Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker is a delightfully funky and enchanting tale that takes readers on a wild ride through the intriguing lives of twins, Cris and Clemens. As they navigate the complexities of their family's mysterious past, they find themselves entangled in a web of love, rivalry, and magical encounters. Set in the vibrant and mystical city of New Orleans, this queer and mesmerizing story brings together elements of history, witchcraft, and teenage sleuthing. Benton-Walker's writing moves briskly, although occasionally stumbling, and captures the essence of the South with a fresh perspective.

One of the strengths of Blood Debts lies in its exploration of family lineage and how it shapes one's perception of themselves and their future. The deep-rooted rivalry that spans decades adds a layer of tension and intrigue to the narrative, keeping readers on the edge of their seats. The book skillfully intertwines the black perspective with the history of the South, shedding light on the complex dynamics that continue to shape the region.

While the chapters from perspectives outside Cris and Clemens may not have been as engaging, Benton-Walker's decision to include them in the epilogue proves a telling move that more is to come.

However, it is worth noting that as an adult reader, I took a few chapters to immerse myself in the teenage-centered narrative fully. Nonetheless, once I embraced the youthful energy of the story, I found myself captivated by the intricate mystery that only Cris and Clemens could unravel.

Set in an alternate version of current day New Orleans, where magic is real... and deadly, Blood Debts follows Cris and Clem, sixteen year old Black twins. Discovering that their mother has been cursed leads them into a mystery surrounding their family's past: thirty years prior, their grandmother and grandfather were attacked at their home and murdered after she was blamed for killing the (white) mayor's daughter. This trauma has obviously shadowed the family ever since, and someone is still out for blood. Today, Cris blames herself for her father's death, and shuns her magical heritage because of that. Clem fights his anxiety and depression as he feels that everyone he loves will leave him. They'll have to depend on the bonds of family and the strength of their gifts if they hope to find the truth, and get retribution for this blood debt.

First off, I was instantly intrigued by the magical New Orleans setting. The basis of Generational magic and its ties to the moon and the practitioners' ancestors was fascinating. I hope we get to see it delved into more in the future. I felt the realism in this novel's depiction of mental health, as well as in the sibling relationships (between Clem and Cris, and between their mother and aunts). Not a huge fan of the insta-love between Clem and Yves, though he does sound quite swoon-worthy. The mystery element is well done and the magic is fantastic. There are a lot of loose ends, and I'm definitely curious to see what happens next in this world.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this read. I think I'll try it again at some point with an audiobook. I've seen the reviews and I know a lot of people enjoyed this. I suspect it might not be working for me right now but could later down the line. It's a great premise and promises a great story, but just isn't working for me right now.

The setting of this story is amazing! Thee New Orleans setting is interesting, and not explored enough in fiction. I've read there's a lot of fantasy/mythological lore that takes place in New Orleans so this is a fresh and exciting premise. The magic system is also unique and exciting!

i really enjoyed this book! i really appreciated all the anxiety and mental health representation, and the sibling relationship at the heart of the story was so interesting to read about. very excited for the next book!

WOW! I need book two ASAP!! The fantasy realism was a gem in this book. Especially the bond between the brother and sister was a great thing to see. Maybe because I have a brother myself, and I know how tight the bond needs to be lol.

Overall, a great debut book!

2.5⭐️

I want to preface this by saying that if I were still a teenager, I probably would have loved this. But as an adult, I’m obviously not the target audience and I’m not totally into it. I like the setting, but the angsty angry teen voice is unbearable and the book focuses a lot more on drama than the magic system. The premise is great and I think this would be great for a younger reader still in their angsty teen years, but I’m finding it to be too immature for my taste.

You know what, I loved this!!!!!!
I am so annoyed at myself for taking so long to read it, it's literally everything I love in a book about magic
It's very dark, perfect for Halloween
Loved the multiple POVs

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for granting me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Normally I would summarize the book prior to reviewing it, but I’m unable to do that for this book as I was 60% of the way in and was still unable to distinguish a clear plot.

What worked: the diversity is great and feels natural, the New Orleans setting is interesting, and the system of magic is unique and exciting.

What didn’t work: there is a difference between a mystery and telling your audience a confusing amount nothing, this book does the latter; characters and details kept being added with no real introduction or method to clearly distinguish or keep track of them; many plot elements were introduced and not adequately explained; there were major problems with the writing itself.

Let’s be clear: I really really wanted to like this book. It has a lot of fascinating and unique qualities, my favourite genre of magical realism, not to mention it was shaping up to make social commentary with an engaging plot. This did not happen.

I was honestly really surprised that this book made it to ARC stages in the shape I read. It had the writing quality of a wattpad story, not a published novel. I was so frustrated by the poor sentence structure and non-stop “telling not showing” that I struggled to keep reading. Based on the relatively high rating of the book, I expected the story must get so good that I could overlook these flaws. I was wrong. I made it over 60% of the way through, and there was still little plot revealed and too many elements at play. There were also too many POV’s used, and the tense of the writing changed in confusing and unnecessary ways in some of them.

There were two main things that would frustrate me to the point of having to put the book down.
Number one: this book seemed to have no idea how old it’s main two characters, siblings Cris and Clem, actually are. They talk and act like they’re in their early to mid 20’s but then the book makes sure to mention that they’re still in high school with very immature details that simply don’t match their behaviour. It felt like the story had originally been written with university age characters, but then the author thought it would sell better as a YA book and added references to high school instead of actually re-writing the characters.
Number two: for the first 40% of the book, every time Cris mentioned magic (which is extremely often in a book revolving around magic) she follows it up by saying some version of “but I will never be able to use it again… because of my guilt surrounding… the incident.” Each time delivered so dramatically that it felt like overdone SNL dialogue. This happens so often it is sometimes twice a page. I thought I was maybe just being overly critical or was misreading, but I had a friend read a few pages and they immediately noted the same thing. It was incredibly annoying, and felt like the author was trying to hammer a point into the reader that had been very clear from the first time it was mentioned.

I am so happy that people are enjoying this book. I think we need to hear and tell more stories with this sort of setting, characters, and socially tied premise. However, I didn’t think this one was well done at all.

Istarted this book the day I got it, and did not complete it in the nearly three months I had to read it. Normally I finish a book of this length in a week or less, so I think that says everything you need to know.

Set in contemporary New Orleans, Terry J. Benton-Walker sets the stage for much intrigue, magic, drama and strife, as he centres his novel on sixteen-year-old twins Cristina and Clement Trudeau. They are part of a powerful magical family, who, thirty years ago in 1989, were vilified, harmed dreadfully, and lost their position as rulers of the magical community in the city.

Christina and Clement, unknowingly, set out on a course of righting several old wrongs when they discover that their terminally ill mother is actually the target of a magical curse, set by someone on the magical council. The twins begin searching for the perpetrator, unearthing lots of bad blood amongst magic practitioners, finding and losing romance, and forcing their mother and aunts to reckon with their pasts.

The atmosphere is great, as we see the events from the twins' perspectives. The teens grow and deal with some of their issues, though not conclusively with what has driven a wedge between them since Cristina chose to give up practicing magic a year earlier, fearing that something she did killed their father. The novel also charts how they grow more fully into their magical skills and identities, becoming forces to reckon with.

The twins are so well characterized, so much so that I kept wanting to tell them to sit down and really talk through all the secrets and evasions that had built up between them.

I had a much harder time getting my head around the rest of the cast, which is big. Even though there is a family tree included, I still kept getting some characters and relationships mixed up. I suspect it was more me than the author.

The author built a complex plot with two terrific protagonists, many twists and reveals, and though I didn't fully resonate with the story, I can see how its narrative could sweep other readers in to the surprising and deadly end.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Wow!! Blood Debts is one of the best YA fantasies I've read since Legendborn!! There's something about a story of a world where magic is alive and flourishing with New Orleans as the epicenter that makes me want to hunker down and get cozy for a few hours. Since New Orleans is one of my favorite cities, I could get lost in this world and just vibe with the characters and their drama.!!

This book was action-packed with Black Girl Magic and filled with the strength of the Black family from start to finish!! It will have a reluctant reader engrossed in the story. If you like magic, teen angst, family drama, and voodoo folklore. This story is for you!!!

So damn good. This is typically not a genre I feel comfortable in but the characters just jumped off the page. A book I won’t stop thinking about for awhile.

DNF @ 32%. I tried really hard to get into this book. Nothing about the plot particularly grabbed me. I also thought there were too many POVs and would have liked it to be limited to one or two.

-Black characters
-witches
-New Orleans
-interesting magic system
-multiple povs
-LGBTQ rep

I really enjoyed this. It is what I expect YA to be: exciting, and full of the impulses that teenagers should (and do) have in real life.

I enjoyed being in these characters minds. They felt like real people and I just wanted more.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- this was an okay read, but i felt the story and characters lacked depth and motives that felt realistic and whole, which took me out of the story and made me feel emotionless while reading. it’s unfortunate, because i can tell the author has a lot of love for this story, but their work feels lackluster in execution.

The premise of this book sounded so good yet ultimately I was a little let down. There were too many perspectives that it started becoming a little confusing. The plot wasn't flashed out very well for me either.

Set in New Orleans, BLOOD DEBTS by Terry J. Benton-Walker follows Clement and Christina Trudeau, twins from a powerful and magical family who have suffered generations of deadly curses and threats against them. Now with the death of their father and their mother on her sickbed, the twins are determined to uncover the truth behind evil that lingers around their family.

The family dynamics in this book are great. I enjoyed how it was able to take on sibling relationships, friendships, sexual consent, mental health, homophobia and intergenerational trauma while also highlighting the importance of having a supportive community and self acceptance. There was certainly no shying away from difficult topics here!

Personally I think we only needed POV’s from Chris and Clem, having chapters from the ‘villains’ created an empathy for them which I didn’t want to feel at this stage as it seemed contrary to getting justice and hindered the overall character arcs. I can imagine that the following book will hopefully delve deeper, I’m hoping for more from the aunts too, as their drama could be a story in itself!

While I originally struggled to get into Blood Debts I generally really enjoyed the story - the audiobook made it easier to get into so I definitely recommend that. I enjoyed the story overall!

I let myself get drawn in by the very pretty cover. Urban fantasy isn't usually my genre, but the mix of magic and New Orleans sounded like something I could get into. Unfortunately, Blood Debts just didn't do it for me. There are way too many perspectives in this one. Sticking to just Cris and Clem would have been enough. There was also too much going on and too many characters. It all started to bleed together until I didn't completely know what was happening and didn't really care to figure it out. There was a lot of potential in this; I think the basic premise of the story was good, but the unlikable characters and overly complicated plot just didn't work for me. I did enjoy the way magic was handled in this story overall, especially the creative way Clem substituted items for spells and details like that. The bones of the story and some of the attention to detail in Blood Debts were pretty compelling at times, which is why I'm giving this one 2.5 stars.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one! I loved the magic system and the atmosphere! That's what originally drew me to this book was that it was set in New Orleans.

Blood Debts was a beautiful adventure and I can’t wait for the new one. I love a good family drama, however, it was a little disjointed for me to follow so that was hard. I can’t wait for the next one so I can see where the author is going.