What happened in Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

The basics

Title: Children of Virtue and Vengeance

Author: Tomi Adeyemi

Series: Legacy of Orïsha #2

- Children of Blood and Bone (2018)
- Children of Virtue and Vengeance (2019)
- Untitled

Add it: Goodreads

Goodreads Summary:

After battling the impossible, Zélie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha. 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, Zélie struggles to unite the maji in an Orïsha where the enemy is just as powerful as they are. But when the monarchy and military unite to keep control of Orïsha, Zélie 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, Zélie finds herself at a breaking point: she must discover a way to bring the kingdom together or watch as Orïsha tears itself apart.

Read a full summary of Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi below. If you can’t remember what happened in Children of Virtue and Vengeance and you need a refresher, then you’re in the right place.

What happened in Children of Virtue and Vengeance?

• Tzain and Zélie give Baba a burial at sea and send him to the afterlife. Afterwards, they head back to the shore and plot to get Amari on the throne.
• Roën shows up and tells the group about the Iyika, which is a group of rebels who are trying to lead a revolution.
• Roën explains that after magic returned, the Iyika took Lagos and now Queen Nehanda is probably dead.
• Amari is ready to lead the queendom, but then her mother shows up. Surprise! She’s not dead, and is actually a titan.
• Roën leaves because the gang can’t pay him, but they manage to get away from Nehanda without him help. Zélie gets knocked out in the conflict.
• Zélie is now in a dreamscape. Inan is there, and so she attacks him because she’s angry about his betrayal in the first book.
• Inan wakes up before Zélie can do much damage. He learns that Nehanda is now in charge and Ojore has been promoted to Admiral.
• Inan tells his advisors that he wants peace in Orïsha, and he plans to give his starving people rations.
• Zélie tells Amari that Inan is alive and that they should kill him.
• There is a maji trapped in a fort nearby so the gang decide to release them. Roën intervenes, because he has been hired to take the group to the Iyika camp.
• Mama Agba is leading the rebel group. Mama Agba takes the gang to their sanctuary, where the elders are residing. One of the elders, Na’imah, has spies in Lagos, and has been told about Inan’s ration plan.
• Zélie tells the elders that Inan is a liar and isn’t out to help their people.
• Nehanda and Inan ride through the city. Nehanda tells Inan that she is able to take other people’s powers, and with this gift she will destroy the maji.
• The pair are attacked by the Iyika, who plan to burn down the food stores.
• Inan and Ojore go looking for the Iyika camps. They are then attacked by Burners, and Inan has to fight them off using magic.
• They find the Iyika camp and take the maji back to the palace.
• Zélie tries to teach Amari to use magic after much begging from the princess. Amari struggles with the magic, because it’s very different to maji magic.
• Zélie becomes the elder of the Ikú Clan, and in doing so she receives a vision from the gods. It’s a vision of threads of light entwining.
• Ramaya blames Amari for what Inan did in the Iyika camp. Amari challenges Ramaya, and ends up leaving her in a coma because she loses control of her magic.
• Amari then stays away in her room.
• Zélie and Amari attend some elder meetings, although Amari is ignored by the others.
• The elders want some maji to go after the scrolls at the Chândomblé temple. Inan knows about this plan, and so the maji are attacked when they try to enter the temple.
• Zélie and Amari are able to grab some scrolls. Zélie learns that Amari can take people’s powers, like her mother.
• The pair escape, and afterwards Nehanda destroys the temple.
• Zélie and Amari reach the sanctuary, and Mama Agba tells them that Amari’s powers are due to the Moonstone and the fact that Amari killed her father.
• Zélie wants to use the Moonstone to combine magic from separate clans. Mama Agba thinks it’s a stupid idea to say the least.
• Amari sneaks away and meets up with Inan. Zélie follows her, and discovers that Amari has accidentally given away the location of the sanctuary.
• Inan wants to create a treaty between his people and the Iyika. He starts to discuss this when soldiers arrive and attack. Amari fights the soldiers off pretty much by herself, although Zélie and her Clan are able to help.
• Zélie joins her powers to Mâzeli’s and they fight the soldiers together. Mâzeli dies from overexerting herself, unfortunately. Mama Agba severs the Moonstone’s connection to Zélie.
• Roën tells the elders that Inan’s army is now divided between Lagos and Ibadan.
• Zélie wants to leave the country but Amari wants to stay.
• The Ikiya head to Lagos.
• Zélie, Roën, and their group head to Ibadan through underwater caves. Nehanda has had bombs put there, though, and those go off. Zélie saves Roën’s life by using the Moonstone and binding them together.
• Nehanda tells Inan that she was behind the Raid.
• Nehanda and Inan flee Ibadan when they hear the bombs going off.
• Amari sends disease through Ibadan, in a plot to kill Nehanda and Inan along with the whole village. They don’t realise that those two have escaped though.
• The Ikiya are captured in Lagos.
• Amari is imprisoned while Zélie tries to save the villagers in Ibadan. Zélie is able to use the Moonstone to bring people back to life using life forces.
• Mama Agba sacrifices herself for the cause.
• Inan and Nehanda are now in Lagos. Inan drugs his mother before he heads off to speak to the other nobles.
• Inan hears explosions outside in the middle of his talks.
• Zélie and co. are able to get into the palace. The Iyika are freed by the elders, while Zélie goes looking for Inan.
• Zélie starts to draw Inan’s life force from his body but is forced to stop when white gas appears behind Roën. Everyone is knocked out by the gas.
• Zélie wakes up on a ship.

This is a full plot summary of what happened in Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi. Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!

Other recaps for this series:

• Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha #1)