DNF at 15%.
I'm really disappointed about this one. It was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it's just...not it. It reads like a middle grade book that didn't have proper editing. The sentences are clunky, the tenses seem to shift between past and present, and the characters are so juvenile. I understand that they are teenagers, but this feels like middle schoolers talking to each other, even though they're supposed to be 16-17yo characters. There is a scene in one of the early chapters describing how two characters had a falling out, and it reads very "hello fellow kids", acting like teenagers have no critical thinking skills whatsoever. There was no nuance. By chapter five, I still have no idea how any of the magic works. I don't need all of the details right away, but there needs to be something. There were really strong concepts, but it lost me in the execution.

It's been so long since I have read a great YA. It handled sensitive topics well. I cannot wait to see the magic book two brings.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an easy, quick read touching on some pretty tough themes. I really enjoyed reading it but wasn’t fully immersed in the story. I think some of the side characters felt a little one dimensional.

I’d recommend this for anyone who enjoys magical realism, the history of NOLA, and wants a relatively easy read that still encompasses some commentary on racism, intergenerational trauma, and family relationships.

Four stars ☺️

This book had me at New Orleans and magic. Blood Debts was written descriptively well, I felt like I was there with the characters trying to solve mysteries and casting spells. I was obsessed with this book while I was reading, and didn't want it to end.

It was pretty decent YA. A little too sexually explicit for my taste in a YA book. It seems set up really well to be a series, and I’m intrigued by that.

The plot was pretty slow-paced.

Overall, it’s much needed representation in the fantasy genre.

TW: homophobia, racism, lynching, murder

I was literally at the edge of my seat the whole time trying to figure out who would be queen. I loved every character some more than others but the book flowed so good! From the beginning I was hooked all the way to the end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
•Lgbtq
•Mystery
•New Orleans
•Witches/Voodoo
• Racism
•Different Types Of Magic

If you haven’t preordered do it! You won’t regret it 🕯️🔮💀🖤✨

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Teen for an eARC of Blood Debts!

Fast-paced magical mystery taking place in New Orleans! Incredible read and I am already excited for book two!

The Blood Debts was my favorite book of 2022. I loved it so much that I've included it in my dissertation. I am impatiently waiting for the physical copy so I can annotate and pull out all of the jewels I discovered in the eARC.

Terry Benton-Walker crafted a story that reveals the ancestral power that is inherent in Black traditions through a novel that is diverse, dark and page-turning.

I didn’t love this novel but I think it was simply because of the intended audience it was written for. The writing was very juvenile but I think it will be a great pick for a preteen looking to get into urban fantasy. I loved the magical elements and the reflection of voodoo within the novel but I also struggled with building an attachment to any of the characters.

I started off unsure about the book but as it went i was interested in the mystery part a lot more. Sibling dynamics that are hurt over loss gets to me, so I sympathized with the twins a lot. While this book is ya , it goes into dark themes so don’t dismiss it as another magic book.

Generational magic, family histories soaked in blood, and two twins seeking justices...at what cost?

I really enjoyed blood debts and its themes. It deals a lot with what 'justice' is and how far would the characters go to pursue it. The hardships the twin main characters endure (both in their lifetimes and through generational trauma) is done really well. I feel like they make for some complex, albeit annoying at times, main characters. I think this is the biggest strength of the book overall.

It is set in a modern, but alternate universe, New Orleans where there are two types of magic: light/white magic and generational magic; as well as a growing fear of magic use among those who do not practice. I enjoyed the setting a lot, though sometimes wished it shone through a little more. I especially wanted to know more about the white mages.

My biggest issue with the book was mainly the long list of characters. I usually struggle at first with books that have a lot of characters, but feel like I can keep up by the end. Not in this book though. Normally, this wouldn't be as big of a deal, but in Blood Debts, all of the side characters have their own secret or role to play in the coverup of others' secrets. It felt like more and more characters were added into the web of lies, but that they didn't really add anything in particular to the main plot / mystery. I would be confused when the main characters would bring up some random side character that somehow played some part, but ultimately never got wrapped up into the ultimate ending / solving of the mystery.

Overall, a really interesting take with some great main characters and less than great long list of side characters. I'd certainly still recommend and will be reading the next book (which I assume will be coming given the cliffhanger of an end!).

I’ve been sitting with Blood Debts for awhile trying to figure out my feelings about it. Initially I liked the concept. The summary sounded interesting. I was really excited to read it. Once I started reading it though, I struggled. It felt like it was lacking details. So much was going on in such a short period of time and yet it was taking hundreds of pages.
I spoke to my spouse about it and showed them the first chapter. They pointed out that the character was speaking very internally. There aren’t a lot of details about the surroundings because that isn’t what is important to the characters. Everything around them is just their day to day, why would they bother to describe that?
Things that I found important, like the magical policies and the election, just didn’t matter as much to the characters as they didn’t really have a say in them. The story focused on the immediate things in their lives. The things that they could control. Outside of that, it was the adult’s problems and the adults weren’t going to talk to them anyway so why ask?
Once I was able to understand the perspective the story was coming from I realized how amazing the story actually was. It spoke on topics such as generational trauma, racism, bullying, homophobia, cultural appropriation and so many other topics in a way that teenagers would be able to relate to.
If the beginning of the book is a bit of a struggle to get through, the ending more than makes up for it. I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this story. Blood Debts should be on everyones 2023 reading lists.
Thank you Netgalley and Tor Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Blood Debts.
Release date: April 4, 2023

SPOILER. 3:5 stars. i loved the magic in this book, the encouraging of family bonding and justice being served but there were a lot of filler chapters that i felt weren’t necessary. and the ending had a lot of loose ends, clearly there will be a sequel, but it seemed that some things didn’t quite make sense at the end. i liked how the story was told but instead of all the filler info i think it could’ve been used for a more concise ending! i would still recommend though :)

I had very high hopes for this book. Truly, how can you go wrong with ancestral magic, a witch battle royale and a family with SO many secrets. Unfortunately this book just didn’t do it for me. The pace was slow, I wasn’t a fan of any of the narrators and honestly the portrayal of women in the novel wasn’t great. Considering women are the root of this novel I think a bit more could have been done to give us fleshed out characters. This book was a DNF for me and I will not be continuing the series.

This is a book I couldn't not pick up because wow, that cover is beautiful! And the contents did not disappoint. This was a story that was weaved together in such a beautiful way that I'm still reeling from everything that happened, the conclusions, but also the non-conclusions. The happiness but also the trepidation of what will come next.

This was an epic read!

I currently cannot put into words what I’m feeling, but I’ve just finished reading this book and I am astounded.

I may say more in my YouTube video or on Bookstagram, but this is all for now.

Love the bond between the twins and the discussion of racism and culture within the book. Was pleasantly surprised at the LGBT presence and the way it was written. The practice and treatment of voodoo as a religious practice was well written as well.A great debut book.

2/5

I loved the synopsis of this book and think it had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it fell very flat for me. I think if some changes were made and this had been marketed as a middle grade book, I would definitely give it a higher rating. However, it really didn’t have the level of complexity and emotional depth I expect as a baseline for YA books.

Cons:
This book is “complex” in the sense that there are a lot of characters that are confusing to keep track of, but the plot it self is overly simplistic. There were no big plot twists or revelations that I normally expect from YA, but led this book to be pretty predictable and dull.

Pros:
I enjoyed the magic system and wish it was given more emphasis. The two MCs were likeable and I enjoyed that this book was centered around a sibling relationship rather than a romantic relationship.

Overall, I wouldn’t really recommend this book. I think there were a lot of good ideas (maybe too many at once), but the execution was not great and the plot was too complicated for a relatively straightforward story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review! I was taken with Blood Debts from the very first page. The world that Benton-Walker creates is familiar and new all at once-- New Orleans always seems to have an electric undercurrent, and Benton-Walker's Generational Magic makes the world jump off the page. Clem, Cris, their friends, and their enemies feel real, and I felt myself hanging on for every next word, and rooting for our protagonists at every step. Dialogue sometimes feels heavy and I occasionally felt unsure about magical rules or conventions, but it did not take away from my enjoyment. This was an engaging and intriguing debut, and I cannot wait to see what comes next from Benton-Walker!

Someone should really turn this into a television series because it would be excellent for that. Blood Debts is the start of a new YA fantasy series set in a magical version of New Orleans. It is a high-drama narrative filled with magic, intergenerational curses, political machinations, and deadly threats.

While there are several perspective characters, the main focus is on Black twins Clement and Christina Trudeau who are grieving the death of their father, dealing with hexes, and trying to manage their own love lives and exploring sexuality. Clem has been unlucky in love, but now there's a new boy he's crushing on and things seem promising. Christina is dating a white boy, but sometimes he seems too interested in her magic.

There is a lot of drama, many twists and turns that I won't spoil, but this is a very strong debut and a promising start to a series. I could easily see this being adapted by Netflix or the CW and it could be a hit. There were a could minor things that didn't totally make sense, and I think it might have been stronger with fewer perspectives, but overall I really liked this and wouldn't be surprised if a lot of other people do as well. Note that it is on the more mature side of YA due to things like violence and sexuality. The audio narration is done with a full cast and is excellent. I received an audio review copy of this via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.