Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orisha #2)

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My Opinion

(4 / 5) Somehow, this book didn’t feel like fantasy. Adeyemi portrayed it in a way that made it feel more cultural. Maybe because it was West-African inspired and I admittedly know very little about Africa, but it was enthralling to me. I listened to the first book and adored the African accent so I felt I needed to do the same with this one. The narrator is very passionate and shows emotion through her voice very easily. It’s beautiful to hear the language also.

The story itself is exciting and adventurous. There are many twists and turns, people are friends then enemies, then confused and more. The backstory between all the characters is intricate and unique. They fought against each other in many different ways even though they always felt a love for each other and each fight was justified one way or another. The differing views were great to hear. The only problem I had with the audio was being able to tell the difference between two different female characters. As long as I knew who the POV was, I was fine but if I got lost then it got confusing for a bit. It ended on a big cliffhanger which I really don’t love!

For the content, the language was minimal, the sex was there but with no real details. The violence was quite a bit with blood and magical elements causing harm or scary situations. Overall, I believe most teens on up would enjoy reading this.

Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orisha #2)

Tomi Adeyemi

After battling the impossible, Zelie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orisha. But the ritual was more powerful than they could’ve imagined, reigniting the powers of not only the maji, but of nobles with magic ancestry, too. Now, Zelie struggles to unite the maji in an Orisha where the enemy is just as powerful as they are. But when the monarchy and military unite to keep control of Orisha, Zelie must fight to secure Amari’s right to the throne and protect the new maji from the monarchy’s wrath.

With civil war looming on the horizon, Zelie finds herself at a breaking point: She must discover a way to bring the kingdom together or watch as Orisha tears itself apart.

-Excerpt from Audible.

Check Goodreads to see the books ratings. 

Detailed Content Review

Language 

F***-

H***- 

S***-

A**- 3

B****-

D***- 5

Bas****- 1

Religious Cursing-

J****-

Chr***-

G**- 11

L***-

Derogatory terms and cursing unique to the book etc-

Skies

Maggot

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

A man smokes a cigarette. 

People drink wine. 

Palm wine is served at a celebration. People are drunk. 

A woman and man drink wine. 

A man holds an unlit cigarette to his mouth. A man then lights a cigar and puts it in his mouth. 

A flush in a woman’s cheeks shows the wine she’s consumed. She toasts glasses of wine with her son. He has poisoned her wine. 

People drink at a celebration. 

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

A man tells a young man he could use a “good lay” and hopes he’s meeting a girl. 

A young woman wants a man. He picks her up and kisses her, feeling a flutter between her legs. He kisses her again. 

A man pulls a young woman down on top of him. She slips her fingers under his tunic. He moves them. They kiss. She undresses and he stares. He places her on the bed. Sex is assumed but no more details. 

Two people take off their clothes and go scuba diving. They are just in underclothes. 

A man kisses a young woman against her door. They open the door, he asks if it’s ok, he pulls at her tunic and she tells him not to stop. 

A young woman kisses a man, him running his fingers through her hair. They kiss again. He says he never wants “a certain appendage” cut off. 

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

The story refers to when a young woman plunged a sword into her father’s chest. 

Men circle a young woman, one getting a switchblade out. 

Blood stains a man’s weapons. He has a gash on his chest, bleeding. He has scars on his body. Some are caused by torturers giving one each time they killed his crew. 

A young woman has scars from both her father and brother. She feels them break open and weep blood.  Her body armor is stained with blood. Including her fathers.

A gas is released into the air on a crowd. Soldiers use magic to attack. One soldier’s magic hurts him then explodes in his chest, killing him. Then a leader uses her magic and causes people pain and brings buildings down on the crowd. A man is injured and bleeding on his hand. 

A man remembers a sword going through his gut. A young woman remembers the words etched into her back with a knife. She imagines blood running over her hands. Then imagines using magic to grab a man’s throat, popping his collar bones out. 

A man is being carried by soldiers, he hits them in the throat and runs. A bomb explodes, glass raining down. A war has begun. 

Soldiers round up people and take them captive. 

A young woman realizes she needs to kill someone. 

A young woman holds a knife to a man. He grabs her and releases it. 

People with tore through a palace and burned two parents alive. Their young son escaped with scars. 

A man kills two young men, blade wounds on their chests. 

Two people prepare to fight, both using magic. One creates multiple entities to fight, one creates multiple entities that form a large beast. 

A young woman tries to steal and has a weapon held to her. 

Soldiers release a gas. People are burned beyond recognition, their skin sizzling. A young woman sends fireballs into a market, burning food. A soldier plunged his sword into her. 

A cut is made in a young woman’s hand as she makes a vow. 

A man slides his knife into another’s throat. Two fight a group. One gets burned, ones arm gets broken but he kills the entire group with his magic. A woman grabs a young woman by the throat, choking her. Then a man grabs her hair and thrusts a needle into her neck effectively killing her and “burning her from within.”

A woman threatens to cut off a young woman’s head. They fight with fists and magic. The magic brings the young woman to the ground in agony. Magic causes one to pass out unconscious. 

Many people were killed during a raid many years before. 

A fight with magic is among two different groups. Gas is released, people are flying through the air, a man’s limb is severed. 

A blast leaves people lying on the floor, dead. One woman has her leg bent in half. Magic pulses at a group of people, knocking them over and causing pain. A young woman tells a man he will die as she fights him with a staff, him a sword. Her spear slices his side, blood drips to the floor, she drives her knee in his gut, he falls, she straddles him wanting to feel him take his last breath. A man with a sword comes but the man blocks him, collapsing in pain. 

A young woman takes life force from a man but doesn’t kill him. A battle starts, magic taking out multiple people. People cry in pain and fear.  Gas is released in the air. Magic causes people not to breathe. A panther turns on its own and sinks its teeth in its owner’s neck. Magic is used to form a whirlpool, drowning soldiers. It also forms a cyclone and blades of air effectively breaking down trees and people. A woman steals magic from others, leaving them looking sucked dry. Their skin is wrinkled and bones are poking through their now dead bodies. She then circles herself with more to do it again. Two people bring forth hundreds of spirits. One man’s skin starts to peel off.  The spirits kill soldiers. Blood drips from a man’s mouth. His heart beats slowly. He seizes, slowly dying. People crying out in anguish and anger. Blood covers the ground, it’s matted in people’s hair. Bodies are everywhere. A young woman seizes and thrashes as magic tries to heal her. 

Two men fight. One has a sword, one throws a dagger at the others leg. 

Dozens of bombs go off in a cave with people inside. It sends a young woman into the water, boulders raining down on her. She is drowning, seeing people she loves that have died. One man is held underwater with a large boulder. He is drowning also. A young woman cuts through a man’s arm to save him. Blood is covering her hands. A man dies. A young woman is covered in blood and bruises. Magic is shot at a man’s back.  

A man throws a dagger at a man’s head. Magic causes metal to come up from the ground and hits a man multiple times. More metal is formed into needles and hits a man. One melts a man’s armor, the other knees him in the chin, bones snap, one is rendered temporarily paralyzed. More magic punctures ones stomach, blood spilling onto the floor, killing him. 

Poisonous gas is released over a village. Blood shoots from a woman’s mouth as she is hit with it. Her skin is shriveling and turning black. Many blackened corpses litter the ground. 

A young woman uses magic and grabs a young woman’s throat. 

A man throws a man on the ground then digs a cigar into his neck while he screams.  He takes it off and pushes it on him again. Then threatens to hang him by his intestines. 

Blood magic requires a sacrifice. A young woman slices a woman’s hand. Her blood drips to the ground as they sacrifice her. 

A gas cloud makes blood spew from mouths and skin turn black. Bombs, cannons and more are used against magic. People with magic fight back. Spirits are ripped from the enemy and they fall. A woman uses magic to throw slabs of floor at a young woman. The young woman spits blood and throws a force with magic. There is a lot of fighting. A young woman holds her hand over a man’s heart and pulls his life force from him. A gas cloud overtakes a group of people and they fall unconscious.

Potentially Intense Themes

There is an emotional funeral. A young woman sees her father’s death. An arrowhead piercing his chest, blood, him falling. 

A young woman falls off her animal and breaks her ribs. 

A human skeleton is seen. 

A man is dying. Two people are seizing. 

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.