The Ballad of Perilous Graves

For a debut novel, this is great. A blend of magical realism and setting, with an original idea and magic system executed in a way that feels fresh. And the NOLA themes and vibes? Just wow. The book isn't perfect, as a debut it can feel a little sloppy at times but usually I expect that when reading an author's first and know it will improve with time. I can't wait to see what else Jennings writes!

The Ballad of Perilous Graves takes place in Nola. Nine of the city's songs have disappeared.In the center of the story are three kids: Perry, Brendy and Peaches, tasked with a quest to find all the stolen songs of the city, and an adult: Casey, a trans man trying to get back someone he lost. All of them are on a magical journey of self-discovery and growth.

This book feels as enchanting and magical as its world. Just like Nola, it has an undefinable character that's hard not to love. The book will take you on a journey where you won't know up from down, real from dream.

The storytelling and world building are masterful, combining hoodoo and fantasy. It's filled with haints, zombies, graffiti that comes to life, p-bodies that get addicted to the high of graffiti, giant rats, and many other creatures and magical beings.

I loved the way the story was told. This book does not hold your hand through the story. In fact it runs ahead of you, not waiting for you to catch up. It requires you to trust the process and wait for things to start clicking into place. I won't lie, there are aspects of the book I'm still confused by at the end, but in general it all comes together beautifully.

The writing illustrates everything in such a vivid manner, its easy to see Nola, its music, its magic, and its people as if it's all playing out in front of you.

The only drawback for me was that I was more into the way the story was told, the characters, and the setting, than the plot itself, which kind of gets buried under the weight of all the other aspects. Combined with the fact that it's a longer and denser read than I was expecting, it felt like a really slow read and I felt like no matter how much I was reading I was making no progress.

This is a book I would recommend anyone who likes fantasies with a strong world, and people looking for something a little different in their books.

Thank you very much to Redhook Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

An interesting premise and a whimsical writing style, but wwwaaaaayyyyy too long of a book. Some scenes were completely unnecessary and drawn out. Jennings should've turned this book into a series, not condense a heavy world and magic system into one long book.