Book Nerds Across America

I'm spoiled and have been lucky enough to meet Tomi twice. This picture is from when she came to  my favorite local bookstore, Books & Books, earlier this year.

Book Summary
They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.

Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

Flo's Review
I am about a thousand percent late to the party on reading this book. Especially since my journey with Children and Blood and Bone started way before it was even released. I was lucky enough to snag a sampler at Comic Con 2017. I was going to give it away to a blog reader, but then my Dad got ahold of it and I never saw it again.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Book Nerds (@booknerdsacrossamerica) on Feb 8, 2018 at 3:33pm PST

Then, the awesome ARC box became my very first unboxing video:

My very first unboxing video! (Be gentle!) I'm showing off #ChildrenofBloodandBone by @tomi_adeyemi. Thank you @FierceReads for the awesome box! ❤️❤️ I can't wait to read this one! pic.twitter.com/G7PNwjzxLv

— BookNerds Blog (@booknerdsblog) November 18, 2017

Anyway, all this has led us here. I read this book in a combination of book reading and audiobook listening, over a period of months during which I set it aside and then picked it up again. One of my strongest memories of listening to this audiobook will be of yelling at the characters when they did things I did not approve of. Like, all 3 of the main characters. I definitely yelled at all 3 of them at least once at some point.

Needless to say, I was invested in the story. I (luckily) hadn't been spoiled about the ending, so I really wanted to know how it would all end up and that kept me listening and turning the pages. I tend to struggle with long books and audiobooks, so even though I split this up into multiple periods of listening and reading, I was by the end ready for the end. I've seen and read many reviews of the book, so I won't rehash everything floating around. But everything this story represents, all the issues it brings up, all the power struggles and the representation, and at the very base a strong plot with action and romance -- it truly is legendary. This book deserves all the hype.

Here's Tomi reading from it:

My very first unboxing video! (Be gentle!) I'm showing off #ChildrenofBloodandBone by @tomi_adeyemi. Thank you @FierceReads for the awesome box! ❤️❤️ I can't wait to read this one! pic.twitter.com/G7PNwjzxLv

— BookNerds Blog (@booknerdsblog) November 18, 2017

Bookish goodies!

Hi friends!

So I just got back from my very first San Diego Comic Con (SDCC)! What an experience!! I knew it was going to be crazy and geeky and cool going in, but I didn't realize just how much so until I got to experience. It was fun and incredible and I'm so glad I was able to go!

Well, I went into the Con thinking, "I do a lot of book events outside of SDCC, so even though there are book events there, I'm going to stay away and focus on other things."

HA!

Nice try, Flo. You can't take a girl away from her books apparently. So, I did attend some great bookish events and get some great bookish things that I thought I'd share with you.

First of all, as soon as I found out that Leigh Bardugo was going to be signing copies of her new upcoming novel Wonder Woman: Warbringer, I was there! I love Leigh and her books so much. Not to mention, Macmillan was also giving away the DC Icons t-shirt that I've been drooling over since seeing people get them at YALLWEST.

Out of Print was selling t-shirts that said, "Fight Evil. Read Books." I. Mean. This was clearly an insta-buy for me and the friend I went with. I was also very excited to pick up ARC copies of The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano (thanks HarperTeen!) and Invictus by Ryan Graudin (thanks Novl!) I hadn't heard of Seventh Decimate by Stephen Donaldson, but it looks interesting, so thank you Berkeley.

It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but I also found a magnet bookmark of Newt from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that I couldn't walk away from.

Finally, I was able to snag a sampler of Children of Blood and Bone by Toni Adeyemi. This one doesn't come out until next March, but looks so good! And this leads us to....

THE GIVEAWAY!
The friend I went with graciously agreed to donate his sampler of Children of Blood and Bone for a blog giveaway. Did I mention that this sampler is signed?! And I'm giving it away to one lucky commentor below. Int'l is OK! Just be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win. Tell me what your favorite reveal from SDCC was. If you don't have one, let me know what your favorite bookish item is that you own, whether you got it at a Con or other bookish event, or if it's something you bought or made. I'll pick a winner Friday, July 28.