Sadly, this was a DNF for me. It was disjointed and distracting, very little seemed to happen to advance the story forward, and I found it hard to sympathize or empathize with the characters. I let it linger in the reading stack for far too long, going back to it time and time again, but never found the hook.

I unfortunately couldn’t really get into it. I did really love the New Orleans settings and I love the witchy theme, but it just didn’t really work for me, wasn’t really ‘coming together’. I had a bit of trouble getting into the writing as well. But of course, this is a personal opinion and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. If someone’s interested in a book, I always suggest picking it up, regardless of whatever reviews you come across :) For me, this didn’t really work, but for someone else it might.

Thank you for the opportunities to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

I found this to be quite a slow read which is not my favourite type of book. I loved the witches and how they were written however overall this book wasn’t for me.

Its a good book, but a little too slow to be a great book.
I am not really sure how to review this book to be honest.
Its a good book, the story is solid and interesting and its a relative easy book.
If you can overlook the pacing issues, its a well done book.

This was a did not finish for me. I enjoyed the Witching Savannah series, so I thought I would give this one a try. But it did not hold my interest in the same way.

This book was okay. Unfortunately I couldn't get past the 5th chapter. The book was to slow for me at that point and I honestly lost interest. Thank you to netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

A fun, quirky, easy read.

"The King of Bones and Ashes" was a nice read to pick up in between some heavier series that I was going through.

The New Orleans setting was nicely set up and transported the reader there quite easily.

A bit of a slow mystery and attention grabber at first but then it quickly picks up.

A copy of the book was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adore New Orleans and this book is just exploding with very vivid descriptions of it. I almost felt like I was right there as I was reading the story. That being said, that was likely my favourite part of the book.
This novel is about witches in New Orleans, well what’s left of the covens as the magic seems to be dying. Most of them will do whatever it takes to retain it, including collecting body parts off of dead witches. The story is told from 3 very powerful female witches perspectives, each offering their own special variety of magic. One is Alice, the estranged, supposedly crazy daughter that was locked away in a mental institution by her father for her “protection.” Another is Evangeline, once an pariah and greatly disliked by the powerful Marin family but somehow not only managed to date the son, but also the father and head of the coven. Finally there’s Lisette, who has descended from a powerful voodoo practitioner but her faith has been lacking since her mother’s death. All of these people and their families find themselves embroiled in a crazy roller coaster ride of life, death, family secrets, and a quest to find the book of unwinding.
The reader is introduced to a wide variety of characters right off the bat as the novel is narrated by several different characters. It’s hard to keep them straight but luckily, the author included a who’s who at the back. I had the strong suspicion that this book was made to set the stage for the rest of the novels to come since the story itself wasn’t that strong. It more or less introduced vital characters, their role in the grand scheme of things and their history, solved the mystery of babou Jean, and a few people die in the process. I wasn’t left with any feelings of connection or empathy with the characters but perhaps I just need to get to know them better. I’m also not sure I fully understood the ending but I plan on reading the other two novels so maybe it will become clearer.
This was an ok read for me and I’m thinking the books will get better as I read on. Beautiful descriptions of New Orleans and a story that’s still very much developing.

Different to my usual reads this one was a fantastic plot and character driven story that I would highly recommend to others.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVE the title and the cover! I was so excited to start reading this because they seemed to promise a great story.

I like this book. I liked it enough to consider reading the sequel. But it's definitely a solid 3 stars for me. It had lots of elements I liked, like witches and magic and French and history. It exposed me to new things like voodoo and New Orleans. And I enjoyed the characters a lot. There is a rich personal and interpersonal history behind all the players here, major and minor.

But I was left at the end of the book with a feeling of.....ambivalent confusion. I'm confused because I'm not sure I really understand what happened. <spoiler>I know that magic is dying and that the bogey man is involved. I know that Alice's father has attached himself to the bogey man and is responsible for the damage done over the last number of years. But I don't really understand why. I didn't get that depth.</spoiler> I'm ambivalent because my confusion prevented me from investing in the story and what was happening to the characters. There were too many questions left unanswered - or only vaguely answered, or answered in such a convoluted fashion - that I didn't have energy left to really care about the characters.

I also took issue with parts of the actual storytelling. I love a good story with an unreliable narrator. I adore plots with lots of twists and unexpected turns. But for those techniques to be effective, the reader needs to believe they know what's going on and what's going to happen next. We need just enough breadcrumbs for us to happily lead ourselves in one direction when BAM! we're met with a twist that throws us off the course we've come to expect. With this, I felt like I never had a strong enough grasp on what was happening for the plot twists to have the intended impact. I didn't have enough breadcrumbs; I was always playing catch-up but never actually got there. It was a bit disappointing.

I'd recommend it but it probably wouldn't be my first recommendation.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this book which I was provided before publication date in exchange for an honest review. I was so interested in the synopsis of this novel. Set after Katrina in New Orlens, witches try and find a way out of the more to bring back magic.
Unfortunately, the premise was better than the book. I wanted to see more humane elements to the characters, at least to be able to identify with them and understand their motivations. But I found I couldn’t relate to any of them, no matter how hard I tried.
I sympathise strongly with the plight of the people of New Orleans after Katrina, and I really wanted there to be some triumph and instances of courage in the book, as I saw reflected in the news coverage I watched at the time. The people of New Orleans showed that through adversity they could overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. They show it now. I don’t know why I expected this book to reflect the horror, the beauty and the bravery of that time, but it didn’t, and I felt ripped off.
Maybe if there was more humanity in the writing, but it just seemed like the characters were two dimensional. Only 2 stars from me, but it might be someone else’s cup of tea.

I love stories set in New Orleans. It must be my fascination with wanting to experience the town. I love living vicariously through written works, even if it's fantasy. The Kind of Bones and Ashes starts out a bit too slow for me and takes too long to get the speed up to par, but overall it was a good story. Not my favorite, but glad I read it.

The King of Bones and Ashes is an atmospheric story filled with mystery, voodoo and different types of magic. There is a lot packed in, and I can't help but compare it to Anne Rice's The Witching Hour, which is what I was hoping for, though not quite what I got. This story builds slowly, with a lot of character set up, starting in the past to set the stage and moving to the present where family rivalries and grudges are in full swing. Most of the action happens towards the end, so I expect that book two will not have the time dedicated to set up that this first book had. While I did enjoy it, some elements were confusing, and I feel that some were not as fully fleshed out as they needed to be. While the write up leads you to believe Alice is the main character, it really skips around between several stories, and Alice isn't as strong of a character as I would have liked. I'm mildly interested to see where it goes next, but I'm not sure I was as drawn in as by the author's Witching Savannah series of which I've read The Line and the Source, which I do intend to continue.

There is a lot of interest here, it may just be a little slower to get going. 3/5 stars.

I think there were a lot of things that were happening all at once and while they made sense for the story, the pacing was rather slow. Scenes that needed to pick up, dragged a little longer than they should. However, I enjoyed this book a lot because it shared a lot of life in New Orleans, food and culture. I had a great sense of setting all throughout the story. Regardless of the pacing, I liked this story and would read more from this series.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

I really loved how unique a read this was- I was so keen to enter this universe, and having visited New Orleans before I really liked how rich and colourful the descriptions of the city were. Additionally the magic and it's rules were really cool and different and it was great that I wasn't experiencing the same cliches.

I did get a bit lost in sections because there was a lot happening and a lot of characters and history being brought up. But overall this story was exciting and had so many layers and no one was who I thought they were and I never knew where the plot would be going.

A really interesting and original book.

Missed the chance to download on here-but was intrigued by the synopsis that I checked out from the library.
There was quite a bit I loved in this one-like the magic and witches. Extremely atmospheric at times made me feel i was right there in New Orleans.
However, it was a little slow there were just too many characters for me to keep up with and remember. Alice was great-and wished there was more of her in the book than anything.
Still would like to thank J. D. Horn and 47North for the opportunity to read and review this.

Having read the blurb for this book on Netgalley, I was pretty excited to read it, however upon starting it, it turned out to be a book that took quite a bit of time to get into especially when you have quite a bit of backstory that kept interupting the flow as well as the pace which left me as a reader feeling a little cheated wanting to find out more about the principle players rather than having extra elements added which didn't feel required at that point.

It is a story that does have a hell of a lot going for it, trading in the wonderful sense of macabre of the city of New Orleans alongside bringing the culture of magic and hoodoo to the reader that really grips them as events wend thier own direction which does give a great creole flavour to the whole piece but for me as a reader, I did feel that perhaps the author needed to break the tale up between characters and would have been better concentrating on fewer with others to add thier own flavour further down the line in thier own title.

All round it is a strong start but in my opinion it will leave a number of readers not so sure about trying future outings which from the feeling I've picked up here would be a great shame, especially if the author simplifies some of the arcs within and keeps the pace moving without having to dive back into further pre-story information.

The King of Bones and Ashes is that type of book that I rarely read but I still enjoy a lot. Also, it came in my hands while still in a period in which everything related to witches, occult and magic suits me in a magnificent way. Another thing is that there’re never enough book with witches written in a way that can really satisfy me.

The novel did and half and half, with something I liked and something I don’t. Plus some little details that left me a bit neutral.

Time to go on with what didn't thrill me.

The King of Bones and Ashes has a great start and a great end, but lose a bit during the whole story. Because that’s a thing that I was waiting while reading: finding out more, seeing more, reading more action. Reading the story was a bit like reading a piece of the good premise of something bigger, and that’s kinda made clear by the blurb of the second book and the first’s end.
So, as much as I’ve no problem with slow books, since I like to read about the dynamics between the various characters, at the same time I would have loved to reading something more and even seeing more the three women narrator to interact more with each other. Yet, I’ve a soft spot when the connections are maybe not direct but bonded thought other people. So I can’t say that I was really bothered by it, but still...

I liked the characters, the bond between them but I didn't fall in love with anyone. Many secondary characters makes some brief appearance, and while I enjoyed people like Lucy or Daniel, I didn't really feel so much for the others. In my view, they needed a bit more shapes and space especially since some plays what is an important part in the novel. They looked more like something useful for the plot. Which is understandable, anyway.

What I loved is the atmosphere. I know nothing of New Orleans, its places and life, and this book helped me a bit to paint a mental image of what looks like important yet little and unique places in the city.

But the atmosphere doesn’t stop at the place, but also at the magic, the witches, the dark presence that moves all around. Everything was really… withcy? I mean, that was kind of the way I imagine modern witches to live around normal people, carrying on their magic and own culture.

I was deeply fascinated by the figure of the main enemy and how the magic vibes, and even its figure, changed a bit from culture to culture, since every narrator present a different kind of witches and magic. But, as much as I loved many things, I ended the novel with the feel that I needed something more (kinda of a usual thing for me).

Another little note is about Alice's orientation. I didn't get it all and as a member of the lgbtqiap+ community, well, is important to me. I was really confused and the comment was too much vague. I would have appreciated few more clear lines about it.

So, The King of Bones and Ashes is definitely a good story. If you're a lover of complicated family relationship, twist and darkness, this a book that really don't hide behind many morals. Is really direct, and that's another thing that I appreciated. Is also brutal, with the right amount of gory that suit a story of witches with betrayal and blood.

I will definitely read the second novel, see how the plot will evolve and if some little things that weren't that okay for me will be improved.

Ok, so I am just going to start this by saying.... This is not a bad book AT ALL! The characters and the world building are rich and complete. My problem is that I started this book over a month ago, and have only made it 32% through it. While the story is promising, it is just moving so slowly. And I am not finding myself wanting to pick up my kindle to read any further. If you don't mind a book with a slow burn, definitely pick this one up and give it a try! So with that being said...... I am putting this book away for awhile, and hopefully will get back to it at a later date. I will edit this with a review when I do. (I didn't want to leave a star rating because I am not considering this a DNF, and do think this book has a lot of good qualities. So I am putting a 3 star rating for middle ground)

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.