Book Review: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (spoiler filled review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a book review. This review is for Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.

I read this book in January of this year during quarantine. There will be spoilers for this book, so if you haven't read this book and wish to, I wouldn't recommend reading this review.

Let's get into the review!

This book follows 17-year-old Zelie Adebola who lives in a fictional world called Orisha that is suspected to be located somewhere in Pre-Colonial Nigeria. In this world, there are two types of people: the non-magical kosidan who make up the majority of the people of Orisha, and the diviners, people who have the capability to become a magical maji and have white hair. Zelie is a diviner.

Eleven years before, the king of Orisha found out a way to eradicate the power that allows for magic to be used and ordered the executions of defenseless diviners. One of those diviners was Zelie's mother, whom she watched die. Since this event, the diviners have been oppressed by King Saran. 

When Zelie and her older brother, Tzain, go to Lagos to make money, they end up helping Amari, a noble girl from the king's guard. Amari is the daughter of King Saran and has stolen a magical stroll that can restore the magical powers of any maji that touches it. With this newfound knowledge, Zelie and Tzain set out to restore magic to Orisha in order to free the diviners from oppression.

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The writing was very good for a debut novel. It wasn't perfect, but it left me wanting more out of the story. It left me wondering what would happen to Zelie, Tzain, Amari, and Inan. I was pretty invested in the story. It has an intriguing premise. It's unlike other books I've read. It's unique.

This book is based on West African mythology and culture, in particular, the Yoruba. I'm not going to comment much on this. I'm not Nigerian, nor do I have African ancestry (that I know of), so I'm not sure of how accurate this representation is. I've read reviews that argue that it isn't accurate, but I have no way of confirming these. I do think that regardless of if it's accurate or not, it's still interesting and makes for an intriguing and compelling plot and story.

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One thing I really like about this book is the sibling dynamic between Tzain and Zelie. Their sibling relationship was one of my favorite things about this book. Their relationship was so sibling-like, and I related a few times to them. 

Zelie was an interesting character. Sometimes I got frustrated with her, but overall, I rooted and sympathized with her. I understood her motivations and why she wanted to rise up against King Saran.

Inan was interesting as well. Unlike Zelie, I felt more conflicted about him. At times, I wasn't sure how I felt about him. I simultaneously liked and disliked him, and I'm still confused about his character. 

Amari was more easy to root for. I liked her personality. I understood the animosity Zelie initially felt for her, but I wasn't a fan of it. It got on my nerves numerous times regardless of if it made sense or not. Amari and Tzain's relationship was one that was easier to ship than Zelie and Inan's was. Theirs was just kind of quick and confusing. Tzain and Amari's was quick as well, but it felt more natural and genuine. The two had more chemistry because let's be honest: if it weren't for that scene where she and Inan team up to save each of their siblings, some of their bond wouldn't have happened.

If I had to pick a favorite character from this book, I think I'd have to pick Tzain. I loved his personality. I loved Zelie as well, but she could be very stubborn and impatient, which occasionally got on my nerves. I loved how loyal Tzain was. His value and protectiveness for his family was something I found admirable and relatable. 

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Tomi Adeyemi's inspiration for this book came from some Yoruba mythology figures she had seen while in West Africa. Another thing that prompted her to finish this book was the helplessness she felt at police shootings of unarmed African-Americans, a few of which were children.

A main theme in this book is breaking free from oppression and discrimination. In Orisha, the main issue is classism. The monarchy (rich) profit off the lower classes (poor). It also brings forth topics such as racism, as the maji (magic users) are seen as 'other' and seemingly a separate race from the kosidan (non-magic users), who are the majority of the inhabitants of Orisha. This book is seemingly an allegory of many things, including police brutality.

The book doesn't go overboard with its themes, and while the book itself is grim in tone, it is somehow able to maintain a sense of hope and happiness. It leaves almost a bittersweet feeling. 

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This book only took me about four days to read. It was a very quick read. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'm excited to read the sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance. I rate Children of Blood and Bone 4 out of 5 stars.

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

Until next time, 

Lexi K🖌

To All of My Readers: An Announcement

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today is going to be a different kind of post. I have a lot of readers from all over the world, and this is basically an announcement post. 

There have been some changes with Google lately, and I wish to address them.

Without further ado, let's get into it!

King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021.

When I first began blogging, I didn't feel comfortable giving out my email, primarily because I don't feel secure doing that. 

Within the past couple months, Google has made quite a few changes, particularly regarding email subscriptions. In August, the Feedburner email subscription service went out of use. Because of this, I no longer have a form where readers can submit their emails to more easily read my posts.

I have created a new email solely for blog related stuff. If anyone is interested in subscribing to my blog, please email me at musingsofanarthriticartist.com. Subscribing is free of charge, and you will never receive any emails asking you to buy anything.

If you're in the Western Hemisphere, you'll receive an email every Saturday or Sunday depending on how busy I am. If you're in the Eastern Hemisphere, you'll receive an email every Sunday or Monday. These emails will compile both of my posts from that week. 

This post is intended for my regular readers who frequently return to my blog to read my new posts. I am grateful for all of you.

I hope to gain more readers and grow my blog. It has already gotten more attention than I thought it ever would.

That's it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it! It's very short, but I wanted it to be nothing more than a quick announcement.

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌

Book Review: Journey to Gonzales by Melodie A. Cuate (spoilers for Journey to San Jacinto)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a book review. This review is for Journey to Gonzales by Melodie A. Cuate, the third book in the Mr. Barrington's Mysterious Trunk series. There are major spoilers for Journey to San Jacinto in this post.

Let's get into the review!

This book follows a different kind of plot than the previous two books. After the death of Diego, the drummer boy in the Mexican Army in Journey to San Jacinto, Nick is traumatized. This was first shown in the previous book after Nick found out about his death. Nick wants to go back in time to San Jacinto to save Diego's life. 

That is essentially the entire plot of this book. Nick feels guilty and wants to save Diego's life. He runs off by himself to Mr. Barrington's house, where he goes into the trunk, but there's only one problem: He ends up in Gonzales instead of San Jacinto. Hannah and Jackie go after him.

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One thing that I like about this book compared to a lot of others is that it feels real. A lot of times, especially in kids' books, characters go back to a difficult time in history, and then return home as if nothing happened and as if they didn't see or go through anything particularly traumatic.

This series has done a good job of conveying how children would actually feel if they went back in time to these periods. They make it a point to say that war is brutal and unpleasant and isn't something children should see.

It's surprising how many Children's and Middle Grade books there are where the kids are completely fine upon returning home. I understand that those aren't necessarily topics you want to bring to the attention of kids, however, a small mention would be more realistic. 

I'm not asking for every children's fantasy book to have the children be traumatized, but in a historical fiction book like this, it'd be very unrealistic--and kind of concerning--if the kids returned without feeling somewhat of an aftermath.
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As a whole, Journey to Gonzales was very enjoyable and I rated it 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. The subject matter covered was very interesting for a kid's book, especially with how the emotions were handled. It's a good historical fiction novel for young readers as a good introduction to Texas history.

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

Until next time, 

Lexi K🖌

ARC Review: Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood (mostly spoiler-free review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a book review. This review is for Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood.

I won an ARC of this book through Goodreads earlier this year. I decided to upload this post on this book's release date. The release date was originally November 19, however it was moved up to October 19. 

I was surprised to find this book advertised everywhere on Goodreads a few weeks ago. Supposedly, it is the most anticipated gothic YA novel of 2021. 

With all the introductory stuff aside, let's get into the review!

Within These Wicked Walls is a gothic YA fantasy retelling of Jane Eyre. I've heard mixed reviews on that front. The only hint I could tell that this was a Jane Eyre retelling was that the love interest's surname is Rochester, naturally referencing the famous Mr. Rochester.

I've never read Jane Eyre, however upon researching Edward Rochester, I have found some parallels and differences between Jane Eyre and Within These Wicked Walls. Based on what the main plot of these two books is, I'd say it's more Jane Eyre inspired or more of a Jane Eyre homage, perhaps even a reimagining, but as I have not read Jane Eyre, I cannot fully say. I will discuss these parallels and differences in the spoiler section toward the end of this review.

The synopsis reads as follows:

Andromeda is a debtera--an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, Andromeda quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, but leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn't an option. Evil may roam the castle's halls, but so does a burning desire.

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I found Magnus to be an interesting and refreshing love interest. He was very sensitive, which isn't usually a trait of a male love interest in most of the books I've read despite how true it can be in some cases. Most YA male love interests tend to be tough and sometimes even jerks. They tend to be rough around the edges. It was nice to read a love interest who didn't act like that. I like novelty and get bored with a lot of repetition. This was definitely unique and different. I've never read a story like this.

Andromeda was very intriguing as well. She was a strong, brave character that didn't get on my nerves.

The romance aspect felt a bit insta-lovey, but it wasn't so bad that it got on my nerves. The romance itself was cute and interesting. I appreciated that the love interest wasn't rude to the main character, which is a recurring (albeit annoying) theme in Young Adult literature.

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Personally, I think the cover could've been a bit better, but it's still very nice. I'm just not sure it fully fits the gothic horror vibe it's going for. I do, however, love the colors. I just think it could've appeared more gothic than it does. It just doesn't seem dark enough. 

It should’ve been a bit darker. Perhaps purple or something. It doesn’t look like most gothic fantasy covers I have seen. It’s too light of a color to fully make sense.

Just to be sure, I asked my mother and sister what they thought the genre of the book was based on the cover. Neither of them know the plot of the book, but they’ve read a lot. My sister guessed historical fiction. My mother guessed dystopian. Because this is a gothic fantasy romance novel, this cover didn’t convey the genre as well as it could’ve.

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The writing is surprisingly very good for a debut author. The characters are also very good and are very layered. It isn't a perfect book, however it's also not my typical read. I don't read a lot of gothic books, so this was a bit out of my usual comfort zone, but I was very intrigued. Every chapter left me wanting more. 

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💥🔥SPOILER ALERT🔥💥
Anything below this is a spoiler
You have been warned

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These are the parallels between Jane Eyre and Within These Wicked Walls.

1. Both main characters (Andromeda and Jane respectively) are orphaned as children 
2. Both main characters are religious young women
3. Both main characters are about 19 when they fall in love with their employers
4. Richard Mason (Jane Eyre) and Esjay (Within These Wicked Walls) seem similar in that both still care for their sisters (who were both romantically involved with Mr. Rochester and Magnus, respectively)
5. Both castles in Jane Eyre and Within These Wicked Walls are named Thornfield
6. Magnus, much like Mr. Rochester, is the main character's employer. While both are employed for different reasons, they consequently both end up the main character's boss
7. Magnus and Mr. Rochester are both interested in the main characters of each book almost immediately.
8. In both books, the main character saves the love interest (Magnus and Mr. Rochester, respectively) due to something involving their rooms (Mr. Rochester's bed was on fire and Magnus' bedroom was filling up with water and blood)
9. In both books, the main character believes their love interest is engaged and is devastated upon finding this out (however I'd say this was handled way better in Within These Wicked Walls than Jane Eyre upon my research as Mr. Rochester flirted with Blanche to make Jane jealous while Magnus had already been engaged to Kelela prior, though he didn't truly love her)
10. At the end of both books, the main house of the main character's employer is set on fire (in one [Jane Eyre] it seems to have been purposeful, while in the other [Within These Wicked Walls] it seemed to be nothing more than an accident)
11. After the fire mentioned above, both couples (Jane and Mr. Rochester and Magnus and Andromeda, respectively) move into an old house
12. Kelela (Within These Wicked Walls) and Blanche (Jane Eyre) are elitist/snobbish and are rude to the main characters (though I'd say Blanche was worse than Kelela due to the mercenary stuff with her mother)
13. Both Jane and Andi believe themselves to be plain
14. Both books have a character named Edward (Edward Rochester (Jane Eyre) and Edward, the horse keeper (Within These Wicked Walls), respectively)

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These are the differences between Jane Eyre and Within These Wicked Walls

1. Jane Eyre begins with Jane's childhood while Within These Wicked Walls skips Andi's childhood and starts upon her being employed at Thornfield
2. Jane Eyre has a boarding school while Within These Wicked Walls does not
3. Mr. Rochester has been married before while Magnus is only engaged and has never been married
4. Within These Wicked Walls takes place in Ethiopia (a country in East Africa) while Jane Eyre takes place in England.

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The only weird thing about this book was that Saba was Magnus's mom and had previously loved and seemed to be in a relationship with Jember, Andi's adopted father. That was the only aspect of the novel that felt a bit weird to me as Magnus and Andromeda were in a romantic relationship. Other than that, I don't really have any complaints.

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✔👍SPOILERS OVER👍✔

Overall, this was a really enjoyable book. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. It was a different type of read for me, but it was very enjoyable. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys gothic fantasy mixed with a bit of romance. 

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌

Book Review: Journey to San Jacinto by Melodie A. Cuate (light spoiler review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a book review. This review is for Journey to San Jacinto by Melodie A. Cuate, the second book in the Mr. Barrington's Mysterious Trunk series and the sequel to Journey to the Alamo. There are light spoilers for this book in this review.

Let's get into the review!

The second book in this series has a similar plot. Hannah, her older brother Nick, and her best friend Jackie end up getting whisked away into Mr. Barrington's trunk. However, unlike the last book, they travel to the time of the San Jacinto battle, the battle wherein the Texians won their independence from Mexico.

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I like that Melodie A. Cuate decided to write from both perspectives of the war. It does a very good job of humanizing the Mexicans instead of vilifying them. 

To parade the fighters at the Alamo as heroes is a bit much to me. They were brave, yes, but I wouldn't call them heroes. Neither them nor the Mexicans who fought in the battle were complete heroes. 

In most books about the Alamo, the Mexican army and Santa Anna are the villains. They are horrible people. Now, Santa Anna did end up being a dictator, which is a bad thing, but to say all the Mexican army was evil is a bit of stretch, in my opinion. 

This book, while not talking about Santa Anna, mentions some of the other Mexican army troops who fought in the war and humanized them in a way that other books do not. I found this to be very refreshing.

It showcases that not everyone who was a part of the Mexican army was evil. Some were just innocent bystanders, such as Diego (a Mexican drummer boy; an unnamed Mexican drummer boy supposedly died at San Jacinto; Melodie A. Cuate later decided to name the boy Diego).

I like that Mrs. Cuate decided to include both sides of the conflict instead of just writing from the perspective of the Texians. It's very educational. It was handled very well, and I appreciated the change of pace.

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The only thing I don't really like about this series so far is the fact that the events in the books are historically out of order. The first book was about the Alamo, the second San Jacinto, the third Gonzales, and the fourth Goliad. 

I understand why the Alamo was first as it is the most famous battle in the Texas Revolution, however, I got very annoyed that San Jacinto came before Goliad. Historically, the order is: Gonzales, Alamo, Goliad, then San Jacinto. 

So far, this is the only gripe I have with this series. We'll see if any other complaints pop up. I hope not.

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Overall, I really liked Journey to San Jacinto. I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. I enjoyed continuing Hannah's, Nick's, and Jackie's story and am excited to read more books in this series.

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

Until next time, 

Lexi K🖌

Book Review: Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia (spoiler filled review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing another book review. This review is for Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia. 

This is going to be a spoiler-filled review, so if you've never read this book and wish to, I'd recommend not reading this review.

Let's get into the review!

Eliza and Her Monsters was a pretty recent read for me. I read this book this year. 

This story follows Eliza Mirk, an eighteen-year-old girl. She's the anonymous webcomic creator of Monstrous Sea. In real life, Eliza is shy, friendless, and has anxiety, but online she is LadyConstellation and has millions of followers and fans. 

Her world is changed when a boy named Wallace Warland transfers to her school. Wallace writes fanfiction for Monstrous Sea. The two become friends, but Eliza doesn't tell him that she is LadyConstellation, the creator of the exact web comic he is a fan of. 

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I loved Eliza. She was incredibly relatable and likeable. Wallace was a great love interest. In a lot of contemporary romance YA books I read, I don't tend to understand why the love interest of the main character gets so mad during the climax. A lot of times, the reasoning doesn't make sense. 

In this book though, I understood why Wallace got so upset after finding out that Eliza was LadyConstellation, even though I got angry with how much he was ignoring and getting frustrated with her. I was glad that the anger/climax was at least shorter than other books I've read. 

I really liked Church and Sully, Eliza's younger twin brothers. Sometimes the siblings in books don't feel like siblings. Church and Sully were written very well. They messed with Eliza, occasionally giving her a hard time, but they were there for her after their parents let Eliza's identity out. 

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I loved this book. It was incredibly enjoyable. I tend to have a difficult time finding contemporary/realistic fiction YA novels that I actually like or don't get bored with. Because I am so artistic myself, this book really spoke to me. It was a fantastic tale of love, art, and fandom. I've heard so many good things about this book, and I am so glad I read it.

I particularly loved Chapter 34. This was a much better Chapter 34 than other Chapter 34s I've read in the past year (The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan killed me, particularly chapters 33 and 34). It was really nice for Eliza to find out that her brothers didn't hate her and that they even read Monstrous Sea.

I found this book incredibly unique. It had a charm to it. It's ironic because I started reading this around the same time I began reading Lore Olympus, a Webtoon webcomic by Rachel Smythe that I found out about when my sister needed to write an article about it for her job. 

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Overall, Eliza and Her Monsters was a fantastic book. This is the first YA contemporary/realistic fiction novel I've read and enjoyed this much as the other contemporary/realistic fiction books I've enjoyed were Middle Grade novels (What Stars Are Made Of and Rebel McKenzie). I did like another YA contemporary romance novel I read last year, but I like this one even more.

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌

Book Review: Journey to the Alamo by Melodie A. Cuate

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a book review. This review is for Journey to the Alamo by Melodie A. Cuate. 

Let's get into the review!

Journey to the Alamo is a Middle Grade historical fiction novel involving the Alamo. This is the first book in the Mr. Barrington's Mysterious Trunk series, a series that follows siblings Nick and Hannah as well as Hannah's best friend, Jackie, as they travel to different parts of Texas history through Hannah's teacher's trunk. 

My parents bought me this book when my family and I went to the Alamo in either 2012 or 2014 (I don't remember). I had started reading it then, but I was too young and got bored. I read it this year and really enjoyed it. 

This story follows Hannah, a seventh grader. A new history teacher is at her school named Mr. Barrington. He carries around a mysterious trunk. This trunk ends up being a portal to the past and Hannah, her older brother Nick, and her best friend Jackie are transported to the past. Particularly, March 1836, the exact month the Battle of the Alamo ended between the Texians and Mexicans. 

This book was very enjoyable. I liked the historical component to it, and I enjoyed the characters. I particularly enjoyed Hannah and Nick. This book kind of had an automatic advantage in my book as I tend to enjoy reading books that have siblings in them (as long as there's no incest). I don't know why, but I found that out last year when I realized a commonality between most of my favorite books and why they were my favorites.

I gave it 5 out of 5 stars on my Goodreads. Overall, it was a really enjoyable read. It took me long than anticipated to finish it, but I did get through it. The writing was very simplistic, but it's a Children's/Middle Grade novel, so I don't expect it to read like Pride and Prejudice or even Harry Potter as the genres and age ranges are completely different. I liked reading about Hannah, Nick, and Jackie and hope the other books in this series are just as good, if not better.

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! It's a very short review compared to most reviews I write, but because this book is so short (144 pages), I can't really say much about it without spoiling it.

Until next time, 

Lexi K🖌

Character Creation Tips from an Aspiring Author

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! 

Today I'm going to be going through my tips for creating characters. I would arguably say that creating characters is my favorite part of the writing process, though if I'm being fully honest, there's really nothing about the writing process I don't enjoy. I even enjoy editing.

I am not a published author, however I have gotten compliments on my characters in the past. 

Keep in mind that these will not work for everyone. Tips are subjective. What works for me may not work for you. There's not one way to create a character.

On that happy note, let's get right into the post!

King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021.

1. Create Character Playlists

This is a personal favorite of mine. For every protagonist I create, I make a character playlist on my Spotify. These songs help me flesh out my characters. The songs either have a certain sound that makes them sound like what my character would listen to, or the lyrics describe parts of the character's personality or emotions.

This is the thing I do most often when creating characters. Then, while writing a certain character, I'll turn on their playlist. Because I tend to write from the perspectives from many different characters, it can be hard to switch to another character's voice. 

Creating playlists helps to keep me in a character's mindset. Then, if I write another character, I can switch to their playlist and repeat. It keeps me in check. It helps me to make sure my characters don't do anything/say anything out-of-character. 

2. Create Character Profiles

Another tip I can give is to create a character profile. On my profiles I tend to include name, nicknames, appearance, age, history, personality, family, talents and skills, positive traits, negative traits, habits, relationships, goal, motivation, fears, and songs that describe them. 

It's very detailed, but it's very handy to refer back to. I don't know how many times I've had to reread the history and appearance sections to make sure I've gotten everything right.

3. Use Pinterest To Create Character Boards

This is another step I do when creating characters. Basically, I create character boards on Pinterest. I name the character and use that board to pin things that pertain to them, whether it be quotes that sound like their personality or appearance things. 

When I first began doing this, I mixed both personality and appearance things. This became very problematic when I created the boards for my characters in one of newest novels. When the two things are merged, one of my boards would end up having 3,336 pins, while another would have 1,921. 

You could imagine how impossibly hard it would be to scroll through looking for appearance/personality things. So, I separated them into two different sections. One with appearance and the other with personality. 

Example - Evelina Perry: Personality and Evelina Perry: Appearance

This makes it way easier to find things. For the record, none of my characters are named Evelina Perry, nor do I know anybody with that name. I just got it off a random name generator.

This step is very useful when it comes to descriptions. I am a very visual person, often to the point that if I don't see an example, I can't imagine it. Having a character appearance board helps remedy that, allowing me to think of ideas. 

Alexandria K: Characters (opens in new window)

4. Look at Personality Traits

There are plenty of lists online full of personality traits for writers. If you haven't fully got an idea for character it can sometimes help to look at personality traits. Choose an equal amount of positive and negative traits. You can use these to create a character. 

I'd recommend choosing different personality traits at different times. I find that I tend to gravitate toward certain traits, especially for guys, so I have to force myself to get outside of my comfort zone a bit. Minus villains, most of my male characters are loyal, fairly sensitive, and protective. My female characters tend to be empathetic, stubborn, and independent.

5. Look at a List of Fears

Fears are very interesting. Sometimes, you can create characters from these fears. This isn't something I've done often, but it can help if a character refuses to formulate. Looking at a list of fears can help you choose what your character is afraid of, which will determine how they react in certain situations. 

You can also base a character off a fear. I've done it in the past. It takes a bit of work and creativity, but it can be really fun and interesting. This can especially be interesting to create villains. How many times have you heard someone compare another person to a snake? 

That's it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌