Children of Anguish and Anarchy (Legacy of Orisha, 3)

I enjoyed the series very much but felt the ending was a bit rushed. Still this collection will live on my shelf wait to be enjoyed by other black girls who want to see themselves in worlds made of magic

Unfortunately this last book was crazy rushed. I do like a fast paced book but this was kinda wild. I think others have left much more thorough critiques than me, so I’ll leave it at that.

4 Stars
Let's be really real. The pacing in this did it for me!

**********SPOILER ALERT*********************
Now, let's get to the nitty of the gritty. This story was go-go-go-go, and I was here for the ride.

Don't get me wrong; the instant forgiveness was unbelievable—literally. I have just read a 1200+ page novel about revenge, so I could be slightly jaded and biased by Sir Dantes's works and passions—but come on, people! Just like that? We are out here forgiving people who were willing to sacrifice our folks and us for their selfish needs?
But the Skulls were pretty horrible - so FINE. FINE. Maybe I need to learn from Zelie. *rolls eyes, folds arms, and does anything to exhibit that I am thoroughly perturbed*

Anyways, at the majority-of-the-way-through point, I was like - "Where the fuck is Roen??" but I get it now because this wasn't about him; it wasn't about Inan, who did have a bit of redemption here; it was about the unison of Orishan. It was about action, quick pace, high stakes. Yeah, a bit of romance trickled in there, but there was nothing to dislodge the plot's trajectory or goals. I'm not mad at it.

The ending makes me happy, and I'm on board with it. I am okay with this as a finale to the trilogy that has meant much to me.

Loved this entire series. WRECKED me in the best way possible. 100% reccomend!

Tomi Adeyemi has a strong writing style when it comes to creating a compelling fight scene or describing a new location with gorgeous and lush visuals and because so much of this book is spend outside of Orisha, battling a new enemy, you get a lot of that. Unfortunately, this was was a miss for me. I wanted more interpersonal stories between the characters we already had and to deal with the outcome of the civil war from book two. So much of that is brushed aside in this book to make room for a new epic tale spanning three different empires. Trigger warning, there is a not-subtle slave-trade-esque plot for the first quarter of the book. A lot of information is dumped there too so it's hard to skip. I truly believe if that piece of the plot was cut down and we got to see Zélie and Amari discuss what happened in book two, I'd have a completely different opinion right now. Despite Children of Anguish and Anarchy disappointing me, I would still recommend the entire trilogy. The world-building is phenomenal and its a great addition to any Young Adult collection.