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purplepenning's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Car accident, Death of parent, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Grief, and Infertility
Digital bullying, necromancyacwhite's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Racism, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Cursing, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Confinement
caseythereader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
- The world of BLOOD DEBTS is fantastic. A New Orleans with several branches of magical families, warring for power on multiple levels. The imagined world here is so rich it feels like it could be real.
- I loved Clement and Cristina, both prickly and headstrong in their own ways, and deeply loving of their big, loud, fractured family (the aunts! I loved them all!) Also, it has multiple queer characters, which I haven't seen mentioned much in the marketing.
- However, for me, this book was a lot of telling rather than showing. It was mainly the kids running from adult to adult and prying pieces of secrets out of them, then rehashing everything they know in the next scene, repeat. I think this might have worked better as an adult fantasy instead of YA/New Adult, with POVs from the many adults and their grudges rather than the teens, who are the only ones out of the loop.
Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Sexual content, Medical content, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault
marie_thereadingotter's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
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 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.
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Homophobia, Bullying, and Car accident
Minor: Gun violence and Death of parent
mshiiken's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
- 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!
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Death of parent, Racism, Murder, Homophobia, Grief, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Bullying, Infertility, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Car accident, Sexism, Alcohol, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, and Infidelity
Minor: Vomit
taylorpleimann's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
For some reason, I went into this book thinking it was going to be a historical fiction and we were going to solve a murder, so I was a little bit disappointed when I started it and realized it was set in the present day about a murder that happened 30 years ago. It was a good story, but I think I just would’ve liked it better as a historical fiction set in NOLA. The story was really good, but I felt like too much happened and some loose ends weren’t fully tied up.
The audiobook was incredible - I loved the intro music and all of the narrators were so good. I’m sure the physical book is great, but I would definitely recommend listening to the audiobook! Joenice Abott-Pratt always does such a great job and this is no exception.
Graphic: Racism, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence and Homophobia
Minor: Sexual harassment, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders
yadira315's review against another edition
2.25
Graphic: Violence, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Racism, Homophobia, and Forced institutionalization
bookwormsandbiblios's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Gore and Blood
Minor: Death of parent, Car accident, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Gun violence
amobrien's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Blood Debts is a story about magic, family, and trauma with a magic system that had me immediately hooked. This is a dark YA fantasy with a lot of violence, but I loved the inclusiveness in the characters and the conversations around sexuality, including consent and sex work. There were a lot of characters in this story, which made things difficult to follow at times, but I wasn't put off by it. This was a great read overall, and I think anyone interested in dark YA fantasy would really enjoy it!
Graphic: Racism, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death, Gun violence, Bullying, and Death of parent
meganpbell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
In the wake of their father’s sudden death and their mother’s suspicious illness, twins Clement and Cristina Trudeau struggle to solve a decades-old murder that cost their grandmother her throne.
All of the above are what I appreciated about this book, but I had a lot of challenges: the messaging around eye-for-an-eye violence and vengeance, the family relationships so strained and unloving to the point of having a hard time rooting for the extended family, and ultimately being frustrated that the book didn’t seem as invested in the political depth that the dedication and epigraphs indicated.
Minor: Bullying, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Death of parent, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Violence