Tomi Adeyemi, the 33-year-old Nigerian American author of the bestselling YA novel Children of Blood and Bone, has said she does not plan to watch the upcoming film adaptation of her debut. The book, published in 2018, became a publishing phenomenon, earning a record-breaking seven-figure deal and debuting at No 1 on the New York Times young adult bestseller list.
A new novel and a statement of ownership
Adeyemi's new novel, The Siren, features her own portrait on the cover—an unusual choice she describes as a deliberate statement of ownership. "It's terrifying—like the Mona Lisa, staring at you everywhere," she says, laughing. After 12 years in the world of Children of Blood and Bone and its troubled film adaptation, she wanted this book to belong unmistakably to her.
"It was an intense choice, and I think it's because I needed people to see me in this one," she says. "I've had so much success, but it was also done in a way where so many people's interpretations were put on to who I was."
Pressures of success and a personal story
Adeyemi says she felt the weight of being a symbol for the next generation of Black YA literature. "I felt pressure to be the perfect dark-skinned Black girl, to be 'Oprah good'," she says. "This was the biggest YA book deal in history, not just for a female or Black author. And so few of us are given a shot at all, so for the last 12 years there's been this sense of carrying everyone."
The Siren follows Emery, a Black student at Dartmouth College drawn into a mysterious sorority. Adeyemi describes the book as deeply personal: "[Emery] is my inner teen," she says. "I just want to give her a hug."
A difficult path and a painful adaptation
Adeyemi's path to success was not easy. Her first novel took four and a half years to write and received 63 rejections before she abandoned it. She wrote Children of Blood and Bone instead, and its success was dizzying. "I never really adjusted, because there was so much work still to do," she says. "It's been 12 to 14 years of intense grinding."
The film adaptation, with a starry cast including Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Regina King, Damson Idris, Amandla Stenberg, and Cynthia Erivo, premieres in January 2027. Adeyemi co-wrote the screenplay but became increasingly unhappy with the process. In July, she posted a TikTok video describing the adaptation as "the worst thing I have ever had to live through," saying she left the set "hyperventilating and sobbing."
She says she had little hesitation about speaking publicly. "I understood that if I didn't speak up, I couldn't move forward," she explains. "I can't really worry about the response, because I don't have to live with how people respond to me—I have to live with me, every day." When asked what happened on set, she declines to give specifics. "I won't go into the specifics," she says carefully. "[But] the whole journey of the trilogy and the adaptation felt biblical … It took all of me."
Moving forward
Asked about the casting of Amandla Stenberg, who is mixed race, and questions around colourism, Adeyemi demurs. "With a film, the director makes every decision," she says. "With my book I can talk about every choice down to the commas, because that's truly in my hands. So there's nothing for me to add, other than the clarity that these aren't my choices."
She is clear that she will never adapt another book for screen. "Never," she says. "I still don't plan to watch it, but it's not really for me to watch." Instead, she is focusing on her achievements. "I'm proud of my strength, resilience, and grace," she says. She is also proud of the change she believes her debut set in motion, noting that she can now walk into a bookshop and see shelves of dark-skinned protagonists across genres. "The girls who grew up after me will never have that experience," she says. As her publisher told her: "You changed things." The Siren by Tomi Adeyemi is published by First Ink on Thursday.
