Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

It’s like The City We Became but set in New Orleans, or a facsimile of one, with a touch of Hadestown. Jazz music, ghosts/haunts, and magic, what more could a person ask for? This is a beautifully written book with many storylines, all interweaving throughout. Very compelling main characters and a wildly fascinating version of Nola, I wanted to learn more about the place and its varieties of magic. Would absolutely recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

“America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans.
Everywhere else is Cleveland.”- Tennessee Williams

Upfront, you should know that this has two big caveats for me going into this review.

The first is that I don't enjoy YA. I don't think this book even presents as a YA book, but I can tell you right now that it is and no descriptions of zombie grey matter shot out the back of a skull are going to change the simplicity (not a bad thing), voice, or tone of this book. These moments of violence are record skips in tone, not indicative of what the story and experience of this book is, and is likely just an element that means it can't be marketed as YA because of these brief flashes of violence.

The second thing you need to know is that I love New Orleans. It is a city of incredible flavor, of magic-- it is the protagonist of this great human experiment. It must be protected and celebrated in equal measure. It's truly my favorite place in the world and I eat all depictions of it up. My eyes learn to lock onto the name of the city when I see it referenced in other books. I'm debating on creating a shelf in my goodreads library for just books set in or about New Orleans. I also grade on a generous curve when it's involved.

So how do these two major influences on my taste combine in The Ballad of Perilous Graves?

For me, a pretty disappointing experience.

I found the framing of the story around the child protagonists more infantilizing than anything. The sense of mystery because of their lack of worldview trends more toward confusion than it does intrigue. I found Perry's aversion to magic to be eye-rolling but can also understand that's a major element in a lot of YA fiction, which again-- I don't have a high tolerance for so take my review with copious amounts of salt.

The actual stakes and rules of the world are introduced deep enough into the book to be genuinely frustrating, and I still don't really feel like anything rises to the level needed to keep pages turning. I wanted to see it through to the end for big NOLA soliloquies (and came away wanting more), but I can imagine it should turn a lot of other people off early, and even more people off when we're nearly 40% of the way in and don't really have a concrete sense of tension.

I think Stagger Lee is a weak villain, but he seems at home in a YA story. I wanted more from him and I don't feel like the late-game context we get for his motivations do much to salvage him and it definitely doesn't make the earlier chapters more compelling in hindsight.

Let's turn to some positives: Jennings is a fun writer. I definitely want to read more and will be following him closely. I'd like to see a crack at some more adult storylines-- and there are flashes of depth with Casey that aren't afforded to the other protagonists (and there are brilliant explosions of color and wonder with the kid-centered chapters, to be clear). The prose is satisfying to read, but I felt there were more than a few times where my sense of space and clarity was muddled. Most of the pop culture references are just that. They don't really do anything for me and it becomes kind of a repeat annoyance late.

The dual cities is an interesting concept but I don't feel enough was done with it. I'm on record as saying that I'm not the type of person who needs magic systems clearly defined but I don't feel like we get a satisfactory grip on the rules of what's happening.

I really, really wanted to love this. There was enough here that worked for me to look upon it favorably (especially when I need to course correct for the genre, which again, I will label YA even if the publisher does not) but I think it would be hard to recommend.

When I saw this book, it was an immediate yes. The cover: GORGEOUS. Set in New Orleans: yes please—as someone who is from there if there's a book taking place in New Orleans, it's almost always an immediate yes. And the magic system; holy smokes this is creative, unique, and something I've never seen before. But, and it's a big "but," I DNF'ed this book. And I'm not one to do that. maybe I wasn't in the right mood to read it, I do know that I will be giving it a second chance because I desperately wanted to love this book. Maybe it was the way the voice of the characters were portrayed, I get a knee jerk reaction when people write in the voices of New Orleanians, or anyone from Louisiana in a way in which they deem authentic, but ends up being grating. It's also the reason why I DNF'ed Where the Crawdad Sings.

Fun and so imaginative. I liked this escapist novel, very much. It was something new and fresh in the genre. I cannot wait to see were this series goes, if it continues. Utterly magical and bizarre.

Beautiful world-building and interesting characters. Loved the descriptions of earth, locations, and music.

Thank you, Redhook, for allowing me to read The Ballad of Perilous Graves early!

I requested this title because the premise seemed interesting and the book did have some intriguing attributes, but in the end I wasn't really enamoured by the novel. Perhaps, I set my expectation too high and when the book failed to deliver I was sad. I recently read a tweet in which the poster talked about Not Right Nows, meaning books that should be revisited later and I am thinking I will do this for The Ballad of Perilous Graves once it's released.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Ballad of Perilous Graves. It was smart, witty and incredibly fun. I enjoyed the characters, and it was a quick read. I found the writing to be engaging and entertaining; I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day!

Interesting story, it didn't really work for me, but I am sure others may love it. I could not get into the characters or the dialect. It is well-written though and has a great atmosphere.

Sometimes, you start reading a book and know in your heart that it's going to be good. There doesn't need to be any preamble, you go in ready.

I went in expecting to have a good time and left wishing I could foist this book in the faces of every single person I know. I may have to throw my kindle at a few unsuspecting souls to get my point across while I wait for a physical copy to appear in my hands.

This was an all-around incredible time. The writing was lovely, the story was absolutely engaging and the work that went into the setting was noticeable and superb. I felt absolutely transported and I'm so incredibly glad I was able to read an arc of this story.