Children of Blood and Bone

Children of Blood and Bone

by

Tomi Adeyemi

Divîners Term Analysis

Divîners are people who have the ability to do magic, but their powers may not yet be activated. All divîners who are under thirteen cannot yet use their power, which is why King Saran spared them in the Raid. Divîners all have luminous white hair and silvery eyes, which makes them easy to identify. They worship the gods, a pantheon of deities with the Sky Mother at its head.

Divîners Quotes in Children of Blood and Bone

The Children of Blood and Bone quotes below are all either spoken by Divîners or refer to Divîners. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
).
Chapter One Quotes

Deep down, I know the truth. I knew it the moment I saw the maji of Ibadan in chains. The gods died with our magic.

Related Characters: Zélie (speaker), Mama Agba
Page Number: 15
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Two Quotes

He wants to believe that playing by the monarchy’s rules will keep us safe, but nothing can protect us when those rules are rooted in hate

Related Characters: Zélie (speaker), Tzain
Page Number: 27
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Eleven Quotes

Yemi meets my eyes with a hatred that impales me like a sword. Though her mouth never opens, her voice rings in my skull. “Safe ended a long time ago.”

Related Characters: Inan (speaker), Yemi
Page Number: 108
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Twenty-Two Quotes

Though the royal seal is etched into the clay wall, it waves in my mind like the velvet banners in Father’s throne room. After the Raid, he abolished the old seal, a gallant bull-horned lionare that always used to make me feel safe. Instead, he proclaimed that our power would be represented by the snow leopanaires: ryders who were ruthless. Pure.

Related Characters: Amari (speaker)
Page Number: 195
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Twenty-Five Quotes

After I perform the ritual and bring magic back, after Baba is safe and sound. I’ll rally a group of Grounders to sink this monstrosity into the sand. That announcer will pay for every wasted divîner life. Every noble will answer for their crimes.

Related Characters: Zélie (speaker), Baba
Page Number: 212
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Thirty-Six Quotes

“Those are Father’s words, Inan. His decisions. Not yours. We are our own people. We make our own choices.”

“But he’s right. Inan’s voice cracks. “If we don’t stop magic, Orïsha will fall.”

Related Characters: Amari (speaker), Inan (speaker), King Saran
Page Number: 275
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Thirty-Nine Quotes

Zélie’s memories don’t hold the villains Father always warned of. Only families he tore apart. Duty before self. His creed rings through my ears. My father. Her king. The harbinger of all this suffering.

Related Characters: Inan (speaker), Zélie, King Saran
Page Number: 286
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Forty-Seven Quotes

This pawn was the only piece I managed to salvage. Shame ripples through me as I stare at the tarnished metal. The only gift he’s ever given me, and at its core is hate.

Related Characters: Inan (speaker), Zélie, King Saran
Related Symbols: Majacite Pawn
Page Number: 324
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Fifty-One Quotes

Zu’s tears make my own eyes prickle. Kwame’s face pinches with pain. I want to hate him for what he did to Tzain, but I can’t. I’m no better. If anything, I’m worse. If Inan hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve stabbed that masked divîner to death just to get answers.

Related Characters: Zélie (speaker), Amari, Inan, Tzain, Kwame, Zu
Page Number: 343
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Fifty-Four Quotes

A pit of guilt opens in my chest, tainted with the smell of burning flesh. The fires I watched from the royal palace resurface, the innocent lives burned before my young eyes. A memory I’ve pushed down like my magic, a day I longed to forget. But staring at Zélie now brings it all back: the pain. The tears. The death.

Related Characters: Inan (speaker), Zélie, King Saran
Page Number: 364
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Fifty-Six Quotes

The children of Orïsha dance like there’s no tomorrow, each step praising the gods. Their mouths glorify the rapture of liberation, their hearts sing the Yoruba songs of freedom. My ears dance at the words of my language, words I once thought I’d never hear outside my head. They seem to light up the air with their delight. It’s like the whole world can breathe again.

Related Characters: Zélie (speaker)
Page Number: 377
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Sixty-Three Quotes

“I thought things could be different. I wanted them to be different. But after what we just saw, we have no choice. We can’t give people that kind of power.”

Related Characters: Inan (speaker), Zélie, King Saran, Kwame
Page Number: 412
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Sixty-Six Quotes

In that instant it hits me: Zulaikha’s death. Zélie’s screams. They don’t mean a thing to him. Because they’re maji, they’re nothing. He preaches duty before self, but his Orïsha doesn’t include them. It never has.

Related Characters: Inan (speaker), Zélie, King Saran
Page Number: 432
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Seventy-One Quotes

The ache that cuts through me is sharper than the blade that cut through my back. It’s like losing Mama all over again.

Related Characters: Zélie (speaker), Mama
Page Number: 456
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Seventy-Five Quotes

I don’t want to be alone. Not when tonight could be my last night. Blind faith in the gods may have taken me this far, but if I’m going to get on that island tomorrow, I need more.

Related Characters: Zélie (speaker), Amari
Page Number: 481
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Eighty Quotes

As long as we don’t have magic, they will never treat us with respect, Baba’s spirit booms. They need to know we can hit them back. If they burn our homes—I burn theirs, too.

Related Characters: Zélie (speaker), King Saran, Baba
Page Number: 503
Explanation and Analysis:
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Divîners Term Timeline in Children of Blood and Bone

The timeline below shows where the term Divîners appears in Children of Blood and Bone. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter One
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
Cycles of Violence Theme Icon
Zélie, a white-haired divîner, is selected from a group of students to face off against formidable Yemi in a... (full context)
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
Faith and Tradition Theme Icon
...by the king, demand money from Mama Agba because of a new higher tax on divîners. (full context)
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
...Although they no longer have magic, those with white hair are still seen as dangerous divîners. (full context)
Chapter Two
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
Zélie feels responsible for all of this misfortune because of her identity as a divîner. In a last-ditch effort to raise money for the taxes, Zélie says she will take... (full context)
Chapter Three
Duty to Family vs. Self Theme Icon
...nobility as her mother criticizes her every move. A servant warns Amari that Binta, a divîner servant and Amari’s only friend, was escorted to Amari’s father, King Saran. (full context)
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
Duty to Family vs. Self Theme Icon
Faith and Tradition Theme Icon
...scroll and a sunstone—washed ashore in a village and activated the powers of some local divîners, turning them into maji. (full context)
Chapter Four
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
Duty to Family vs. Self Theme Icon
Despite the prohibition against relationships with divîners, the guards at Lagos’ gate are all too eager to harass Zélie, making lewd remarks... (full context)
Chapter Nine
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
...awakens Mama Agba’s magic. Zélie had assumed she was a kosidán because she lacks the divîner’s characteristic white hair; in fact, her power is the ability to see the future, and... (full context)
Chapter Eighteen
Faith and Tradition Theme Icon
...artifacts are taken there and the ancient incantation recited, magic will be restored for all divîners. But it’s only a month away. (full context)
Chapter Twenty-Two
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
Duty to Family vs. Self Theme Icon
...with Binta about traveling the world. She remembers that her father warned her that Grounders, divîners with power over the earth, filled the desert with danger. But Binta told her that... (full context)
Chapter Twenty-Three
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
Cycles of Violence Theme Icon
...water. Ten wooden ships float in, each carrying a noble captain and a crew of divîner laborers. Among them is the girl who accepted water from Zélie outside. An announcer holds... (full context)
Chapter Twenty-Five
Duty to Family vs. Self Theme Icon
...the lock on the door to the sunstone. But just as they do, a young divîner boy dashes by, followed by a group of guards. When they see the door open,... (full context)
Chapter Forty-Three
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
...nearby town, but Zélie scoffs, saying the guards would kill them both, as they are divîners. Instead, she says she will learn how to summon enough animations to fight for them. (full context)
Chapter Forty-Six
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
Cycles of Violence Theme Icon
...again Zu does not believe her. Amari realizes they must be in a settlement of divîners who had their powers awakened by the scroll, and somehow managed not to be killed... (full context)
Chapter Fifty-One
Duty to Family vs. Self Theme Icon
Faith and Tradition Theme Icon
As they enter the encampment, Zélie is surprised to see a thriving, hidden community of divîners. She is also confused that Inan tried to save her. She feels like she’s seeing... (full context)
Faith and Tradition Theme Icon
Cycles of Violence Theme Icon
...the Àyojo festival, a traditional celebration of the gods. She suggests they could have each divîner touch the scroll, unleashing their powers. The suggestion makes Zélie hesitate. Even though the restoration... (full context)
Chapter Fifty-Three
Faith and Tradition Theme Icon
...the camp is abuzz with preparations for the celebration. The sight of so many happy divîners fills Zélie with joy. (full context)
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Faith and Tradition Theme Icon
Cycles of Violence Theme Icon
...magic and hurt someone he cared about. Zélie says that this kind of community of divîners is what she’s always wanted, yet now she worries about what will happen if magic... (full context)
Chapter Sixty-One
Cycles of Violence Theme Icon
The guards cut down as many divîners as they can. Panicked, Zélie searches for Tzain. A guard slashes down the defenseless young... (full context)
Cycles of Violence Theme Icon
Because of Kwame’s attack, many divîners escape. Zélie realizes that this violence, this use of magic, is the only way to... (full context)
Chapter Sixty-Three
Duty to Family vs. Self Theme Icon
...they do, his face immediately changes. He says the guards discovered the encampment when some divîners went to a nearby town to buy supplies—so he didn’t betray her, after all. He... (full context)
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
...knows that destroying the scroll won’t solve anything—Saran won’t stop until he’s wiped out the divîners entirely. Now, she says she will die before revealing anything. The soldiers killed all those... (full context)
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
...his terror stops her. Saran tells Inan that when Saran was young, he believed young divîners could be allowed to live. He thought the Raid would leave them afraid and obedient. (full context)
Chapter Sixty-Five
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
...his fear about Zélie, and they step inside the bar. The bar is overflowing with divîners, and only a few kosidán, all of whom are there with romantic partners who are... (full context)
Cycles of Violence Theme Icon
...holds up the scroll and says that seizing magic is the only way for the divîners to fight back against Saran and avoid being killed themselves. But first, they must save... (full context)
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Faith and Tradition Theme Icon
Cycles of Violence Theme Icon
An explosion echoes from elsewhere in the fortress, drawing the guards. The other divîners from the bar, wanting to help the cause, created makeshift explosives to use as a... (full context)
Chapter Seventy-Two
Prejudice and Inequality Theme Icon
Cycles of Violence Theme Icon
...leader and is shocked to see that it is Roën, the foreign pickpocket from the divîner settlement. Roën says she was unwise to enter the lair unguarded. When Zélie says she... (full context)