** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

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Blood Debts (Blood Debts, 01) by Terry J. Benton-Walker
★★☆☆☆
416 Pages


DNF'd at 14%

Unfortunately, this one just didn't work for me. I gave it until 14%, then I had to give up. It would have been a complete disservice to me, the book and the author to keep reading when I knew I wasn't enjoying it.
In a way, I'm sad, because I thought the story had merit, but the execution was the problem.

NOTE: due to the formatting issues not translating into the ARC Netgalley gave me – the images, family trees etc appearing as random lines and words on the page – I bought this copy. That means that any editing and grammar errors I found – which were a few – were in the final version, so I had to take that into account in my rating as well.

For me, I just didn't like any of the characters.
Clem was extremely negative, had fallen out with his twin sister, and kept an easy-going social life with boys in and out of his bed. He takes things too seriously and too much to heart, yet is also one of the most non-serious MC's since I read Red, White and Royal Blue.
Cris comes across as petty, socially needy and yet distances herself for some perceived guilt that I can already tell will end up not being her fault at all. There's a long-winded explanation of how she exchanged a childish tit-for-tat bullying escapade with Valentina in school, as justification for their rivalry, which not only backfired but resulted in online bullying and literally in-person bullying. While I somewhat understand Clem's problems – he's got anxiety (so we're repeatedly told) and his mother is dying and he feels inadequate), I just don't get Cris. She's constantly guilt-ridden and defensive about everything from her boyfriend to her hatred of magic.
Then there's Valentina, who is the most narcissistic female of any cliché there is in literature. She's a stuck-up, snobbish b*tch who wants everything just so that she can say she has it. She doesn't care about anything but herself – but, it's okay, because she's got this pity-party backstory about how her parents don't love her enough, so I suppose that's meant to redeem her? Nah. Not for me.

When I stopped, there were 3 POV's – Cris and Clem, the twins, both had 1st person, present tense POV, while the third POV was for Cris's ex-bestie Valentina, who had 3rd person, past POV. There's nothing I hate more than switching POV and tenses in a book, and this one really bugged me. While I could understand why Valentina had her own POV, I also felt like it was for a completely different story. The two events had NO bearing on each other.
I'll admit, I skimmed to see if there were any more POV's and skim-read a few scenes when something caught my interest. Now, I saw that Valentina used magic to cause a road traffic accident and there was NO response in her POV that I could find – I skimmed the next 5 chapters, to see when it would switch to her POV, to see her reaction and it never came. That really disappointed me. That could have been a huge wake-up call for her, a way to bring the once-besties back together, to work together. But it seemed to be done for no real reason, unless I just missed that part.

Honestly, I felt that way about a few of the plot points. Clem and Cris were always bickering – often about nothing – just to show that they were 'enemies', which I presume is the set up to the fact they've both been keeping secrets and will eventually have to work together and that by doing so, they'll rekindle their relationship. TBH, I just wasn't interested. Their arguments just felt petty, like two kids who had grown sick of spending time around each other and needed to grow up.

Overall, while I found the main plot interesting – this family who has been done wrong by the entire town and magical community, with dark secrets, dead family members and a woman who is actively being cursed to die young – it just didn't engage me. It's going to annoy me, not knowing what will happen later, but it's just not worth continuing when every character is melodramatic and rubs me up the wrong way.

It's a real shame, because the book had huge potential. There are some good bones here, between the plot and the themes – appropriation, white-washing history, inter-generational trauma, entitlement, justice, morality, interracial relationship – but it seems to forget those themes and only use them as a backdrop to a family drama that just lacks the punch and power it could have had.

Clem and Cris, twins and heirs to a powerful magical family that lost their position years ago, and have disbanded over time

After their father dies and their mother becomes ill, Cris may need to reconnect with the magic that she is not sure she can trust anymore.

Cris also needs to reconnect with her brother to discover what is causing their mothers illness, and who is behind it. The trust may lie in a decades old feud between families and the twins need to find their place and restore power before things get worse again, for everyone....

Magic in New Orleans, sounded like something that I would have love loved, however, I felt this was a bit slow to get going and I actually had to pause the book for a while.

However, when I picked it back up I flew through the second half and after the events towards the end of the book, I am really interested in seeing where we go from here!

3 Stars

This one just missed the mark for me. I really enjoyed the premise. Urban fantasy set in New Orleans; YES! But I felt that the plot / characters / history were stretched too thin and needed a bit more padding to them. I needed this to book to be longer I think to really explore everything that was touched upon. I understand that some things will be explored in book 2 but in order to make me want to leap into that one, I needed more, personally.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review. This book has so much potential but it just falls flat. It’s disappointing since the synopsis was interesting but the writing and prose was meh and immature.

This was an great book! Cristina and Clement, the twins, were similar but very different and had their fair share of arguments but loved and cared for each other. They had their slightly annoying moments as any teens would but they made excellent strong and inspiring characters.
The magical fantasy elements were so amazing. I loved all of it, the way the magic worked and the spells, the different branches and types of magic, the gods and ancestors. It perfectly showed both the good and bad sides to magic (the good of course vastly outweighing the bad), so I don't fully know where I stand on the regulating magic issue but the stupid Redeemers are definitely going about it all wrong. The parallels between this world and ours were so important but upsetting to see.
There were SO many different mysteries and secrets going on in here and you will be hooked trying to work out what's going on and how everything relates. Don't know who to trust AT ALL! I figured some things out and others I didn't see coming at all. The end was absolutely WILD! The perfect ending, exactly what you'd want and so beautiful. I think most of the more pressing issues were solved but then you're dropped with a BIG cliff-hanger for the second book which I'm so excited to read! A truly magical story about the importance of family.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

"Blood Debts" by Benton-Walker embarks on a gritty tale of revenge. The narrative immerses readers in a world of intrigue and violence, though character motivations can be elusive. Benton-Walker's storytelling keeps the plot moving, yet some scenes feel overly graphic. The book caters to fans of dark thrillers, but its intense nature may not resonate with all readers.

DNF’d at 34 %.

This was definitely a ‘it’s not you it’s me’ kind of book. I just didn’t connect with the characters and setting and wasn’t invested in the storyline. I’m not a contemporary fantasy kind of person and I mis-read the synopsis and thought it was a historical fantasy. If you’re a fan of urban fantasy this is for you, but sadly this book didn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodderscape for the ARC.

I loved the New Orleans setting and Black rep but the writing style wasn't quite for me. I'm sure other readers will appreciate it far more than I did though as it's a solid debut.

This book has been really hypes about, but I honestly feel like it had so much more potential. It felt a bit dull, and frankly, boring in places.

this was okay, but read a little juvenile and i didn't feel connected to the characters or what happens to them at all. i can see other reader enjoying this a lot tho!

— thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the free digital ARC.

Don’t think I was the right audience for this book. Got annoyed quite a lot throughout reading this book.

Blood Debts caught my eyes due to magic, POC being main themes.

Not my cup of tea

I couldn't get into it. as much as I wanted to read about magic and New Orleans, I thought the writing was too simple. All of it sounded very young and I lost interest

Sadly, I just did not like this book. I didn’t like any of the characters really and I especially didn’t like having the pov of the ‘bad guys’. The writing wasn’t the best in my opinion, and while skim reading the last 40% or so, I realised I didn’t like the plot much either. What I will give it is that there is a mystery I was invested to see the outcome of. However, I don’t think it’s going to be strong enough to make me read the sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was ok took me a little while to really get into it but I did end my reading on a good note! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for early access to this book!

I loooooovee this book. The atmosphere is sublime and the characters are so well-written I had no choice but to root for all and each one fo them. The writing is great, I loved the pace, the style and everything in between. I can't wait to see what else the author will put out in the future

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a pure delight and I was hooked from the beginning. I loved the family bonds between all the characters. They all have to work together to uncover what really happened 30 years ago, in order to clear their family's name. The story is fast-paced and it never gets boring. I can't wait to see what's going to happen next.

Set from multiple POV, twins Clement and Cristina, and Cris’ ex-friend Valentina.

Clem and Cris are living in the shadow of their father’s death and their mother’s sickness. Until they find out that their mother isn’t sick, she’s been cursed.

This was an interesting read full of family conflict and ✨magic✨.
I would have like a bit more of the latter though.

I did think a lot happened and sometime’s it felt a little hard to follow but I think partially that was due to the formatting on the eARC.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and I think I will definitely reread physically in future which I think I’d enjoy a lot more!

Blood Debts was diversity urban fantasy take setting at New Orleans with dark magics and family drama. Following twin Clement and Christina who coming from fallen dynasty of old family with strong magic tried to survive under so many trials.
This book is fast to read and the writing easy to follow. I like the premise, the underlayer issues and more about Vodoo magic from several family at here. I love the mysteries and how the story circles around bond between family members. The characters are alot but sadly I cant feel connection with any of them. My focus feel spreading thin with alot uneccesarily infos. The plot, conflict and plottwistidnt isnt strong enough to keep my interest.

Thank you Hodderscape from Hodder&Stoughton and Netgalley for provided my copy. My thoughts and opinions always become my own.

If you like magic and good rep, go for it.
This is YA and multi POV.
We follow (mainly) 2 twins Clem and Cris as they realise their magical family history is blurrier than they thought and they try to fix things. Cris doesn't use magic anymore. Both of them dont talk as much as they used to. But when they realise someone put an hex on their mother, they decide to join forces and figure out who did it together.
Was it good? Yes
Was it great? ... not quite for me! It was missing something to make the whole thing more page turning in my opinion.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for giving me acces to the ebook in exchange for an honest review.*