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nemoslittlelibrary's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Blood Debts had me gripped from the minute I read the dedication and the author’s note at the beginning!
The magical world within Blood Debts was so unique to me - that Gen Magic was created for those oppressed to survive colonisation, slavery and lynching. We have on the other hand the white mages that work with light magic (the sun) and then of course the non-magic folk. Everything in this book was so carefully orchestrated and explained so well. There are multiple subplots within this book as well that add to the overall plot of the book (the mystery of who is coming after Cris and Clem’s family) and keep the story moving at a nice pace. The world building was phenomenal and the writing was beautiful - the imagery in some of the spell casting scenes is just pure perfection!
I think this book is so interesting with a wonderful fictional plot however it does clearly bring light to some very real and non-fictional issues that minority communities still face in the present day. The history to the Gen community and, of course Cris and Clem’s grandparents, is so relevant to real history and I think this book truly helps bring those discussions to light through a fictional world. The pure poc rage and also feminine rage within this book really moved me emotionally because so much that happened are unfortunately, still real problems.
Main things I liked about the book:
- Multiple pov, we not only get to see Cris and Clem’s perspective on things but also a couple of the side characters. It’s always a nice insight on how the scene is playing out from different point’s of view.
- The familial bonds! Yes there is romance in this book but I would say the main relationships are within the family, specifically sibling bonds. Any reader who loves to see unconditional love for family members will really enjoy this.
- The strong poc, and female, characters. I loved, especially Cris, who would not back down and see her family suffer or be further oppressed. She quite literally fought until the very end and stood up for what was right.
- The history! The way this story was written and gave so much magical historical context to the present life in New Orleans was done so well that at no point did I think the author was just giving a history lesson and trying to get as much information in as possible. It was appropriately mentioned at the right scenes of the book but done often enough that I did have the full picture of their history by the end.
- Clem and Yves, No words. They have my heart.
- Jean-Louise was such a tender character, his development was adoring to see and I loved how he kind of took Clem under his wing.
I genuinely got so emotionally invested with the story line and a few of the characters. I will now eagerly be waiting for the second book because what was that cliffhanger!!!!
Some of my favourite quotes:
• “Gen gods literally created our magic to survive colonization and slavery and lynching—all because of white people. Pokémon are cool. Generational magic is my heritage, Oz.””
• “but let me make myself quite clear: Before I allow a group of limp white dicks to lord over my gods-given right to wield magic, I will decimate the entirety of New Orleans and every one of your cute little thrones along with it.”
• “A woman’s worth is not tied to her ability to conceive, nor are we obligated to pop out children to serve the patriarchy.”
• “You thought your brother was a rainbowed whore.”
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an earc of this book⭐️
Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, Death, Murder, Violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Grief, and Racism
Moderate: Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
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, necromancycaseythereader'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
marleywrites's review
- 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
4.5
It was foolish to think he could outrun a god.
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 is because Clem’s stubbornness absolutely killed me! It was frustrating at times but that’s Clem I guess 😂 But:
Graphic: Murder, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Car accident, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Bullying, Death of parent, Infidelity, Chronic illness, and Medical content
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
qtpocreads'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
5.0
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
santinasimile's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Overall I enjoyed this book, but there were pieces that held it back. Chris and Clem were fabulous characters and I enjoyed their story and development, however, all the other characters did not feel as developed. The main story was interesting and addressed real issues in a great way, but I felt like there were too many subplots going on and I would get lost on a few. I was also surprised by the many adult themes. It's not often that sex, drugs, and murder are listed as YA. While I personally don't mind those subjects, it was jarring compared to what I was expecting for this book. I also highly enjoyed the narration for the audio book. They did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Drug abuse and Sexual content
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
nolagal'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
3.5
Overall, a good debut novel. The main characters, Cristina and Clement, are well- developed, interesting, and sympathetic. The generational issues and seeing them through the twins' perspective allowed the story to develop well though the short switches to other POVs were distracting.
The magic system was interesting and worked really well. The overarching story of who framed their grandmother for murder and was responsible for the death of family members was well done.
The rest of the plot, including the subplots, had too much going on so it felt like some things weren't fully fleshed out or seemed out of place. This left several things rushed or unresolved.
I enjoyed it and can't wait to see what the author does next.
Graphic: Car accident, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence and Gaslighting