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A review by andydear
Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede
4.0
Eff is a 13th child and in her world, that makes her bad luck. She grew up being told by her many Aunts and Uncles that she was born evil, devil spawn, an accident waiting to happen. When she had been born it had been insisted on that she be killed, but her parents wouldn't have it and loved her just the same as any of their other children. Despite her parents protection however, Eff was constantly the target of tormenting and abuse from her relatives. When her family finally moves away from her horrible tormenters, Eff is terrified of what she is what horrible things she might do.
I have read around 6 novels by Patricia Wrede and each one proves more than the last what a great author she really is. I envy the way that she is able to make magic seem as simple as riding a bike. I love the way she can make a reader feel like maybe magic is real and we just have to go out to find it. It's these constant themes that make me come back to her books.
And I did come back to her books, a few days a go, to read this. Let me just start by saying that in those early chapters I really wanted to hop into the story and give Eff a hug and give her some reassurances. It was never her fault when anything unfortunate happened and she didn't have to become evil if she didn't want to. Because of the sympathy I felt for Eff, I became attached to her as a character and she quickly became my favorite. So every time Eff gave the slightest hint of hope in her future, I felt like a proud mother.
There was another character, Eff's best friend William, who I think deserves to be talked about. William became Eff's friend because both of their fathers worked as college professors and William's father didn't really think that any of the other children were good enough to play with his son. So Eff became his friend and after a long childhood together they became really close. He was the only one who noticed how she always blamed her self whenever something would go wrong. When she was sick, he would go visit her everyday for a year. He never teased her or tormented her and when he found out about her being a 13th child he insisted it was nothing. He was practically apart of her family. The thing is, I don't want them to be family. I want them to be married. In fact, I want them to be best friends turned husband and wife and I want them to get a big house and have children who will be taught magic and be happy.
But the thing is, Patricia Wrede is very big about not making romance the center of attention in her books. She likes to make her female protagonists very strong with out a male influence. Not that I mind that at all, it's amazing!! She creates all of these witches and princesses who make it a point that they don't need a husband to be successful or happy. It makes me stupidly happy as a feminist. But still, I really wanted them to get married. At least a hint that it would happen! In the entire book they were my only ship (Ship meaning: characters I think should be in a relationship), and the fact that they weren't cannon (cannon meaning, an idea that is confirmed to be true by author/writer) just about destroyed me. I was in despair at the end of the book when I realized that I would never know if they really did get married or not. But I suppose I can live with that. Maybe one day she will attend the festival of books in L.A. and I can ask her myself, what happened.
So to wrap it up, I will recommend this book to anybody who has a thirst for fantasy and loves to read about strong female leads. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and if you would like to read other books like it I would recommend the Enchanted Forest Chronicles and Graceling.
I have read around 6 novels by Patricia Wrede and each one proves more than the last what a great author she really is. I envy the way that she is able to make magic seem as simple as riding a bike. I love the way she can make a reader feel like maybe magic is real and we just have to go out to find it. It's these constant themes that make me come back to her books.
And I did come back to her books, a few days a go, to read this. Let me just start by saying that in those early chapters I really wanted to hop into the story and give Eff a hug and give her some reassurances. It was never her fault when anything unfortunate happened and she didn't have to become evil if she didn't want to. Because of the sympathy I felt for Eff, I became attached to her as a character and she quickly became my favorite. So every time Eff gave the slightest hint of hope in her future, I felt like a proud mother.
There was another character, Eff's best friend William, who I think deserves to be talked about. William became Eff's friend because both of their fathers worked as college professors and William's father didn't really think that any of the other children were good enough to play with his son. So Eff became his friend and after a long childhood together they became really close. He was the only one who noticed how she always blamed her self whenever something would go wrong. When she was sick, he would go visit her everyday for a year. He never teased her or tormented her and when he found out about her being a 13th child he insisted it was nothing. He was practically apart of her family. The thing is, I don't want them to be family. I want them to be married. In fact, I want them to be best friends turned husband and wife and I want them to get a big house and have children who will be taught magic and be happy.
But the thing is, Patricia Wrede is very big about not making romance the center of attention in her books. She likes to make her female protagonists very strong with out a male influence. Not that I mind that at all, it's amazing!! She creates all of these witches and princesses who make it a point that they don't need a husband to be successful or happy. It makes me stupidly happy as a feminist. But still, I really wanted them to get married. At least a hint that it would happen! In the entire book they were my only ship (Ship meaning: characters I think should be in a relationship), and the fact that they weren't cannon (cannon meaning, an idea that is confirmed to be true by author/writer) just about destroyed me. I was in despair at the end of the book when I realized that I would never know if they really did get married or not. But I suppose I can live with that. Maybe one day she will attend the festival of books in L.A. and I can ask her myself, what happened.
So to wrap it up, I will recommend this book to anybody who has a thirst for fantasy and loves to read about strong female leads. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and if you would like to read other books like it I would recommend the Enchanted Forest Chronicles and Graceling.