bringing magic back to Orïsha, however the ritual proves to be more powerful than they expected reigniting their magical power as well as the powers of the enemy.

With a civil war looming Zélie is faces with another seemingly impossible task: discover a way to reunite the kingdom, or else the Orïsha will tear itself apart.

Speaking with ESSENCE about the direction of this sequel, Adeyemi says: 

“All my stories are going to be painful but Children of Blood and Bone was a lot of personal pain. With Children of Virtue and Vengeance, I got to step back.”

We were definitely looking forward to reading Children of Virtue and Vengeance this June, but Tomi Adeyemi assures us that the December release will be well worth it and we trust her completely, as she has our best interests at heart. She tells InStyle: 

“I think about my readers with every word I write, and I’m so excited to keep working hard and give them another adventure with Children of Virtue and Vengeance“

So bring on the year’s end — we’re ready for another bestseller!

WHEN YOU TURN IN THAT DRAFT AND YOU ACTUALLY LOVE THE STORY AND ARE SO BLEEPIN EXCITED FOR YOU GUYS TO READ IT

(after i revise it 5 more times, lol. don’t start asking for ARCS, we’re not there yet)#vengeanceontheseheauxes #vengeanceonthesedeadlines pic.twitter.com/MNmq9sh4xn

— Tomi Adeyemi (@tomi_adeyemi) April 22, 2019