That ending was 🤯
Starting the book with so much grief and pain and insecurity over their gifts and their families place in society. The community had brutally ended their grandparents life and they were trying to prove their innocence. Just loved the journey they all went on finding their power and voice.

The power hunger and double-crosses were everywhere. And that cliffhanger wow!

Thank you turnthepagetours and torteen for the gifted copy and including me on this tour.

Let me start off by saying that I love the cover for Blood Debts, though it did make me think it was going to be historical fantasy rather than contemporary given how the two characters are dressed. But still, A+ cover!!

Now on to the actual review. Blood Debts is about two teens, twins Cris and Clem, whose grandmother once ruled the Generational magic council in New Orleans, but was accused of murdering a white woman and lynched thirty years ago. They grew up with their parents and a whole lot of aunts, but after their father died a year ago the aunts all left and neither sibling is dealing well. Cris has given up magic, thinking she is at fault for her fathers death, and Clem is lonely, anxious and depressed, and dates various guys without letting himself ever get close. But what if their grandmother was framed for the murder, and their family should still be ruling the gen magic council?? Throw in a reclusive necromancer, a showboat with some major showdowns, and an answer trapped in the mind of a girl who's been crossed, as well as the family of the new ruling queen and a serious quest for revenge, there's excitement and drama for sure.

I really liked the concept of the book, but I think it suffered a bit from trying to tackle too many intense subjects and storylines in one volume. I never felt like we learned enough about any of the various plots and subplots, as one would be dropped for a bit to focus on another, and then yet another would come up seemingly out of nowhere. This also makes the pace of the first half of the book rather slow, as various elements all have to separately develop. The pace of the second half is much better, and the main storyline is resolved at least.

The magic system was really interesting, and the setting of New Orleans was an excellent backdrop. In fact I am sorry we did not get to see more of the magic use, though that is for a reason in the book. And without spoilers there is some pretty significant magic usage during the last quarter.

One significant thing that I did not love was the relationships between most of the characters. Their family has all fallen out with each other, and I was expecting Clem and Cris especially to be learning to work together and overcome what separated them in the past. However this doesn't happen for most of the book, so mostly its two siblings who don't get along well and their dysfunctional family who also don't get along well. The villians are also pretty much one hundred percent awful without nuance, even Cris's ex-best friend, the daughter of the current gen council Queen. We get a few chapters from her perspective which I think are meant to humanize her but mostly it was like, here is an awful person who has also happened to have some bad things happen to her. There were also a couple chapters from a minor characters perspective and I am honestly unsure of their purpose at all. Perhaps that will become clear in the next book.

The end of the book is also very surprisingly violent. I was not really prepared for it to be quite that brutal. So just a heads up there for anyone who may be a little squeamish.

All in all, a decent but not amazing debut. I don't regret reading it but I probably won't remember to look out for the sequel.

Magic. Black rep. New Orleans setting. These are things I should want. These are not really the things I got. This is YA and you can tell. Every POV, and there are way too many of them, is extremely petty, from the teens to the boomers. The twist didn't even phase me. I stopped caring far too long ago. I skimmed the last half. I just realized I started this book a month ago. It doesn't take me long to read things. That should've been a sign.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

I am not an own voices reviewer so I will not be speaking much on this book as I have no authority to speak on many of the subjects addressed in this book.
I want to say that I absolutely adored this book. The magic was cool and I really liked the characters. I read this whole book in one day because I just could not put it down. I would definitely recommend this book!

Ohhhh, I just want so much more of this! The worldbuilding is so great - you get such a vivid sense of how the different magic systems work through the community, how gen magic weaves through the families and the ages - and the characters are so vivid that you love spending time with them.

There's a bit of a slow start as the groundwork for everything is laid - why Cris has turned her back on her magic, why Clem craves connection, why their family, after being so close, is scattered across the city, as well as introducing all of the aspects of the complex relationships between the gen magic families as well as the broader New Orleans community - but once it takes off, boy does it take off. Trying to figure out who crossed their mother almost to her death starts to unravel a whole tapestry of lies and old motives that surround Clem and Cris and touches almost every aspect of their lives, both past and future. It's not so much of a whodunit mystery as everyone involved getting their agency and power back, and boy is it satisfying to watch that power be reclaimed.

I also have to shoutout to the beautiful imagery of some of the ritual descriptions, especially those involving raw moonlight (there's particularly a description of an instagram post that I wish actually existed), but also to how much love and care has clearly been taken in crafting this world and these characters.

My one quibble is the shifting PoVs. Between Cris and Clem is fine, but every now and then we get a chapter from a side character, which are all in a different tense and person from the twins' chapters, which always threw me a little. Some of them also felt disconnected from the main action, to the point that once I finished, I see them more as setting the stage for events in future books, which felt a little jarring. But that's a minor flaw in the scale of what a treat this book was to read.

THIS WAS SO FUN. Wildly dramatic, like watching a CW teen show. If this doesn't get optioned for film/tv I am rioting.

I finished my NetGalley arc of BLOOD DEBTS by Terry J. Benton-Walker and loved it—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was UNFLINCHING as far as really showing the emotions behind family dynamics, anxiety rep, representation of generational secrets blooming into curses. It has messy family drama that reminded me of the movie SOULFOOD. Be ready to clutch your pearls. Clem and Cris really said— they tired of being told to stay outta grown folk business. I really enjoyed seeing that and found it relatable. I loved the mystery, the lore, and inspiration of Black culture and Voodoo.

There’s a lot to love about BLOOD DEBTS. There were so many relatable moments, and nuanced conversations. I would read ten more books in this series. LOVE.

A contemporary fantasy novel with magic, mystery and curses. Set in New Orleans, the novel sets out to uncover a murderer who has been targeting families. Clement and Cristina Trudeau are sixteen-year-old twin heirs to a powerful, magical family. It comes as a shock to them to find out their mother is cursed.

A fantastic, thrilling read.

I want to start off thanking NetGalley and the author for an advance copy of Blood debts in return for an honest review.

Blood debts is such a great read! I found myself completely submerged within this story. I love the characters developments, their grief, their love, their fierceness , and their happiness. I felt like I was with them every step of the way trying to solve so many things at once.

I have so much to say about this beautiful piece of work but don’t want to give to much away.

Blood debts has so much going on from murders, voodoo, curses,magical wars, twins, queens being dethroned,necromancy , and blood debts being settled. The power that was displayed by the Trudeau family gave me chills! The author understood the assignment!

Favorite quotes:

“ Lenora savant is undeniably one of the black people Harriet Tubman would have shot.”

“ am I good enough now!?” ( sir excuse me!?)

Rating:4/5
Drama:4/5
Romance:2/5 (not a romance)

A voodoo inspired magical YA mystery set in New Orleans. The rep is great - queer characters galore, mostly BIPOC POVs aswell as mental health/grief. A great story & I'm looking forward the sequel.

Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. This book was amazing. I love Terry's writing style and the world that he builds. Blood Debts is about magic, racism, a stolen throne, intergenerational curses and trauma, and a couple mysteries. Cristina and Clem try to solve a 30 year old murder. Along with that murder a family was lynched, there was a brutal magical massacre, and a throne was stolen from a queen. Clem and Christina are taking care of their sick mother and find out that she is cursed. Tensions are rising between magical and non-magical users, and between magical users.

This story is intense and intriguing. I couldn't put this book down. I loved Christina, Clem, Eve, and Ursula. There are a lot of well written characters to hate, all of the characters are fleshed out well. I loved the world building and the build up to the end of the book. There were some twists I did not expect, and enjoyed how many layers there were. There is magic, necromancy, secrets, trauma, amazing character development, and mystery. One of my favorite reads of the year so far.

I can't quite put my finger on what I'm dissatisfied about with this book. I just had a lot of questions at the end - and not plot questions, just general ones that I did not understand about this world. There was also a lot in this book - the plot was all over the place.

Overall the story was great and I really liked the two main characters and their family. The magical systems were confusing to me - along with all the people and their roles within this system.

I really enjoyed the plot and the characters in this book. It was way too long though. Could have totally cut out Valentina’s entire POV. Neither of those things are enough to deter me though. I still liked it overall.

Something worth noting is that this is a YA book but there is a fairly open door sex scene if that is something that bothers you. I guess I don’t mind but it definitely surprised me that it was there. In a YA book…

The magic was cool, the twins were interesting, the twists of all the drama held my attention.

It was good, just not something I will rave about.

Thank you to NetGalley and TorTeen for this e-arc!

O.M.G. This book!!

This story was incredible. I loved every second. The magic was so cool to learn about, and I loved the characters. The whole family was amazing, even Justin 😂.

The fast pace really worked well for this story. I didn’t want to stop reading!

Benton-Walker’s writing style was so great- the action scenes were good and punchy and the descriptions were fantastic. The way the tension built up over this story was incredible as well. The ending was worth the build up for sure!

I will definitely be reading more that this author writes. I loved the Black excellence in this book, and the anger and what the characters did with it was possibly one of my favorite parts.

The only reason I withheld a half star (4.5 stars total) is because Clem’s stubbornness absolutely killed me! It was frustrating at times but that’s Clem I guess 😂 But: <spoiler>I looooved the set up for a possible book 2!</spoiler> ;)

TRIGGER WARNINGS
Graphic: Violence, Car accident, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Cursing
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Alcohol
Minor: Medical content, Death of parent, Bullying, Chronic illness, and Infidelity

This was a stunning and atmospheric read. I was totally immersed in the story and in the characters, particularly Clem.

The setting of a magic-steeped New Orleans was fascinating and very well thought out and presented. It added a very real but also a fantastical edge to the novel. I will admit I wasn't sold on the many POVs. I really only cared about the twins. Valentina's were all right for the most part but I began losing interest in her perspective after about the sixty percent mark.

There is a lot going on in this story. The main plot point is Cris and Clem trying to get to the bottom of their mother's illness and their grandmother's death (which happened deceased prior to this novel) but there are a lot of smaller nuanced plots spiraling out from that main drama point and it meant that there is always something new unfolding in every chapter.

The magical 'rules' in this universe are intriguing and I definitely wanted them to be more fleshed out solely because I was fascinated.

I really enjoyed this and it's a very solid and interesting read with great characters and I want more books about said characters and in this world right now.

Interesting concept, but I didn't feel that the execution was great. I didn't really care about the characters, and the plot was a bit muddled. The cover is great, though! Also, unfortunately there was a bit too much sex for my high school library (in a small, rural town).

"GODS MEDDLE AND MAGIC WILL BETRAY YOU, BUT THIS TIME JUSTICE WILL REIGN.

Thirty years ago, a young woman was murdered, a family was lynched, and New Orleans saw the greatest magical massacre in its history. In the days that followed, a throne was stolen from a queen.

On the anniversary of these brutal events, Clement and Cristina Trudeau - the sixteen-year-old twin heirs to the powerful, magical, dethroned family - are mourning their father and caring for their sick mother. Until, by chance, they discover their mother isn't sick - she's cursed. Cursed by someone on the very magic council their family used to rule. Someone who will come for them next.

Cristina, once a talented and dedicated practitioner of Generational magic, has given up magic for good. An ancient spell is what killed their father and she was the one who cast it. For Clement, magic is his lifeline. A distraction from his anger and pain. Even better than the random guys he hooks up with.

Cristina and Clement used to be each other's most trusted confidant and friend, now they barely speak. But if they have any hope of discovering who is coming after their family, they'll have to find a way to trust each other and their family's magic, all while solving the decades-old murder that sparked the still-rising tensions between the city’s magical and non-magical communities. And if they don't succeed, New Orleans may see another massacre. Or worse."

I am here for magical murder mysteries!

Cris and Clem are twins who use gen magic, the magic gifted to slaves to help free them from their oppressors. Their family has a long history with gen magic. When they start to learn things about their family history and secrets held by those in their family, they uncover a little more than they expected.

I loved this book, the world building was amazing, the characters were interesting, and the suspense and plot twists were good. I loved Cris and her journey in rediscovering her power and autonomy. And my heart is so tender for Clem and his attempts to reconnect and surround himself with love.

This book deals with hard topics and issues like intergenerational trauma, justice, racism, homophobia, and those who are willing to do anything to get the power they think they deserve. I appreciated how those topics were woven beautifully into the narrative, and became part of a family reconciling.

Parent’s guide:
Sex & Nudity: moderate (discussions about sex, discussions about sex work, closed door sex scenes, affairs mentioned, prostitution mentioned, dubious consent (which is appropriately treated as sexual violation))
Violence & Gore: moderate (murder, murder attempts, malicious magic, violent deaths, lynching)
Profanity: mild (minor swearing)
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: moderate (necromancy, dark magic, murder, murder attempts, blackmail, racism, homophobia, lynching)

i loved this. i thought the magic system was very unique and the concept really intriguing. It felt a little slow for me but otherwise i really enjoyed this.

WOW. This was an excellent debut. I went in with few expectations based on the cover and description (like based on those elements alone, it could go either way IMO) and was pleasantly surprised when I really enjoyed it. The character development is fantastic, and the story is riveting. I had trouble putting the book down. I would strongly recommend it to those who like YA urban fantasy, and it'd be a great entry point into the genre for folks who want to give it a try. AND in addition to being a great story, it's sex positive and written by a LGBTQIA+ Black man, so I really hope it make it's way into most high school and public libraries - a lot of kids are going to feel seen while reading this. My only complaints are that the foreshadowing was pretty heavy handed, and there was one premise thing that didn't make a ton of sense but otherwise, I really liked it and will be heavily recommending it once it's published.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Teen for the advance electronic copy which I received in exchange for an unbiased review. Blood Debts released on 04 April.