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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
Kelley Armstrong is an absolutely amazing author who over the years has written one of my favorite series, Women of the Underworld, that unfortunately had to come to an end with Thirteen. I loved seeing the cast of characters from all the books coming back and making an appearance. It’s bittersweet to see them come and go but I thought Ms. Armstrong did an amazing job bringing the series to a close. Even though this was not romance-centric like I normally love, the action and connection between all the characters kept me hooked until the end. And with the chance that a TV show is coming from the series, it will live on forever for me!
I always like conclusions to stories. It's nice when plots and worlds wrap up, especially when there's an over-arching story that's been spanning several (in this case, 13) books. But the sad fact is that most times, the end just doesn't feel like it lives up to the power of the rest of the story. In 13, I felt like it didn't really end as definitively as I expected it to. Maybe because she's continuing to write her YA series, and didn't want the face of the world to change too drastically? Maybe just because it focused so highly on Savannah, and she's not my favourite character. It was okay, and not a disappointment, but not anything to write home about.
Oh, goodness. Armstrong definitely shoehorned in every single Otherworld character we want to see and it moved along at a snappy pace, but plot-wise it was more a string of discrete events, and the overarching Evil Plan didn't seem to have much to do with the events that preceded it. For example, . The final thrust of the Evil Plan also doesn't make a ton of sense () and is yet another situation where one character in whom I have no particular interest () is The Most Important Character, the Lynchpin of Everything, with Special Powers Unheard Of In the Otherworld Universe Before. Wasn't this supposed to be Savannah's book?
The Adam/Savannah romance pacing was also really... odd. I guess it was just very anti-climactic. They're friends and now they're romantic. Their scenes together felt very realistic, I guess, but there was no real oomph; like, I was glad they'd gotten together but I didn't really care, the way it was written.
All that said, we got to see everyone and everything happened and it both had a satisfying conclusion and an open-ended one (because life, after all, does go on), and frankly most of my criticisms would hold true for the series as a whole - so, having read all the way to this book, this was what I was expecting, what I wanted, and what I got.
Spoiler
the kidnapping of Adele's baby - which played a lengthy role in the previous book - was so unimportant that the resolution happened off-screen (someone asks if they rescued the kid in his parents and someone else says "Oh yeah, totally, I'll tell you about that later" and that's the end of it), and why they kidnapped the kid is never fully explainedSpoiler
they kidnap Hope in an effort to summon her demon father, who basically is like "yeah no I'm still not going to interfere in human affairs so I'm just gonna sit up here in the afterlife watching"; in the meantime like half the book is trying to rescue Hope from an underground bunkerSpoiler
HopeThe Adam/Savannah romance pacing was also really... odd. I guess it was just very anti-climactic. They're friends and now they're romantic. Their scenes together felt very realistic, I guess, but there was no real oomph; like, I was glad they'd gotten together but I didn't really care, the way it was written.
All that said, we got to see everyone and everything happened and it both had a satisfying conclusion and an open-ended one (because life, after all, does go on), and frankly most of my criticisms would hold true for the series as a whole - so, having read all the way to this book, this was what I was expecting, what I wanted, and what I got.
Well, this book didn't disappoint. I didn't think the series could keep getting better but it does and I loved the ending to it. The characters showed so much growth within each book and the relationships that were being created just made the series that much better for all the loose ends to be tied. I loved the relationship between the two main characters and how they overcome their differences. It was so nice to see this journey from the very first book to the last.
After the buildup over several books, I'm sorry to say it did feel a little anticlimactic. I still enjoyed the book, but it just wasn't as big as I was anticipating. Perhaps that is due to too many complex plot threads all being wrapped up in one volume. There were all these hints for several books that something big was coming, but in the end it seemed like that was downplayed as coincidences that certain forces were just trying to take advantage of.
Larson Dahl we never actually see on page. The only part he plays is in being kidnapped along with his adoptive parents. And supposedly the only significance in his being kidnapped is that he is symbolic? Again, a downer.
Then the last paragraph seemed contradictory.
However, there was a moment with Hope Adams that I really found sweet.
"The Berithian Treaty forbids demonic possession of children-" (pg. 90) - Where was this first mentioned? The Reckoning?
"A blessed defense mechanism--if the chaos threatened her or those she loved, she felt nothing." (pg. 317) - Does this contradict Living With the Dead? I thought that Hope still got wrapped up in the chaos even though the timing was really bad, and it involved her, Karl, etc. Maybe I'm remembering wrong though.
Jaime met Aratron "when she discovered those humans learning magic." - reference to No Humans Involved? I don't remember that part lol.
However, I have to say I really liked the short story, "From Russia With Love", that was included at the end.
Rating reviewed 1/20/2023.
Spoiler
As an example, Jasper Haig. In prison for several books with hints that he still had a big part to play, but in the end he was just stabbed while rescuing Hope. A bit of a downer.Larson Dahl we never actually see on page. The only part he plays is in being kidnapped along with his adoptive parents. And supposedly the only significance in his being kidnapped is that he is symbolic? Again, a downer.
Then the last paragraph seemed contradictory.
Spoiler
"Things had happened in the last few weeks. Big things. Maybe even things that would ultimately alter our world." (pg. 416) What?!However, there was a moment with Hope Adams that I really found sweet.
Spoiler
I liked when Lucifer appeared to meet his granddaughter. I guess although he never bothered with one of his kids before it's nice that he at least came to tell Hope about the unique situation with Nita. (pg. 401-401)Spoiler
"Eve still liked to remind her of the "sock puppet" incident, when Jaime had used a sock to hold on to a glass shard in case she needed to fight off a cult of crazed humans who'd discovered magic." (pg. 71-72) - reference to No Humans Involved?"The Berithian Treaty forbids demonic possession of children-" (pg. 90) - Where was this first mentioned? The Reckoning?
"A blessed defense mechanism--if the chaos threatened her or those she loved, she felt nothing." (pg. 317) - Does this contradict Living With the Dead? I thought that Hope still got wrapped up in the chaos even though the timing was really bad, and it involved her, Karl, etc. Maybe I'm remembering wrong though.
Jaime met Aratron "when she discovered those humans learning magic." - reference to No Humans Involved? I don't remember that part lol.
However, I have to say I really liked the short story, "From Russia With Love", that was included at the end.
Rating reviewed 1/20/2023.
SUMMARY:
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Like many others, I've read every book in the series. I generally enjoyed this book, but I kind of expected more from the last book in the series. If you're a series fan, go ahead and read this, there's a lot you'll like about it. There may also be some things you don't like, but certainly not so many that you regret reading it.
DETAILS:
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I heard from others that this book was cool because it really tied together so many elements that Armstrong included in other books since the beginning of the series. I think that claim set expectations for me that were inaccurate for the book. It's true that there are characters who come back who were in previous books, and it's true that a few things that happened in previous books come up again in this book. However, it doesn't *really* feel like some grand end to some overarching plot that Armstrong has been orchestrating over 13 novels. It's more a kind of "greatest hits book".
I read a review on this book that lamented how little Paige was in the book. I agree with this. She's pretty much the only female main character who has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. Kind of odd.
And finally, one of the reasons *I* like Armstrong is for her well written sex scenes. The best sex scenes are built on the most robustly developed relationships. In previous romantic relationships in this series, Armstrong has done a really good job of carefully crafting the growing relationship between the lead characters in a way which creates a really satisfying experience when they finally come together.
Savannah and Adam just don't feel as well developed to me. I know their romance has been developing over the last several novels, but there is a lot of their history that is off-screen for the reader. So we're told they have a lifelong close friendship, but we don't really feel it. When Adam finally shows that his interests in Savannah have changed, we only see it coming because we're not idiots and we know they're supposed to get together. I think this is because Adam and Savannah both hide their feelings until Adam is suddenly "Hey, I want you after all!" Then, because they already have this friendship built from their off-screen history, the characters are immediately intimate, but the reader doesn't really get there with them. Ultimately, after all these books of waiting, we don't get any sex scene. We get a few paragraphs of clothing removal and then a fade to black. Anti-climactic if the sexy tone is one of the things that brings you back to Armstrong over and over again. :/
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Like many others, I've read every book in the series. I generally enjoyed this book, but I kind of expected more from the last book in the series. If you're a series fan, go ahead and read this, there's a lot you'll like about it. There may also be some things you don't like, but certainly not so many that you regret reading it.
DETAILS:
-----------------
I heard from others that this book was cool because it really tied together so many elements that Armstrong included in other books since the beginning of the series. I think that claim set expectations for me that were inaccurate for the book. It's true that there are characters who come back who were in previous books, and it's true that a few things that happened in previous books come up again in this book. However, it doesn't *really* feel like some grand end to some overarching plot that Armstrong has been orchestrating over 13 novels. It's more a kind of "greatest hits book".
I read a review on this book that lamented how little Paige was in the book. I agree with this. She's pretty much the only female main character who has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. Kind of odd.
And finally, one of the reasons *I* like Armstrong is for her well written sex scenes. The best sex scenes are built on the most robustly developed relationships. In previous romantic relationships in this series, Armstrong has done a really good job of carefully crafting the growing relationship between the lead characters in a way which creates a really satisfying experience when they finally come together.
Savannah and Adam just don't feel as well developed to me. I know their romance has been developing over the last several novels, but there is a lot of their history that is off-screen for the reader. So we're told they have a lifelong close friendship, but we don't really feel it. When Adam finally shows that his interests in Savannah have changed, we only see it coming because we're not idiots and we know they're supposed to get together. I think this is because Adam and Savannah both hide their feelings until Adam is suddenly "Hey, I want you after all!" Then, because they already have this friendship built from their off-screen history, the characters are immediately intimate, but the reader doesn't really get there with them. Ultimately, after all these books of waiting, we don't get any sex scene. We get a few paragraphs of clothing removal and then a fade to black. Anti-climactic if the sexy tone is one of the things that brings you back to Armstrong over and over again. :/
I know Armstrong didn't want to have a big climactic ending to the series and shut it off for good. But it just felt a little anticlimactic. She didn't switch POVs too much, which helped, but it suffered a bit from having so many characters involved. Still a good series overall, and I still enjoy it as a body of work.
A good conclusion to a series I've been with since the ninth grade - the short story at the end was an especially good ending, and even though I've never loved Savannah as a narrator, I enjoyed the book (admittedly, I looked forward to the other narrators a good deal, but that's just because I've always loved Elena).
I really liked this book and it is my favorite out of the three books on Savannah. I hate the Supernatural Liberation Movement and how determined they are to expose the Otherworld. I definitely love how all the characters from previous books come together to fight and make one last stand. We got to see Elena and Clay, Adam and Savannah, Paige and Lucas, Jeremy and Jaime, Hope and Eva and Cassandra. I love how they stand united and how they win the war eventually. I love how this ties up some loose ends on relationships. Definitely a great read. 10 stars!