Review: Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker

Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.  Thank you to Macmillan Audio & Macmillan Young Listeners for providing me the opportunity to listen to this book early.  This book will be out on April 4, 2023.

I was initially drawn to the beautiful cover!  This has a little bit of everything.  It touches on social issues like race, cultural appropriation, LGBT issues, mental health and so much more.  Not only does the author present important topics to the reader in a way that makes you think, but we get a mystery and story full of magic, emotion, and characters you won't soon forget.  

There is alot going on in this book.  The audiobook has multiple narrators, and mulitple POVs.  The story is mainly told from the perspective of the twins Clem and Cris, but every once in a while we get the occasional POV from another character.   Having so many characters made it a little hard to follow at times especially when you are trying to keep track of the plot as well.  That being said,  I had a hard time putting this down.  I kept opting to listen to this instead of picking up the other book I am reading at the moment.  I found the characters engaging, the plot moved at a good pace, and the magic was intriguing.  I really liked the magic system and the concept of the magical community.   The twins both go through some things in the book but like all teenagers they struggle to reach for help despite having a support system in each other and their family.  They both have to struggle through some things before they are ready to face their problems and ask for help from their loved ones.  Their is alot of good discussion about family in this book, and I suspect we will see more in the future as Clem and Cris still have more obstacles to face down in the future.  

There are some dark moments in this book, and while I do feel it is appropriate for a YA reader I would recommend it for the older more mature reader.  This does end on a cliffhanger but I believe this is book one of a trilogy, and I'm anxious to get my hands on the next book.  I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next.  There are alot of loose ends that need to be tied up and I expect that there is going to be some backlash based on the events that took place in this installment.  This is my first book by Terry J. Benton-Walker but it certainly will not be my last.  

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