Tomi Adeyemi Biography, Career, Relationship, Family, Books, Net Worth

Nigerian mythology sold for seven figures before a single copy of the book existed, and the woman behind that deal has spent the years since becoming one of publishing’s most closely watched names. Tomi Adeyemi turned a trip to Brazil and a childhood spent at arm’s length from her Yoruba heritage into Children of Blood and Bone, a trilogy that has sold more than three million copies and is now colliding with Hollywood in the most public way possible. Between a new standalone novel, a star-studded film adaptation, and a very public fallout with one of its cast members, 2026 has become the biggest and messiest year of her career. Here’s everything to know about her life, family, and the story behind her rise.

Date of Birth	August 1, 1993
Age	33 years
Nationality	American
Zodiac Sign	Leo
Occupation	Author, Screenwriter, Creative Writing Coach
Net Worth	$3 million – $8 million (estimated)
Parents	Father (former physician in Nigeria, taxi driver in the US); Mother (cleaner). Names not public
Siblings	Tobi Adeyemi ("Tobi Lou," musician, older brother); Toni Adeyemi (younger sister)
Spouse/Partner	None publicly confirmed
Children	None
Alma Mater	Hinsdale Central High School; Harvard University (English Literature)
Residence	San Diego, California
Notable Works	Children of Blood and Bone trilogy; The Siren (2026)

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Biography

Tomi Adeyemi was born on August 1, 1993, in the United States to Nigerian parents who had immigrated in search of a better life. Her father worked as a physician back home but drove a taxi in the US while he waited to transfer his medical qualifications, and her mother worked as a cleaner. Adeyemi is Nigerian-American by nationality, and her family’s ethnic heritage is Yoruba, the same background that would later shape the mythology running through her books.

She grew up in the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale, Illinois, one of three siblings, alongside older brother Tobi Adeyemi, who makes music under the name Tobi Lou, and younger sister Toni. Her parents chose not to teach their children Yoruba, partly so they could use the language privately in front of them, which meant Adeyemi grew up with little exposure to the culture she’d eventually build a career around. She has said that as a first-generation Nigerian kid, she felt Nigerian at home and African American outside it, and it took her years to fully claim either identity.

Adeyemi graduated from Hinsdale Central High School in 2011, where she won the school foundation’s Young Scholars scholarship and the Rani Sharma scholarship in her senior year. She was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 2021. From there, she went to Harvard University, graduating in 2015 with an honors degree in English literature, and afterward used a travel grant to study West African mythology and culture in Salvador, Brazil, a trip that would change the direction of her career.

Career

After Harvard, Adeyemi worked briefly at a film production company in Los Angeles but found herself unhappy and unfulfilled there. She cut her hours to write, and her first manuscript, about two sisters separated by the slave trade, was rejected by more than sixty literary agents. Rather than revise it, she started over, and that decision led her to Brazil.

On that trip, Adeyemi came across figurines of the Orisha, sacred spirits from Yoruba religion, in a souvenir shop, and the image stuck with her. She was 22 at the time, and she has said the moment felt spiritual, connecting her to a heritage she’d never fully explored. Combined with her grief over the Black Lives Matter movement and the police shootings of Black Americans she was watching unfold, that image became the seed of Children of Blood and Bone. She has also pointed to a more specific spark: the racist backlash a young Amandla Stenberg received for playing Rue in The Hunger Games, which made her want Black girls to see themselves as the hero of a fantasy story. In a 2018 interview with The Guardian, she put it simply: “In my perfect world, we’d have one Black girl fantasy book every month… We need them.”

She wrote the first draft in 30 days and spent 18 months and 45 drafts refining it. In 2017, at 23 and before the book had even been published, Adeyemi landed a seven-figure book and film deal that Deadline called one of the biggest young adult publishing deals ever recorded. Children of Blood and Bone was released in March 2018, when she was 24, and debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list, where it stayed for more than 120 weeks. It went on to win the 2018 Andre Norton Award and the 2019 Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, plus the 2019 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, and it helped land her on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list and Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2020.

Two sequels followed: Children of Virtue and Vengeance in 2019 and Children of Anguish and Anarchy in 2024, which closed out the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy at more than three million copies sold worldwide. Adeyemi has since moved into new territory with The Siren, a standalone dark academia novel due out on September 29, 2026, that follows a Nigerian-American freshman named Emery who gets pulled into a secretive campus group at Dartmouth. She’s described the book’s magic system as “Soul Magic,” distinct from the ancestral power of the Orïsha books, and called it “the book of my soul” in an interview with Cosmopolitan. Outside of fiction, she runs The Writer’s Roadmap, an online creative writing coaching business, and has done modeling work alongside her writing career.

The Children of Blood and Bone Movie Adaptation

The film rights to Children of Blood and Bone sold before the book was even published, first landing at Fox 2000 and Temple Hill Productions in 2017. The project later moved through Lucasfilm, with Kathleen Kennedy producing and This Is Us writer Kay Oyegun attached to the script, before Disney’s acquisition of Fox reshuffled the deal. It eventually settled at Paramount Pictures in 2022, with Gina Prince-Bythewood, known for The Woman King and Love & Basketball, directing, and Adeyemi on board as co-screenwriter and executive producer. The finished film has a stacked cast, including Thuso Mbedu as Zélie, Amandla Stenberg as Princess Amari, Damson Idris as Inan, Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, Idris Elba, Regina King, Lashana Lynch, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and it’s set for release on January 15, 2027.

What should have been a victory lap turned into a public rupture in July 2026. Adeyemi posted a series of TikToks announcing she would no longer promote the film, saying she hadn’t seen it and never would. She said she left the film’s set “hyperventilating and sobbing” and described being “antagonized” by the production for the 18 months since, without giving specifics. She also shared screenshots suggesting a falling out with Stenberg, including a message that read, “Do not ever use my name in an interview or video again. Do not text me. Do not call me.” The rift appears tied to a 2025 casting controversy, when some fans criticized Stenberg’s casting as Princess Amari over colorism, and Stenberg had previously referenced her private conversations with Adeyemi while responding to that backlash. Adeyemi has been careful to note she doesn’t want fans to boycott the movie and still encourages people to support her work by buying the trilogy.

Personal Life

Adeyemi lives in San Diego, California, and by all accounts keeps her romantic life almost entirely private. She has no publicly confirmed boyfriend, husband, or partner, and there’s no record of her having any children. Every source that tracks celebrity relationships describes her as single, and she simply doesn’t discuss dating in interviews, so there isn’t a husband or boyfriend to report on at this time.

She stays close to her Nigerian roots outside of her books too, having attended the GEANCO Foundation‘s 2024 Hollywood Gala, an event supporting healthcare and education projects in Nigeria. When she’s not writing, she’s spoken about watching K-pop content from groups like Seventeen, and she remains close with her brother Tobi Lou, who she’s credited as one of her earliest sounding boards for story ideas.

Net Worth

Tomi Adeyemi’s net worth is estimated at somewhere between $3 million and $8 million, believed to be built primarily from her publishing deals rather than any single windfall. Her original 2017 book and film deal for the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy was reported in the seven figures, and each of her three novels debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list, generating ongoing royalties from more than three million copies sold. Her role as co-screenwriter and executive producer on the Paramount film adaptation reportedly came with a seven-figure guarantee, and her creative writing coaching business, The Writer’s Roadmap, adds a steady secondary income stream.

That range is considerably more conservative than the $20 million figure that has circulated on some celebrity sites for years, a number that doesn’t line up with any documented deal or sales figure tied to her career. Given her upcoming novel The Siren and the looming release of the Children of Blood and Bone film, her earnings are likely to climb further once both projects are out in the world.

Frequently Asked Questions

What ethnicity is Tomi Adeyemi? Adeyemi is Nigerian-American, and her family’s specific ethnic heritage is Yoruba, from southwestern Nigeria, which is also the cultural and mythological foundation of her Legacy of Orïsha books.

How old was Tomi Adeyemi when she wrote Children of Blood and Bone? She began developing the story at 22, following a trip to Brazil, and the book was published in March 2018 when she was 24 years old.

Why did Tomi Adeyemi write Children of Blood and Bone? She was inspired by seeing Orisha figurines in a Brazilian souvenir shop, by her grief over the Black Lives Matter movement and police shootings of Black Americans, and by wanting Black girls to see themselves as fantasy heroes after witnessing the racist backlash a young Amandla Stenberg faced for playing Rue in The Hunger Games.

Why did Tomi Adeyemi cut ties with the Children of Blood and Bone film adaptation? In July 2026, she said she left the film’s set “hyperventilating and sobbing,” described being antagonized by the production for 18 months, and revealed a rift with co-star Amandla Stenberg, prompting her to stop promoting the movie despite co-writing its screenplay.

Is Tomi Adeyemi married? No. She has no publicly confirmed husband, boyfriend, or children, and keeps her personal life largely private.

How many books has Tomi Adeyemi written? She has written four novels: the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy (Children of Blood and Bone, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, and Children of Anguish and Anarchy) and the standalone The Siren, out September 29, 2026.

When does the Children of Blood and Bone movie come out? The Paramount Pictures adaptation, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, is scheduled for release on January 15, 2027.