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.

What a brilliant novel from start to finish! I loved absolutely everything about it. From the characters; Clem, Cris, Jean Louise, and Valentina (kinda have a love-hate relationship with homegirl), to the family's plight, and drive to clear their name. As a queer black man; young queer love was something I longed for when I was a young adult, to finally see it on a page, and written so beautifully, brought tears to my eyes. We need more queer black boys in fiction like Clem and Yves. The intricate magic systems were well thought out and planned. I also loved the sprinkle of the Gods we get in this book. It's a different take on the meddling gods trope, something we don't usually see in black stories. The family dynamics were ever-changing and just pure gold. What I loved most about Blood Debts was how brutally honest it had regarding family dynamics, race, and sexuality. To tackle those subjects in a supernatural story--that doesn't pull you away from it, yet manages to reflect a mirror to the real world was executed perfectly in a way that a brilliant writer like Terry Benton-Walker could only do. I give this book all the stars!! A perfect debut by Terry Benton-Walker!!!!

I love the idea, concept, and setting but couldn't get into it and I found it a little hard to follow. I thought this was a historical fiction/ fantasy but this actually takes place during todays modern age. liked the darker parts of this book, the gods, the queer representation tho.
If you're a fan of YA novels and NOLA settings with voodoo and hexes, give this novel a try.

This book was amazing I finished it in one sitting. This book follows twins Christina and Clement who are two kids who lost their father and have a mother who is deathly ill and is soon to die to. Until they realize that there mother has been hexed and with this being revealed more secrets come to light that includes secrets there family has been hiding from them, as well as secrets that could prove that a murder of their ancestors decades ago was murdered for a crime they did not commit. This book follows the journey of two twins who have drifted apart and realize that if they want to protect their family their going to have to regain the bond they have so that they can gain back what is there’s and let the truth be set free. But overall this book was full of adventure, many plot twists and twist and turns, and the voodoo aspect and I loved that for this to be the authors debut novel he did amazing and I can’t wait for everyone to read this book and I can’t wait to see what more Terry J Benton Walker has to offer because he is off to a great start.

The setting and the magical system were just phenomenal, not to mention the immaculate writing style. I often find that fantasy novels are hard to follow but “Blood Debts” was enjoyable and understandable– a true page-turner that will surely end up on my favorite list!

This was a wild ride of a book. My reading has been absolute trash so far this year. I haven't really been in the mood to read anything so I was reading this book in chunks, but this was also the only book I was reaching for. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC for review.

Admittedly, I was a little confused at first. I thought this was going to be a historical paranormal/fantasy story and then details of modern-day technology was mentioned and that thew me off a little. It took a couple of chapters for things to really pick up, but once they did they did not slow down.

The characters were also great. They were all well-rounded characters, and the antagonists of this book were also. I wanted to feel some kind of sympathy, or pity, or something for Valentina because she was clearly being manipulated by her Grandmother. But, also she was a really horrible person who did awful things she even knew her Grandmother would disapprove of, so I couldn't really feel anything for her. Other than hoping karma caught up to her.

There are a number of POVs in this book, most alternate between the twins, but there are some other POVs sprinkled through to add more context and perspectives to what is happening with the characters. At first, I wasn't sure about it, but they are needed perspectives since it's also in first-person and the twins, Clement and Cristina, wouldn't know any of that information.

The magic was a little ambiguous, but I think it's kind of meant to be. I've read a handful of fantasy books in the past couple of years that talk about and explain Gen-magic so it wasn't too confusing for me. Although this book's focus doesn't really require having a full understanding of how the magic works as it's more about the characters, the magic is more of a backdrop to what is happening with the characters. Secrets, lies, betrayals, and cover-ups.

I don't know if this book will have a sequel or not, but I would be interested in reading more set in this world.

*Received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review*. I was not sure what to expect when I read the blurb for the book other than it sounded interesting, but I was honestly very surprised how much I actually liked it, That magical world building was very detailed and interesting. The detail in the book was very descriptive and easy to picture, The family dynamic in this book, and the familial bonds drove this book just as much as the magic, which made me read on even more. The part I struggled with was the romantic relationship. They're very immature, and intimate scenes and rushed and it seems the either the author might not be comfortable writing them as they were rushed and not well written, they would have been better to fade to black. All in all though, I enjoyed the book.

Book was pretty average to me. I didn't truly connect with any of the characters or find myself wanting to move to the next page or feel pulled into the story. Parts of it I felt that I had to push through to continue reading the book. I did enjoy the new aspect of gen magic as it is not a highly represented type of magic in the YA field, the setting being in NOLA, and the representation of Anxiety.

DNFing this one at 30% - I really liked the beginning, but I can't bring myself to care and I keep getting taken out of the story by the wild amount of Gen Z lingo!!!!

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'll admit I was surprised that this novel was set in a modern age and was an urban fantasy novel. I guess I made the assumption going off the summary that it was going to be a historical fantasy. Which was a bit disappointing as I can be quite picky with urban fantasy. Although I did try my best to give it a chance. The problem is I didn't care for the setting, enjoy the characters or the plot. I will say what it has going for it was the representation of anxiety and mental health. This speaking from my own personal experiences with anxiety. Even though I personally did not enjoy this one, I can see that others will immensely!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

black and beautiful! family dynasties & DRAMA, twisted history, intergenerational trauma, magic & mystery. queer! i enjoyed this & was totally immersed in cris & clem’s world. i love these two characters so much. great debut and I can’t wait for more of their story. i absolutely love that this was equal parts murder-mystery as it was historical fantasy and magic.

Thank you so much for Tor Teen and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy!

I would describe Blood Debts as the darker side of the disney movie "Princess and the Frog" meets the vivid atmosphere of New Orleans! You can almost hear the music while reading the book.

This book has everything that an enchanting new fantasy needs: family connections and curses from your anchestors, drama, corruption, deadly magic, power plays, sibling rivalry. Magical and refreshing!

I loved following the bickering between Clem and Cris as they set themselves on the quest of restoring their family's reputation, saving their mom and kicking asses in the city.

I really recommend this book to anyone who is looking for family driven YA fantasy novels, one where unfolding the past is as important as the present.

BLOOD DEBTS floated across my inbox from Booklist Delivers, and I am SO GLAD it did. NetGalley provided a galley in exchange for an honest review and this book rules. A fuller review will be posted to Mzinigan Mshiiken, but brief incredible points:

- fascinating magic system
- political intrigue, both mundane and magical
- New Orleans
- LGBTQIA+ representation and love
- messy family ties

The only reason this gets 4 stars rather than 5 is because the writing at times was a little tough to get into. It was a little bit like getting a firehose of description to the face, and I found myself having to re-read sections to parse what was being said. Granted, the chapter titles helped a lot with perspective and the character changes were fascinating. Others have noted that the beginning is slow and I agree - that said, the latter half of the book had me on the edge of my seat for the few hours it took me to speedread. I think teens will really like this book (although a few scenes are a liiiiiittle more explicit than I like to recommend), and plenty of adults will too. I'm excited to see what comes next in the series!