Children of Blood and Bone Literary Elements

Young-Adult Fantasy

The Kingdom of Orïsha, Eleven years after the Raid

The text is written in first-person perspective and switches between Zélie, Amari, and Inan's points of view.

The worldbuilding is lush and evocative, contrasting with the dark themes of the text.

Zélie is the main protagonist; King Saran is the antagonist.

Zélie has a short time to complete a ritual that will restore magic to Orïsha while King Saran and his son, Inan, try to find and kill her.

Inan tricks Zélie into destroying the scroll.

In Chapter 16, Admiral Kaea tells Inan he “mustn’t tolerate those who get in [his] way...Especially those who know too much.” Inan later kills Kaea when she threatens to reveal his maji identity.

In Chapter 44, Zélie tells Inan not to “put [his] life in [her] hands unless [he] wants that life to end.” King Saran later stabs Inan after Inan reveals his magic, a skill Zélie taught him.

Throughout the text, the characters encounter the dangers of blood magic. Zélie's mother nearly dies trying to save Tzain, Zélie nearly dies during the competition, and Kwame burns himself to death while using blood magic. When left with no way to complete the ritual, Zélie uses blood magic and dies in the process.

Amari is constantly underestimated, viewed as a meek princess. However, she is trained in warfare and later earns the name "The Lionaire." She is also the one who kills King Saran.

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Inan does not consider himself worthy of the title "captain." Amari does not consider herself worthy of the epithet "the lionaire."
Inan accidentally kills Kaea with his magic, and Zélie injures Tzain with her magic.

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Amari walks "past the portraits of [her] royal ancestors glaring at [her] from generations past." Personifying the portraits of her predecessors highlights the intergenerational pressure placed on Amari.

Jimenta is “sharp and jagged like its rumored inhabitants."