This is the second book in the Blood Debt Series. It picks up about 9 months after the first book ends and has a lot of twists and turns. I didn't know it was going to be a trilogy, but it makes sense. I think this book suffered a bit from "middle book syndrome" in that there were a lot of conversations and plot points, but not a lot of action until closer to the end of the book. Quite a lot did happen in the end, and I think the cliffhangers were great because it has me interested enough to finish the series.

Personally, I want to like the characters and the series more, but I think there are too many characters and too many things happening. I also get frustrated by the amount of swearing because that seems to take away from the typical YA quality that I would expect.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I enjoyed this book, and while I understand why things played out the way they did as more is revealed and understand the motivations for the characters’ actions, I found it harder to invest as much in them as I did in the first book when I couldn’t fully support their actions. I appreciate the exploration of all people being capable of both good and bad and not being just one thing, along with what we’re willing to justify, but it also made it harder to relate to and empathize with the characters in the same way I did in book one. And even though I understand the main characters are teenagers and are acting that way rightly so, some of teen drama got to be a bit too much for me compared to the much bigger issues happening. Also went in thinking this book would tie everything up nicely, but alas, that was not the case. I’d still read the next one, but I didn’t find it as captivating as the first, even if I really did want to root for my favorites.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook - really enjoyed the narration.

Blood Justice picks up right after the events of Blood Debts, following Cris and Clem after they've taken back their family's stolen throne. It's been a minute since I read Blood Debts, but I think Benton-Walker does a great job of seeding the events of the first book into the start of this one as a reminder of what happened.

I do think this had some pacing problems, especially in the second quarter of the book as it bridges between the resolution of Blood Debts and into the main conflict of this book and I think there might have been one too many plot threads rolling throughout this book for it to form a fully cohesive narrative for me. That being said, I think this was a good continuation of the story and I like a lot of the thematic exploration Benton-Walker pulls into this while still making it a fun twisty story that I know I would have eaten up as a teenager. There's murder and magic and messy family dynamics and commentary on the criminal justice system and the dehumanization of the unhoused and gentrification and cultural appropriation and systemic racism and productive outlets for anger and so much more. The exploration of "justice" throughout this book was really fascinating and would make for an excellent book club discussion.

The audio narration is full cast (including the incredible Joniece Abbott-Pratt!) and an excellent production. I really enjoyed the listening experience and look forward to seeing what comes next for Cris and Clem!

4 Stars

Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the E-Arc and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Blood Justice follows the Trudeau Twins Nine months after the events of Blood Debts. After they successfully cleared their grandmother's name and reclaim the Gen Council Throne.  A new murder mystery with the Twins Mom, Marie Traudeu ,who is the new Gen Queen and the main suspect. History is repeating itself as the Traudeu twins have to save their family yet again while trying to keep themselves together from falling apart. Old and new enemies come out as they form alliances to try and get the Gen Council Throne away from Trudeaus once again. 

I loved this one but for some reason, I felt like the first one was still better. I guess it has the case of "Second Novel Syndrome" where certain things Terry did approve on but for some reason it felt longer than the first one.

So lets play a game of What Worked and What needs to be approved on

What worked for me.

Unapologetically Black- Just like the first one, this one is Blackity Black to the bone while it does tackle issues like racism and homophobia . It still feels like a love letter to the Black and LBGTQ communities.

Chris's Rage- She did what had to be done and it was justifiable to the people she did it too. You just get tired of our people being treated the way we have been treated for centuries and you just want to do something about it.

The Political Intrigue- It was better in this one with certain characters making allegiances with people.

Getting more of Valentina and her mom bonding which we got more of her heritage.

Clem feels anger and hopelessness which he feels like he has to do on his own. Clem is still my favorite so the ending had me in pieces. BRING MY BABY BOY HOME TERRY! lol

The Moon King introduction, backstory, and the upcoming war. His whole introduction at the end felt like the ending of HP and The Goblet of Fire which was a total " Oh Shit" moment .

The fourth and fifth acts of the book which is the reason why I'm giving it a four and not lower. Those two acts was a total " What the fuck is going on!!" for me.

The Body Count- Terry said it is supposed to be the Black Game of Thrones and with the political scheming, the body's dropping and a potential war, it's getting there.

The Narration of the audiobook was still good as hell.

What could be approved on

Chris' Rage- It went from " Chris Girl Yes!" to" Chris Girl No!" towards the end she almost made a terrible terrible mistake. I'm glad her grandma saved her from herself which should give her a chance for development for the 3rd book.

Mama Trudeau barely being Queen of the Gen Council- The fact that she was out of commission again for the majority of the book with her being framed for murder thus being in jail. I can forgive the first book for her being sick because of the curse on her but barely seeing her in action again? Especially the fact we know thanks to the first one that she is powerful as hell and pretty much the rock of the family. She better get part of the action in the 3rd one.

The Trudeaus need Gen-Magic allied families-The fact the Trudeaus still feel like they really don't have allies while everyone else is scheming against them. There are maybe three people I would consider allies but they need whole families now.

Where the hell did Ursula go? - There was not enough Ursula in this book which is a shame because she was one of the strongest side characters in the first book. She is my fave aunt and I love her relationship with Clem so it's sad we really didn't get a lot of her in this book like the first one. We also need more of the sisters as a whole.

Eveline Beaumont being a villain- For some reason I just can't get behind her being a villain like Lenora was. Even if she was pulling the strings behind Lenora with her being a puppet and Eveline being the main puppeteer. I do like her scheming with Val but something about her character is missing. I guess Lenora was the grandma who kept up the mess while Eveline did her shit behind the screens. She is supposed to feel like a bigger threat with her doing what she is trying to do with Gen-Magic but she honestly doesn't.

The whole Mystery this time felt like it was solved too quickly. Like do you really believe people are going to believe what happened? I know it's a magical and spiritual community but come on!

The Third act of the book was dragging which took me forever to finish.

This is still one of my top reads of the year but first got the edge on it by a hair. Can't wait for the third one!!

I didn’t enjoy this as much as the Blood Debts. There was so much going on that I felt it was so unnecessary when it came to separate plot lines. The male narrator was nit my favorite as his voice was too elevated during times where he should’ve been sad, quiet, or frustrated. While I will recommend this to my students, I wouldn’t read it again.

This was so beautiful and thought provoking on top of being a wild ride. I hold Cris and Clement so close to my heart because of how they were written and performed. I want the next installment already.

I will start by saying that I really enjoyed book 1 in this series and the multiple voices really helped tell the story. For book 2 I often felt lost through the perspectives and storylines and couldn't quite latch onto the story the same way I did in book 1. I might need to listen to both books in a row to understand the storyline a bit better.

What I do appreciate is Benton-Walker's storytelling and the use of social justice themes throughout the text. Overall, I think it's a worthwhile read for a high school library collection.

BLOOD JUSTICE, second novel in the Blood Debts series, does exactly what a second book should do in this genre - the world is expanded, the characters become even more dear, and the stakes ebb and flow until you're just as close to the edge of your seat as you were during the first book. I loved this.

Blood Justice-Blood Debts Book #2

By Terry J. Benton-Walker- I read Blood Debts and gave it 4⭐

🎧Format: audiobook

🏃🏾‍♀️ Run Time: 19:05

🗣️Narrators: Bahni Turpin, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Terry J. Benton-Walker, Torian Brackett, Zeno Robinson

The narrators' voices fit the characters with standouts from Cristina and Valentina. Their voices were the most distinct, but I could easily tell the difference between all characters. The reading style brought the story to life especially in slow parts. The pacing was good and flowed easily with the story. The narration and the author were in sync, and they fit together perfectly.

The audiobook's flow was steady but when minor characters got their own chapters, I had a hard time following who's who. I loved the music when each part started. The narrator paused and announced whose POV was next.

Publication : 4/23/24, Read 5/30/24

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC ❤️! I voluntarily give an honest review and all opinions expressed are mine alone.

Rating: 3.5/4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🎭Cristina + Clement+ Valentina-The main characters

✔ Witches/Magic
✔ YA, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
✔ BIPOC characters
✔ multiple POVs
✔ revenge/justice
✔ LGBTQIA+
✔ family drama

🤔Thoughts:
- Valentina Savant (17) mourned her grandmother Lenora's death and felt abandoned by her mother Gabriela's disappearance. She blamed Cristina and her family for the Savant family's downfall, and plots to become Queen of the Gen Council. I liked her "friendship" with Sophia believing she could manipulate her.

- Cristina "Cris" Trudeau (17) had enough of injustice. Her mother Marie was in jail for the murder of the mayor Evelyn Beaumont's husband Ben. Cris wanted to help her community and committed terrible acts in her .vigilantism. Her mother warned her about using dark magic to hurt people. Her budding romance? with Remi was cute but I'm distrustful like Cris.

-Clement Trudeau (17) was still looking for a "cure" for Yves. He consulted gods and confessed everything to Cris for her help. He had a moral dilemma with the moon king and what Cris did. He was depressed and suffered from anxiety.

- The moon king/Oberon and Papa Isu were lovers and both wanted the throne of the spiritual world. The moon king offers Clement power to become the boy king.

- I wanted more of Marie Trudeau in power as Queen, Ursula's back story, and to see Cris and Clement in happier times. I also think Yves sister has an interesting story too.

Trigger Warnings : murder, necromancy, racism, homophobia, grief, depression, amnesia

I'd recommend listening to the audiobook because it's so long. The different POVs need narrators to make the story come alive, even with the unstop action and drama.

The magic system in this series is so unique and interesting. The story is also a realistic commentary on race relations and, while some of the white character’s actions made me cringe, I enjoyed the story and I’m interested to see what happens next. The different narrators for the different POVs were all excellent as well.

WOW! I loved this audiobook. I can't believe I got access to the e-galley version of the audiobook. I loved that the second book in the series was even more dramatic than the first. I loved how messy and chaotic the story became. The way the book ended, I'm really hoping there is a book 3 soon!

I was lucky enough to listen to Blood Debts, book one of the series, before and though there were a good share of pros and cons, I was hooked to the story. So, as soon as Blood Justice was available to review, I took the chance to listen to the book two of this series. One of my biggest cons about the previous audiobook was how lost I got with so many different characters in the book and losing track on who was who. In this book, it was clear as day who was who and whose voice belonged to who. The performance of the voice actors gave me chills so often because as I listened to the book my eyes were closed to imagine the scenes. It did not take long to feel such heavy emotions or even the light ones from each character. Listening to the audiobook was the exact reasons why I advocate for people to listen to them in the first place. Thank you NetGalley for a chance to review this.

To say that this audiobook was a masterpiece.... is correct.

The dramatics, the voice acting, the music... all excellent. If you enjoyed reading this physically, I don't doubt it, it's a fun time. But the experience of the story is elevated even further with this reading. Clem *chefs kiss*, I felt those emotions in my bones.

I really enjoyed it. I really appreciated that Mr. Benton-Walker fully wen there. Took us to the brink to show us what happens when you **ck around and find out. But that you can't keep bringing everyone to the edge and continually ask for grace. It was all the rage I wanted from the first novel, and got with scooping handfuls in this installment.

I hope that if you do pick it up, that you bless your eardrums with this audiobook because it is art.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an e-copy.

My kids and I recently listened to and read Terry J. Benton-Walker's recent release, Blood Justice, the sequel to last year’s Blood Debts which we also loved. This sequel has exceeded our expectations and it has now left is waiting for the third part of this trilogy. This new book is brilliant in keeping the characters and the magic and worldbuilding consistent. It has a great plot, filled with unexpected twists and turns. The cast of characters is wonderful in the juxtaposition of their uniqueness and relatability. They are flawed but their motivations are completely understandable.
My 17yo son said: Creative story consistent world building but the redemption arc of one of the main characters was too short for my taste so I am really intrigued to see how the author takes that into the next level
My 15yo daughter said Phenomenal writing, treating the characters trauma with respect, not rushing Chris into a new relationship, it was easy too sympathize with characters even when they were villains they had a plausible backstory, great LGBTQ+ representation !

So let's talk about the audiobook. I loved the audiobook and I think it really enhances the story. I did think the plot of Blood Justice was a little disjointed but I think listening to it in tandem with the ebook really helped me get into the story more. I think that if you are going to read this book I defiantly recommend the audiobook over the physical or ebook.

This is a true it’s me not you type of a review. I thought the first in the series was just OK. And they feel like I need to read a sequel if there’s one available I shouldn’t have. This book had more piecing issues and appear to drag on several places was hard for me to stay with the book when I already very half on the fence and half off the fence. I think this is a topic that needs to be talked about and I really wanted to love it, but it was a miss for me.

Great read! I didn’t read the first one, so it was a little confusing but overall I understood and loved it. The narrator was phenomenal and made the story easy to follow along.

I'm very grateful for this audiobook and I loved Blood Debts, but unfortunately I DNF'd at 57%. This was very dense and I found that while there was a lot happening, I was just mostly bored. I wanted to love it more than I did. There was just so much going on.

Generational magic..
I'm still on a high from this book. So many different magical threads to follow. I loved the first book and this book goes deeper into the systemic racism and plots to undermine every power structure in the Gen Counsel and magical community. Everyone is fighting to get control. There are themes of stereotypes, white supremacy and homophobia in magical realism with a very unique magic system. The magic they held was so fascinating and the gods were terrifying. Loved the teenagers being forced to take the lead since the adults were playing deadly games. There was a lot of loss and some of it is graphic but necessary to the story, FYI.
Recommend if you enjoy:
🔸 Witches with generational magic
🔸 Revenge
🔸 New Orleans aesthetic
🔸 Lots of drama
🔸 Supernatural


Thank you tor for the e-ARC for the gifted copy.