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nagia 's review for:
13 Treasures
by Michelle Harrison
This is a wonderful book! I liked and enjoyed it so very much!
The premise isn't something terribly original! It's about a girl that can see the fairies roaming the world all around us. It's been done many times before but this is the only one I actually liked.
Harrison based her fairy realm on research she's done and it shows. She is incorporating the Seelie and Unseelie Court mythology, as well as ways to protect yourself against evil fairies that are rooted in folklore. Her fairies are distinct personalities just like the characters. They are described beautifully, they are attributed unique gifts and habits and they can be really nasty and scary.
In most off the books about fairies, they author (1) goes for the shock factor by sexing them up, like in [b:Wicked Lovely|305234|Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely, #1)|Melissa Marr|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327814035s/305234.jpg|296240], (2) comes up with something ridiculous and unbelievable as in [b: Darkfever |112750|Darkfever (Fever, #1)|Karen Marie Moning|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392579949s/112750.jpg|108558] or (3) claims they are dangerous, evil and nasty but it's usually just talk; and then there's always the Disney version.
In this book Harrison chooses to stay traditional with their appearance, she keeps them detached from the human world, but still interacting with it, and when they decide to turn nasty they really do mean business. Those forest scenes were schilling.
I loved the characters as well. I liked the friendship between Fabian and Tanya. I liked that they were two independent personalities, that didn't necessarily get along, but since they were brought together by circumstances they decided to try and work out their differences in order to achieve a mutual goal, and through this ordeal a beautiful friendship was build.
Fabian was geeky and quirky, he was smart and bullheaded. He was very much what you'd expect a 12 or 13 year old boy to be and he was intriguing, mysterious and enraging at times.
Tanya was amazing! She was kind, patient and understating to the adults, than never believed her and insisting on punishing her, and to the faeries for they weren't all out to torment her. She was brave, compassionate, unbiased and just. She loved puzzles and she was a great friend! She was also naive and uncertain, she was getting mad at people and even threw the occasional tantrum but firstly she was entitled to one and secondly it only made her character more realistic and that's what I adored about Tanya. The whole plot of the book wouldn't exist if Tanya wasn't in possession of a unique ability but, and this is a big but, she is not the typical special snowflake that everyone treats as if she is the beginning and end of everything. Tanya is presented as a normal 12 year old girl that is sent to the grandmother as a punishment for being difficult that just so happens to be able to see faeries.
The plot was quite predictable but I din't mind one bit because I loved watching it unfold.
I'm not a fun of third person omniscient, I'd much prefer the third person limited point of view, and Harrison needs to work on how to handle dramatic plot deliveries as well as drooping clues inconspicuously throughout the book, but overall I enjoyed her writing.
I though the adults' book time was suspiciously little. Tanya was sent to her grandmother as a punishment but there were no chores, no lecturing, no nothing. She was felt to her own devices and allowed to roam freely which, given the circumstances, didn't make much sense.
I recommencement this book to people that like mysteries, dark and scary faerie tales, interesting characters, and don't necessarily require romance.
The premise isn't something terribly original! It's about a girl that can see the fairies roaming the world all around us. It's been done many times before but this is the only one I actually liked.
Harrison based her fairy realm on research she's done and it shows. She is incorporating the Seelie and Unseelie Court mythology, as well as ways to protect yourself against evil fairies that are rooted in folklore. Her fairies are distinct personalities just like the characters. They are described beautifully, they are attributed unique gifts and habits and they can be really nasty and scary.
In most off the books about fairies, they author (1) goes for the shock factor by sexing them up, like in [b:Wicked Lovely|305234|Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely, #1)|Melissa Marr|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327814035s/305234.jpg|296240], (2) comes up with something ridiculous and unbelievable as in [b: Darkfever |112750|Darkfever (Fever, #1)|Karen Marie Moning|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392579949s/112750.jpg|108558] or (3) claims they are dangerous, evil and nasty but it's usually just talk; and then there's always the Disney version.
In this book Harrison chooses to stay traditional with their appearance, she keeps them detached from the human world, but still interacting with it, and when they decide to turn nasty they really do mean business. Those forest scenes were schilling.
I loved the characters as well. I liked the friendship between Fabian and Tanya. I liked that they were two independent personalities, that didn't necessarily get along, but since they were brought together by circumstances they decided to try and work out their differences in order to achieve a mutual goal, and through this ordeal a beautiful friendship was build.
Fabian was geeky and quirky, he was smart and bullheaded. He was very much what you'd expect a 12 or 13 year old boy to be and he was intriguing, mysterious and enraging at times.
Tanya was amazing! She was kind, patient and understating to the adults, than never believed her and insisting on punishing her, and to the faeries for they weren't all out to torment her. She was brave, compassionate, unbiased and just. She loved puzzles and she was a great friend! She was also naive and uncertain, she was getting mad at people and even threw the occasional tantrum but firstly she was entitled to one and secondly it only made her character more realistic and that's what I adored about Tanya. The whole plot of the book wouldn't exist if Tanya wasn't in possession of a unique ability but, and this is a big but, she is not the typical special snowflake that everyone treats as if she is the beginning and end of everything. Tanya is presented as a normal 12 year old girl that is sent to the grandmother as a punishment for being difficult that just so happens to be able to see faeries.
The plot was quite predictable but I din't mind one bit because I loved watching it unfold.
I'm not a fun of third person omniscient, I'd much prefer the third person limited point of view, and Harrison needs to work on how to handle dramatic plot deliveries as well as drooping clues inconspicuously throughout the book, but overall I enjoyed her writing.
I though the adults' book time was suspiciously little. Tanya was sent to her grandmother as a punishment but there were no chores, no lecturing, no nothing. She was felt to her own devices and allowed to roam freely which, given the circumstances, didn't make much sense.
I recommencement this book to people that like mysteries, dark and scary faerie tales, interesting characters, and don't necessarily require romance.