By Terry J. Benton-Walker
Thanks so much to Tor Teen for giving me a complimentary ARC copy of Blood Debts upon my request for review considerations! All opinions are my own.
What’s it about?
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.
Summary from The StoryGraph
Why I Started This Book
The description of this book just sounded phenomenal! It seemed so unique and cool, I immediately became interested! Also, the cover art is absolutely gorgeous!!
My First Thoughts
This book brought me right back to All of Us Villains and Children of Blood and Bone, which are both books I absolutely adore! Also, I loved how there was so much tension even though the book had just started!
My Rating
What I loved
The characters are just flawless! They are so well-developed! I just love them! Also, they are so perfectly imperfect! They all have their struggles, so well portrayed!!
Building off of the characters, the character dynamics is amazing! The dynamics between the twins is perfect, and I absolutely love it!! I feel like so often books don’t portray sibling relationships quite right, but this one felt so genuine!!
Blood Debts had so many wonderful motifs and themes!! The motifs of growth throughout the novel really helped add depth and meaning! These motifs were flawlessly embedded, and allow for a wonderful, impactful read!
This book has great representation! It doesn’t feel forced or out of place, it simply feels right and necessary. The experiences of the characters are so raw and powerful, it adds so much meaning to the story!
Ahhh the heartbreak and the love!! The story has so much emotion! It honestly led me on a rollercoaster of joy and sadness, but I’m so here for it! Terry J. Benton-Walker really played with the moods and emotions of this book so well, and the story can be absolutely heart-wrenching at times!
Continuing off of my last point, the writing is so raw and has so much emotion! I kind of mention this earlier, but the emotions of this book are so real. I feel like the characters are written so well that you can feel every emotion that they are feeling. Simply amazing!!
The world building is top-notch!! With a world as unique as this one, it was perfectly constructed! I feel like I understood how the world worked perfectly, but the novel didn’t have those long boring explanations like so many other books! Super well done!!
Finally, last but most definitely not least is the uniqueness of the world! This world is soooo unique!! The world has magic, which makes the novel fantasy, but it takes place in today’s world. This is something that is mildly similar to The Folk of the Air series, but other than that I haven’t read a book like this before! At first, I admit that I was a little weirded out. Something about the characters talking about magic and YouTube on the same page just didn’t feel right. Later in the book though, I began to love this aspect of the story, and it was so well written!!
What I Disliked
There was nothing I just outright disliked! I honestly loved the book! The only reason that it did not receive a 5 star rating was because it didn’t really change my life or how I view the world. Books that I deem 5-stars are extremely impactful for me, and while this novel was amazing, it just didn’t do that for me.
Should You Read It?
Yes!! You should definitely read this book! It’s perfect for any YA reader, especially if you like fantasy!! Also, if you enjoyed Children of Blood and Bone, this book is definitely for you!!
Conclusion
This books was absolutely amazing!! There was so many aspects of this book I loved I simply can’t list them all here! It just missed a 5-star rating, but I would highly recommend this book the EVERYONE! I can’t wait for the sequel coming April 23, 2024!! Happy reading!!!
Leave a Reply