This was so much fun! I tend to be picky about the young adult works I pick up nowadays because I'm not the target audience. But the genre blend here was intriguing. Benton-Walker created an alternate contemporary New Orleans full of magic and family drama and a 30 year old murder case.

I tried to pick this up last summer and made it like 3 or 4 chapters before I dropped it partly because I wasn't intrigued by what I had read and partly because other life events got in the way. I knew I was going to try to come back to it at some point though and I'm glad I did! This felt very much like a teen drama show. The beginning is a bit slow to try to build up the characters and the world Benton-Walker created but once the twists start coming they don't stop. I love the tension Benton-Walker was able to build between the characters and the politics he built in this magical NOLA. There's magic and gods among us and drama galore. And the ending! I need the sequel as soon as possible.

rating: 4.5 stars

Clement and Cristina Trudeau used to be close. As twins, they have shared so much of their lives together, but when their father died, Cristina began to pull away both from Clem and from magic, and Clem has no idea why. The coolness between them isn’t helped by Clem’s disdain and outright dislike for Cristina’s white boyfriend, Oz, and his fascination with gen magic— the generational magic of black slaves passed down from parent to child — or Cristina’s equal disdain for Clem’s own haphazard collection of boyfriends. Now, though, the two of them have something more important to do than snipe at one another, because their mother is dying.

However, it turns out that it’s not cancer killing their mother; someone is actually trying to kill her. Someone used gen magic to put a curse on their mother and drain her life away. If Clem hasn’t accidentally found the doll, their mother would be dead within weeks. Now, they have time; now, more than ever, they need their family to join together and work some protection magic, but their mother’s sisters have long since gone their own ways, and getting them to come back for a working is easier said than done.

Clem and Cristina will have to put aside their own grudges and find some way to bring their family back together, and in doing so will uncover secrets thirty years dead.

Blood Debts is the first book in Terry J. Benton-Walker’s new Blood Debts series and it’s a fun, mean little book. Life has kicked Cristina’s family one too many times, taken one too many people from her, and Cristina — with the help of her family — is going to start fighting back. This book has mentions of a car accident, gun violence, and character death, along with mentions of forced sex work, attempted rape, drugging, and both attempted and successful murders. If you’re uncomfortable with tales of vengeance and violence, this might not be the book for you.

This is also a book that deals heavily with generational trauma, as the younger generation — Clem, Chris, Yves, Zac, and Valentina — is bearing up under the weight of their parents’ traumas, and often their grandparents’ pain and suffering, as well. The cycles of violence and behavior, how children learn from their parents and pass on those lessons to their own children is brought up several times. Valentina idolizes her grandmother and holds her own mother (whose marriage is violent and deteriorating) in contempt. She only knows how to hurt other people and use other people, because her grandmother uses and manipulates her daughter-in-law much as she manipulates Valentina herself. Zac tries to both care for and follow in the footsteps of the father who he views as a hero — but who is suffering from the PTSD he gained in the military with violent, rage-filled outbursts — and sees having a gun as having power, as being manly, as being able to avenge all of his slights and hurts. And then there’s Yves, a gentle spirit whose sister, at 18, became parent and guardian to her brother when her parents were killed in an accident. Tricked into sex work, she has since clawed her way to freedom and has taught her brother through example kindness and compassion, the same kindness and compassion she gives to the sex workers who work in her brothel. Yves is a romantic who sees sex as something that gives pleasure, and love as something that brings him joy. A joy he shares with Clem.

Clem loved his father, and his father’s death hit him hard. With his mother sick and his sister turning away from him, Clem became more desperate, more clingy. Ursula, his favorite aunt, the one he was closest to, hurt him terribly when she left, and when there’s a chance to have her back, he grabs on and holds tight with everything he has so she can’t leave him again. It’s that same need to be loved, to be seen, to be wanted that has him falling for Yves’ bright and sunny warmth. Yves is a balance to all the shadows that have attached themselves to Clem, his light and joy a balm to Clem’s fractured self. Their romance is fast, their declarations of love instant and intense … but they’re both 16 and filled with hormones. Clem falling in love with the first boy he sleeps with, with someone who makes him happy — especially given what he’s been through and what he’s going through — makes perfect sense to me. The two boys click together well, with a natural chemistry and ease.

Cristina is one of the most talented gen magic users in her family. Or at least, she was. When Valentina stopped being her friend and instead turned against her, Cristina cast a spell to balance out the evil. To give Valentina back what she was giving; no more, no less. And then her father died, and Cristina has no way of knowing if her spell, if her moment of hatred and her desire to hurt someone may have caused it. Ever since, she’s refrained from using magic, the thing that brought her the most joy, that granted her a large part of her identity. And now that she has cause to use it, Cristina keeps finding reasons not to.

I really, really enjoyed this book but there are some pacing issues. The first half of the book is focused on building the family relationships, showing through Clem and Cristina’s eys hints of the troubles and traumas the older generation endured, hinting but never answering anything … until halfway through the book and suddenly everything is being answered all at once. There are points where it got a little contrived and some moments and characters were given short shrift because there simply wasn’t time to give them the same care other characters got. Hopefully, we’ll see more of those characters and their storylines in the next book.

There are also moments where I felt that the writing got away from the story, where the language became too formal or too overwrought and florid for a given scene — particularly when the rest of the scene and the sentences before had been relaxed and natural. Some scenes felt disjointed with stiff or jarring transitions when style took over the storytelling, but there aren’t many of them.

It was nice to see a book with almost entirely black characters, with it mentioned often and lovingly the color of their skin, the texture and shape of their hair, the shades of their eyes and their clothing. The world building was a little flat, for me. The story takes place in New Orleans, but I didn’t really get a feel for the city as a character in this book. The magic system, though, is the best part of this book for me, and I’d recommend it for that, alone. The generational magic, based very loosely on Voodoo (as the author notes in the Acknowledgements), is beautifully realized. There is emphasis on ancestors and on the cycles of mother to child, from one generation to the next. How an ancestor filled with magic, prayed to by descendants, empowered by those prayers, can rise to become something mythic, to become a god.

I can’t wait to see more magic, and more of Cristina and Clem. Especially Cristina, who is, I think, my favorite character, though I also enjoyed Cristina’s mother, who — through everything she’s endured and everything done to her — will not bend to anyone. Her morals are her armor and her shield, and heaven help the people who try to touch her family. I highly recommend this book, if you couldn’t tell.

This was a really interesting portrayal of the magical scene in New Orleans.

There was almost too much going on for me to keep straight but I really enjoyed the characters and their quest to solve a mysterious murder that was falsely accused onto the magical queen and her grandchildren unraveling the clues to rightfully claim their families destiny back.

Didn't really connect with the characters, and struggled through the first 20%. I may eventually come back to it, but it was a DNF for right now.

An atmospheric magical jaunt through New Orleans.

Packed full of Family secrets, drama, and long held grudges, this felt like a soap opera at times! Webs of secrets are spread just as easily as spells.

The twins, who're our main protagonists are easy to love even when they make messy decisions. The guilt they feel is an oppressive blanket.

Although I felt frustrated by the lack of communication that was the main driving force behind the plot, I can forgive it because the characters are truly interesting and the book is well written.

An immersive and culturally dense YA book that gives me faith that I can still enjoy YA books

4 stars

4.5 Stars: I loved it

Genre: YA, Urban/Contemporary Fantasy, Horror

TW: Death, SA, Violence, Homophobia

You may like this book if you like:
American Horror Story: Coven
The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste
The Craft (I’ve actually never seen this movie but based on vibes it seems similar)
Revenge

Summary: On the anniversary of their ancestors’ bloody dethronement, twin heirs Cristina and Clement, mourn the loss of their father while caring for their sick mother. After their mother is given days to live the two find out that their mother isn’t sick, she’s been cursed. Hellbent on finding the person who cursed their mother, Cristina and Clement undergo an investigation of the magical (literally) community of New Orleans and call in debts that are owed to them.

Thoughts: I devoured this book. I loved the family dynamics in this story. When the story begins, we’re told that the family used to be close but they’re not anymore. The way the book is written I could feel that and I was longing for them to resolve their issues. It’s one thing to be able to write about something present but it’s another to be able to write about the absence of a thing.

This book brings up a myriad of social issues sometimes using magic as a metaphor and sometimes not. I thought the way the author handled these topics was cleverly done. They were subtle and obvious when necessary.

I’m looking forward to the sequel in April!

Was captured by the cover but stayed for the plot. Can we talk about that cover for a moment though - a beautiful, haunting, and eye catching cover. A perfect wrap for the contents of a wonderfully captivating story.

The story is well written and interesting. Both Clem and Cris are strong and well thought out characters on a quest to break their mothers curse. A wonderfully combined story of magic, mystery, and family ties. I can't recommend this one enough.

The best aspect of this book for me was the full throated use of "voodoo" inspired, ancestor based magic from a Black (particularly Black southern) tradition and perspective. I feel like I've seen many books promise this or make an attempt to integrate that style of magic and not succeed, so I'm glad this one came through. I also loved the messy, MESSY family drama in this one, it did not let up for even one second and promises to continue in the second book. I did get frustrated with how many secrets these people are keeping from each other for absolutely No Good reason, but it really played into the soap opera energy every character was giving. Clem at the end of the book though, seriously...JUST TELL THEM.

My one major con is the story majorly leaning on a literal deus ex machina in the third act. It was terribly convenient for the "good" guys to basically just get the go ahead from the literal god of magic to do whatever they wanted. But I did enjoy the gray morality of it all. There's always a narrative debate of whether exacting revenge makes you "good" or "bad" and main characters are always given a cop out option. Not so here! I wonder if our main family here will have to contend with the fact that, however justified, they basically violently seized power with an eye for an eye. Very curious to see what happens next with Valentina with this in mind.

Very excited and interested to see what happens next with Clem too! Cris got her time to shine, now I want to see where Clem goes.

Magnificent, intriguing and unforgettable. This book is filled with magic and more and more and you can't not want to lose yourself in it

Blood Debts is a story full of magic and mystery, but also important messages. It’s sprinkled full of criticism of society – well-deserved criticism – but also beatiful messages. That makes this book so incredible important today, in a time when the world can be so very cruel and the rights of BIPOC and LBGTQ+ people are questioned every day.

Magic, family tension, and a murder mystery – this is an incredible fantasy debut from Terry J. Benton-Walker! There's way more drama than I typically put up with, but so many thoughtful elements and intrigue kept me reading. I don't think I can skip the sequel coming out in April 2024.

I love the sibling dynamic, the exploration of magical ethics, and momentous visits from the gods. Also, the audiobook is excellent, which is no surprise given the top-tier line-up of voice actors: Bahni Turpin, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Torian Brackett, and Zeno Robinson!

Thanks so much to B2Weird, Tor Teen, and Terry J. Benton-Walker for the gifted copy.

As much as i thoroughly enjoyed this and would love to give this a 5 star i can’t.

What i loved was that I grew up around New Orleans and the surrounding area and this is one of the few books that didn’t make me roll my eyes. It was rich with history, traditions, magic, and voodoo. I loved all of the characters especially the twins and aunt Ursula. The storyline was full of twist, turns and so much secrets. What I loved most of all is how the author was able to make so many plots that could potentially make so many stories.

Although that is all true there was wayyyy to many characters and I could not keep up at one point and kind of just gave up and focused on the most crucial ones. I hate that because I’m the type of person when i read a novel i want to know each and every character.

Also the main reason for my one star i could took back was the s*x scene between two minors. It was very much detailed and I do not like that in my ya books at all. Speaking of that this book should probably not be marketed as such because of the cursing and some of the subject material.

So besides some of the plot holes, heap of characters, and minors engaging in on page s*c it was a great read.

I was honestly sold on this book from just the title, and I was not disappointed in the slightest.

I cannot stop thinking about both Cris and Clem. From the first page, I knew that I was going to love them both. Getting to see the story from both of their POV’s, made me care so deeply for both of them.

The magic in this world feels important, which is something that I feel like doesn’t happen too much anymore. The author does a great job at explaining the history of why there is magic.

I am so so excited to get my hands on book two.

A really rich world and a complex but instinctual magical system, I found the intro of this new series a delightful and engrossing read. I was enthralled from the beginning by the overlap of magical structure and sibling relationship that the book uses to pull you into the world and the story that unfolded was as rich as it's New Orleans setting. The audiobook recording was excellently done as well, with the narrator creating a lot of emotion in the pacing. I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel! Many thanks to NetGalley & MacMillan for access to a print and audio e-galley

I loved this book a lot. The plot, the writing, literally everything. It had so many plot twists. It’s definitely worth the read.

i was entirely immersed in the plot while reading this novel and inexplicably drawn to the setting and characters. the author proficiently wove together the themes of magic, drama, and love set in the backdrop of new orleans. i’m excited to check out the sequel once it comes out this year. thank you netgalley for the arc!

Blog post goes live Feb 4
Amazon post pending system approval

Tl;DR : Wow that was a lot, and I’m on the fence. Trauma and PoVs for days, but interesting magic and themes.

There is not a lot I can say about this one that hasn’t already been said. Especially as I’m not own voices for this. However, I do want to say a few things as I did read this as an ARC (that I’m incredibly late on) and I have some thoughts.

This one follows a set of twins dealing with grief after the passing of their father and the fallout of a generational curse that’s affecting their lives and those around them. This book is full of themes attempting to explore things like generational trauma, abuse, sexual identity and family. And while I enjoyed those themes and wanted more, the endless head hopping, and strangely slow pace, really stopped this one from connecting at all with me.

I don’t want to say I don’t recommend this, but I also cannot say I do recommend this? If you don’t mind the abundance of trauma, the frequent PoV changes with a slower pace (of a story that only spans a few days), then sure. This could work for you. However if you want something historical (the cover is truly misleading on this), or fast paced, or a bit more concrete in it’s themes, perhaps look elsewhere.

2 out of 5 stars

And if Cris decided to blow this joint up, I'd hand her the gasoline idc!

This was an interesting read, I know it's not out yet but I am excited to read Book 2 because hopefully we will get a bit more development on Clem <spoiler> we need more development cause we can't leave my boy as a zombie also was Jean - Louis possessed by that god???? </spoiler>. I must admit however that the beginning of this story was a bit slow going and some of the sections where we were just following them around could have been cut <spoiler> you know what else could have been cut Valentina like the kid was so annoying , need her to go in like the first pages of Book 2 but sadly with the way her storyline ended we are probably gonna get like some vengeance arc from her but I hope she learns from her grandmama and stay out people's business </spoiler>.

Loved loved loved the family taking back their throne <spoiler> when they killed that woman??? yea that should be framed in museums or something! </spoiler>

I wanted to love this book more but there were aspects of it that didn't work for me overall. Most of these are probably personal preference, for example, a lot of the content felt very mature for a book whose target audience is young adults. I think the story and the dialogue would have been more palatable for me if this was marketed as new adult instead as there was on page intimate scenes and a lot of swearing by the characters. I would have also loved for the author to focus on the magic system -- the appeal of this story stemmed from it being blurbed as a NOLA based fantasy novel; however, I felt like the dynamics between characters was more of a focus here than the development of the magic system itself.

Twins!Magic!Murder! Who could ask for more? Add in the city of New Orleans and an opportunity to break generational (magical) curses and you get a page turner I could not put down.