I instantly felt that The Kings of Bones of Ashes was something I wanted to read and I was thrilled when I got the book to read and couldn't wait! And, the book was great. I was thrilled to read a book about witches set in New Orleans (and not a YA) and the premise of a story about witches that are slowly losing their magic felt refreshingly new.

The King of Bones and Ashes is the first book in the Witches of New Orleans and the book starts off with a young Alice Marin right before she is sent to an asylum by her father who feared that she was going insane just like her grandmother. She will not come back to New Orleans until 10 years later when her grandfather dies. And, her return will be the start of unstoppable events...

This book is the kind that I felt right from the start was perfect for me. I love reading Gothic novels set in the American South about old feuds and secrets. The writing really appeals to me and I loved how the book both had a satisfying ending (to the story in this book), but at the same time, a cliffhanger that makes me wanna read the next book since not everything has been resolved.

I want to thank 47North for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

The narration by Sophie Amoss was wonderful but the story was so very dull. I would NEVER have gotten even halfway through it without the stellar narration of a lifeless story. ( )

The narration by Sophie Amoss was wonderful but the story was so very dull. I would NEVER have gotten even halfway through it without the stellar narration of a lifeless story. ( )

I won this book in a giveaway...a signed copy! I entered the giveaway because when I read witches and New Orleans, I immediately thought of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches series and I was intrigued, as everyone knows Rice is one of my favorite authors. The similarities end at witches and New Orleans, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good story. While it had somewhat of a slow start, it eventually picked up momentum and I became engaged with the story. I've heard a few people mention that the story was hard to follow. I didn't find that at all. The individual story lines of each character/group of characters were interesting. Eventually, how they were all tied together was revealed. What a reveal it was! There are some genuinely scary moments as well, and a quite gory part toward the end (just to make anyone faint of heart aware...be prepared). In all, it was an enjoyable paranormal/horror novel.

This is the first book in a trilogy so I'm looking forward to reading the subsequent books. J.D Horn is also the author of the Witching Savannah series. I'm definitely going to check that series out as well. ( )

I had such high hopes that this would be a truly awesome and memorable book. It had so much going for it, the setting, New Orleans always is a draw, witches (of course), and family drama, but to say it was a slow read is an understatement. I put it down and went back to it at least 3 times.
The story moves very very slowly, it does finally pick up the last third or so of the book. It is overpopulated with characters, 33 at least to be exact, which made it hard to follow, even the author realized this, there's a guide to the characters in the back but it certainly takes away from the enjoyment of the story when you have to keep referring to it.
I'm not sure that I'm going to read anymore of this series, (spoiler alert) so many of the characters that I liked in this one are gone! ( )