Tomi Adeyemi has spoken on social media about the upcoming film adaptation of her young adult fantasy novel Children of Blood and Bone.
Adeyemi’s novel, published in 2018 by Henry Holt, tells the story of Zélie, a 17-year-old girl in the kingdom of Orïsha who sets out to restore magic to the realm after a king does his best to eradicate it. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the novel, the first in a trilogy, “powerful, captivating, and raw” and “exceptional.” The book was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature.
Children of Blood and Bone was adapted as a film by director Gina Prince-Bythewood from a script she co-wrote with Adeyemi. The cast includes Thuso Mbedu, Tosin Cole, Amanda Stenberg, Cynthia Erivo, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Regina King. It is scheduled for release on Jan. 15, 2027.
On TikTok, Adeyemi posted a video featuring her looking at the camera with superimposed text reading “why don’t you post about the adaptation of your first film adaptation anymore?” It cuts to a screenshot of messages reading “there is a reason i will not post anything about the adaptation of my work. that’s all. from this point on, if you want to support me, you can purchase any edition of the trilogy at a local independent children’s bookstore (books of wonder, nyc).”
Another screenshot of messages reads “and lastly since someone asked - i have not seen the film, and i will not watch it. it’s been painful holding this back from you all. and i’m sorry if any of you thought i didn’t care. i will always care about US. more than any glitter.”
Adeyemi’s fourth novel, the YA thriller The Siren, is scheduled for publication on Sept. 29. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus praised the book as “a forceful, strikingly poetic narrative that looks trauma, grief, and death in the face without flinching.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
