I received a copy from Netgalley. 

This book was a lot of fun. I’ve read a few books by this author before and I’ve enjoyed them - this was something a little different. In a fantasy inspired New Orleans with a host of supernatural creatures, voodoo and magic being the norm, centred around a the mystery of a murdered voodoo queen. 

Main character Jude is a musician with a brass band who finds herself possessed by the dead queen who needs her help solving the mystery. Coming in to contact with a whole host of different characters from intriguing to creepy. Jude was a very likeable main character who discovered lots of things about herself as the plot progressed. Family and friendship played an important part. 

There were some rather disturbing bits towards the end. That being said it worked well with the plot and to be fair I didn’t guess or see it coming. Posed the questions for some interesting morality grey ares. 

There was some fantastic world building in mixing the familiarity of New Orleans with the Baton Noir fantasy version. The different types of magic and voodoo were explained very well - you don’t have to know hardly anything about the subject to work out what was going on. Quite a few interesting twists as well.

The plot was fast paced with plenty of action and little to no romance. A possibility hinted at with one sub plot which I personally would have loved to see explored. Left at an interesting ending - concluded the story but open for the possibility of more. I would definitely love to see more from this world. 

All in all enjoyable and fun. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Tiger Group for approving my request to view the title. 

AVR Weekly News ~ 263rd Edition

The one with Hurricane Michael.

No power for 27 hrs. Which I know is not so bad considering what others have been and are going through. However, I love my electricity. I would survive the apocalypse but I wouldn't like it.

Tells the story that most of us are now familiar with. The artwork uses water colors so nothing is defined, especially people. That makes the work less impactful, as there is very little emotion coming from the pages. The most defined people were the politicians. It felt too emotionally distant and academic for me.

Update #2

I got another 50 minutes of reading in while doing the laundry. I spent it reading Just Mercy as that has been on July's TBR pile for the longest. 

Highlights

Books read: 4; 2 graphic novels, 2 ebooks

Time read: 4 hours and 55 minutes

Challenges: 0

Next is to review another bunch of books for COYER and get ready for BoB23 (August).

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Update #1

I got 30 minutes of reading done yesterday morning (yay kids' swim class!). That was it. So to make an even small dent in this read-a-thon, I cleared my calendar for today so I could read. So far today I have read for 3 hours and 35 minutes and got a lot done. I've read Drowned City: Hurrican Katrina and New Orleans by Don Brown (graphic novel), Gaijin: American Prisoner of War by Matt Faulkner (graphic novel), finished Bespoke: A Tiny Christmas Tale by Amanda Dykes (historical romance), and At Your Request (Apart From the Crowd #0.5) by Jen Turano (historical romance).

Probably won't get to anymore reading until I go do laundry tonight, so maybe one more update from me. I hope all my fellow participants in 24 in 48 are doing well and getting books off their TBR done.

Simply put, this is Wing Commander Kenneth William (K.W.) Mackenzie's story of a long, colorful and varied career in aviation in war and peace. 

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Mackenzie trained as an engineer and learned to fly while still in his teens. Subsequently, he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) in the late 1930s, received rigorous training in the Royal Air Force itself and was posted to 501 Squadron in the later stages of the Battle of Britain in September 1940, flying the Hawker Hurricane, which he came to love "for its ruggedness, stability and relatively light controls with viceless flying characteristics. It could take anything that you could give it and out turn anything flying at the time; well flown, a match for anything." 

Mackenzie writes vividly of his combat experiences with both 501 Squadron and 247 Squadron, where he flew Hurricanes on night fighter operations both over Britain and  Occupied France. He proved to be a daring and resourceful pilot, made ace, and was shot down by flak whilst attacking a small airbase in France on the night of September 29th, 1941. He ended up a prisoner of war for 3 years before being repatriated to Britain. 

Aviation was Mackenzie's life and his book (with photos) amply illustrates how rich a life that was.