A review by anomieus
The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings

adventurous inspiring mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Books that have cities as an integral part of the story, as an actual character, are a favourite of mine. The Ballad of Perilous Graves’ New Orleans has that in spades, and what’s more, in a modern setting (yes, Anne Rice did this beautifully with The Witching Hour but her Nola was pre-00s which was perfect for the story. But having an updated Nola in Perilous Graves that incorporates modern issues and problems – Katrina, poverty and other social issues etc. bring the city up to date in my imagination.) 

Weaving music and magic into the heart of the city, the characters, and the story, this book is an urban fantasy with legend and myth front and centre. Every time I was reading, I was hearing the music in my head, and then I found Alex Jennings had very helpfully put together a Spotify playlist that inspired his story and that just made everything almost perfect. 

There is a lot happening in this book and it does suffer a bit from some complex storylines that a reader can get a bit lost in. There are different variations of New Orleans/Nola/Away/Dead Side which can be pretty tricky to parse out and understand where they are separated and where they bleed into one another. 

I think a bit of judicious editing would have served the overall story well, but ultimately, I really loved the characters in the story: Perry, Peaches, Brendy, Casey, Fess, etc. The aftermath of Katrina and the scars it left, both physically and mentally on the city and its people, are integral to the story and I found that aspect heart wrenching and topical. 

I rated this 3.5 out of 5, but rounded up just for the shear effort that went into the story. I would have gone even higher had it been trimmed a bit and a little more coherence brought to the plotlines and some of the characters.