Children of Anguish and Anarchy: Legacy of Orisha, Book 3

Main characters are from the Kingdom of Orïsha, a fictional, Nigerian-inspired country. In Orïsha, there are divîners (maji who've not come of age) and maji (those with magic), who've been oppressed and forced to live in poverty; kosidán (non-maji), who can be of any social class; and tîtán (nobles and those in the military with maji ancestry), though these divisions must be put aside to face a common enemy, the pale-skinned Skulls who've raided Orisha's shores, abducting maji in search of Zelie's powerful magic (an analogue for the Atlantic slave trade). Characters end up in a new land, that's a fictional, Brazilian-like kingdom where the people are brown-skinned and speak Portuguese. There's a same-gender romance between a main and primary character. Author Tomi Adeyemi is a Nigerian American writer and storyteller.

​​Violence, both magical and not, is similar to previous books. Characters experience a great deal of physical pain, fear, and terror, and descriptions of blood and gore are common. Torture of captives on a ship includes shackles and chains, beatings, murder (with bodies left behind in cells alongside survivors), threats to life, both topical and injected use of a painful anti-magic metal, and more. Guards snap prisoners' necks to kill them. An enchanted medallion kills a presumably high number of maji before the enemy king finds the one maji it won't kill. Enemies toss dead bodies into the sea. Characters use magic and objects (a crown, a staff with serrated blades, a dagger, a steak knife, etc.) to injure, disarm, and kill in self-defense and to break free from captivity. Maji use elements -- fire, water, wind, cancer, viruses, earth, plants, metal, etc. -- to attack enemies but also to heal, usher souls from living to the dead, rebuild cities, and more. The Skulls use bloodmetal weapons, which are activated with their own blood, and the New Gaīan warriors have tattoo weapons that are pulled from their skin. Two women characters are undressed against their will for a ritual they are forced to undergo. The control of women's bodies is an important theme, and the main villain attempts to steal magic from women in ways that involve grave violence against their bodies. Though these scenes aren't sexual in nature, the real-world parallel many readers will draw is sexual assault.

Old lovers find closure. Characters occasionally flirt, and there's a new romance subplot. A few kisses. See Violence & Scariness for additional sexual content of a violent nature.

Infrequent use of "dammit," and "Það er hón!" (Icelandic for "that bitch!").

A few references to adults and soldiers drinking wine or mead. There's a honey-like drink that makes the drinker feel tired and groggy.