The ballad of perilous graves by Alex Jennings
Name of Book: The ballad of perilous gravesAuthor: Alex Jennings
ISBN: 9780356519241
Publisher: Redhook
Type of book: Nola, alternative world, hurricane, flood, 2018-2019, music, dancing, attraction, child protagonists, New Orleans, supernatural, moving back home, art, travel, finding lost songs,
Year it was published: 2022
Summary:
In a fantastical version of New Orleans where music is magic, a battle for the city’s soul brews between two young mages, a vengeful wraith, and one powerful song in this vibrant and imaginative debut.
Nola is a city full of wonders. A place of sky trolleys and dead cabs, where haints dance the night away and Wise Women keep the order, and where songs walk, talk and keep the spirit of the city alive. To those from Far Away, Nola might seem strange. To failed magician, Perilous Graves, it’s simply home. Then the rhythm stutters.
Nine songs of power have escaped from the magical piano that maintains the city’s beat and without them, Nola will fail. Unexpectedly, Perry and his sister, Brendy, are tasked with saving the city. But a storm is brewing and the Haint of All Haints is awake. Even if they capture the songs, Nola’s time might be coming to an end.
Main characters include Perilous "Perry " Graves as well as his younger sister Brendy and their and Perry's love Peaches. In addition there is Casey and his beloved cousin as well as multiple other characters. Perry Graves often doubts himself but is loyal and will do what he can to protect the ones he loves. Brendy is cheerful with high self esteem and highly outspoken. I think Peaches is my favorite. Peaches may or may not be human. She is protective, unnaturally strong, but doesn't like asking for help and is often missed by Perry and his sister. Casey is a female to male transman who is an artist and who is also loyal but at the same time he is trying to reconnect to himself and to the city he recently came back to.
Theme:
Read it from cover to cover but no idea what lessons I should have learned
Plot:
The story is in third person narrative from everyone's points of view. At first I could follow along the story and enjoy it, but then points of view switched a little too frequently and I couldn't understand what was going on in the story or recall the minor characters of the story. I also couldn't really connect or understand the connection between Casey and Perilous Graves. No disrespect intended, but the story might have been ok without Casey ( and yes I did enjoy his character...)
Author Information:
(From goodreads)
Opinion:
I truly feel bad for not enjoying this novel as much as I hoped. At the start I did enjoy it a lot, but as the story went on, I think some certain revelations should have happened earlier than they had because I couldn't understand how plotlines were connected to each other. Also, I think I would have liked more explanations of the supernatural world because I had no idea how zombies or haints even functioned. In fact, I never even heard of haints, and the only zombies I know are ones that eat brains. The positive thing is if one is missing on Ruth Ozeki style of writing, then this novel has it in spades and more.
This was given for review
3 out of 5
Read it from cover to cover but no idea what lessons I should have learned
Plot:
The story is in third person narrative from everyone's points of view. At first I could follow along the story and enjoy it, but then points of view switched a little too frequently and I couldn't understand what was going on in the story or recall the minor characters of the story. I also couldn't really connect or understand the connection between Casey and Perilous Graves. No disrespect intended, but the story might have been ok without Casey ( and yes I did enjoy his character...)
Author Information:
(From goodreads)
Alex Jennings is a writer/editor/teacher/poet living in New Orleans. He was born in Wiesbaden (Germany) and raised in Gaborone (Botswana), Tunis (Tunisia), Paramaribo (Surinam) and the United States. He constantly devours pop culture and writes mostly jokes on Twitter (@magicknegro). He loves music, film, comix, and even some TV. He’s going a little nuts shut up in his Central City apartment, but thankfully he has two of the best roommates on earth (one of whom is a beautiful beautiful dog named Karate Valentino. His debut novel, The Ballad of Perilous Graves is due out from Redhook in 2022. You can also find him goofing around on Instagram: (@magicknegro)
Opinion:
I truly feel bad for not enjoying this novel as much as I hoped. At the start I did enjoy it a lot, but as the story went on, I think some certain revelations should have happened earlier than they had because I couldn't understand how plotlines were connected to each other. Also, I think I would have liked more explanations of the supernatural world because I had no idea how zombies or haints even functioned. In fact, I never even heard of haints, and the only zombies I know are ones that eat brains. The positive thing is if one is missing on Ruth Ozeki style of writing, then this novel has it in spades and more.
This was given for review
3 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
Comments
Post a Comment