On June 25th, the third book of Tomi Adeyemi’s Orisha series, “Children of Anguish and Anarchy”, was released. Because of the success of the first novel, “Children of Blood and Bone,” the new release sold out quickly.
This series is especially popular amongst Black readers as there are not many fantasy romance books that feature Black characters. Unfortunately, “Children of Anguish and Anarchy” didn’t do as well as the first book in the series. So, what went wrong with the latest novel that left readers unsatisfied?
With 97,875 people giving the first book five stars on GoodReads, it was a great success. “Children of Anguish and Anarchy” features main characters, Zelie, Amari, and Tzain who are on their quest to restore magic to the land of Orisha, and Inan whose mission is to stop that from happening. What made this book so great was all the magic, romance, and action combined. Fans were obsessed and couldn’t wait for the second book.
A year later when the second book “Children of Virtue and Vengeance” was released, some readers were left disappointed. Readers on Goodreads even said that this book has “middle book syndrome,” meaning that there was no reason for this book other than to get to the third one.
One of the main problems with the second book was the characters. They are described as stubborn and are said to lack communication skills. The whole book consisted of each character not listening to the others and saying that they were the only ones who could save Orisha. After this book, fans waited for Tomi Adeyemi to redeem herself with the last book.
The third and final book of the series “Children of Anguish and Anarchy” came out this year in June, four years after the second one, so fans’ expectations were high. Unfortunately for Tomi Adeyemi and her fans, this book did not do well at all. Of course, this book is still new, and there is still time for more people to read it, but readers are not initially happy with the book.
“Children of Anguish and Anarchy” was very fast-paced, but not in the way readers like. The story felt rushed and there were only 300 pages. Although that sounds like a lot, it was not enough, considering the book introduces a whole new world full of new characters and new evils to defeat. Tomi Adeyemi has stated many times that she would like to make movies based on her books. Readers are saying this book felt so rushed, because the author wants to get to the movie.
Another reason why fans were left unsatisfied was because one of the most beloved characters in the series was missing from the book. Throughout the entire book, there is only one sentence about him. This, of course, left readers confused and frustrated.
This is not to prevent anyone from reading the books. What others hate, you might love. If you enjoy fantasy romance books, you might want to give this series a shot, but make sure to read the reviews first, so you know you are getting your money’s worth.