Tomi Adeyemi Calls Film Adaptation 'Worst Thing I've Lived Through' — SkimNews
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- Tomi Adeyemi, the 33-year-old Nigerian American author, released "The Siren" — a standalone contemporary novel following a Black Dartmouth student named Emery drawn into a mysterious sorority — marking a sharp departure from her YA fantasy debut "Children of Blood and Bone."
- Adeyemi's 2018 debut "Children of Blood and Bone" debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times YA bestseller list and earned a major seven-figure deal, but she says 12 years of being treated as a symbol — feeling pressure to be "the perfect dark-skinned Black girl," "Oprah good" — wore her down.
- In a five-minute TikTok video in July, Adeyemi called the adaptation process "the worst thing I have ever had to live through," saying she left the set "hyperventilating and sobbing" and afterwards experienced severe physical pain and panic attacks.
- The film adaptation, premiering January 2027 with Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Regina King, Damson Idris, Amandla Stenberg, and Cynthia Erivo, became a source of "profound distress" for Adeyemi, who co-wrote the screenplay and told the Guardian she will "never" adapt another of her books for screen.
- Adeyemi's July TikTok also revealed February 2025 messages she sent to Amandla Stenberg amid a colourism backlash over the casting (Stenberg is mixed race; her character is described in the book as having "dark copper skin"), telling the actor: "Do not ever use my name in an interview or video again."
- Adeyemi placed her own author portrait on the cover of The Siren — an unusual publishing choice she described as "a statement of ownership" after years of feeling that "so many people's interpretations were put on to who I was."
Why it matters: With the January 2027 premiere locked in and a star-studded cast attached, the author of the source material is publicly disclaiming the adaptation — a rare break that puts the studio and Stenberg's casting under a brighter spotlight just months before release. Adeyemi's pivot to The Siren also signals that one of YA's most prominent Black fantasy voices is choosing standalone contemporary work over the trilogy that made her famous.
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