Blood Debts was a five star read for me in 2023. I was absolutely enthralled with the world building, the political intrigue, the diversity of the characters, and the commentary on social justice and cultural heritage.So I couldn’t wait to read Blood Justice; however, this sequel fell really short of every standard its predecessor set and it made me so sad. 

 

The world building was mostly done in Blood Debts, but it’s nicely expanded on just the right amount in this book. We get a bit of a deeper dive into some of the supporting characters in the overall storyline too, which is always nice (and Benton-Walker manages to do this without taking away necessary page time from our trio of main characters, which is no mean feat). 

 

Where I ran into some issues was with the political intrigue, which went from genuinely compelling in Blood Debts to feeling a bit closer to something out of a teen drama in this book, and with the pacing of this book. Act one of this book moves so slowly it’s hard to engage with this book at all at first. In act two, a lot of the scenes start to feel repetitive and the book starts to feel like it’s walking in circles. By the time you’re in the middle in the third act, you realize the book is out of surprises and the book has definitely gone on too long. 

 

It’s not that I don’t love this series. I do. It’s a wonderful story that doesn’t pull punches and has a great deal of diversity. It has a lot to say and Benton-Walker has a great way of saying it. This sequel didn’t do the story, as a whole, any favors. 

 

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Because of the three star or lower rating this review will not be appearing on my social media.Thank you.