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bluerosetea 's review for:
The Thirteenth Child
by Erin A. Craig
3.5/5
Very very charming start and I was so invested in this sort of gothic Cinderella origin story with a death god that Hazel had. I was fully immersed with no complaints maybe until the middle.
I think this book is trying to fit too much into one story due to the amount of time-skipping that happens. Hazel's family is fleshed out well in the beginning, and so is her adoptive father Merrick who I adore, but characters after that first quarter of the book have relationships with her that are developed offscreen which... isn't the best IMO considering how much they affect what Hazel does? Kieron barely had the chance to be a character which is why I could not care less about their relationship and was frustrated when Hazel wanted to forgo her future that was built up for several chapters to stay behind and be with him. She also only knows the king for a few chapters before she gives up one of her candles for him and I was soooo annoyed with her for that. She at least got consequences for it but it just doesn't make any sense for her to do that if she spent all of these years growing up with loyalty to her godfather?
I thought her meet cute with Leopold at the beginning of the book was very great, and I knew he was gonna be the long term love interest and was excited for that. But when we meet him in present time he is just so unbearable!! I was OK with that because I was like he's gonna character develop to be better, and he does I guess, BUT it happens after a 11 month flash forward sequence where he gets sent away and even then - as soon as he comes back - he compares Hazel to one of his father's prostitutes in the middle of breakfast??? And she doesn't even care. And after that he is permanently really nice and attentive to her all of a sudden so his personality just doesn't make any sense to me; I didn't care about their romance either. I think this book would have been better if it was Merrick and Hazel-centric and explored her growing into this sort of mystical deity-like figure in the world. His gifts to her just ended up going to the royal family in the end which makes me wonder what the point of them really were? They brought peace to the kingdom for a while, but it's tragic in that they did not affect the world in a long term like he wanted. There's so much with Merrick that is not wrapped up because he disappears after she pulls the candle stunt (rightfully so!!) and only reappears at the end of the book when Hazel is about to die.
I do have a lot of positive thoughts toward this book's themes, prose, and aesthetic build-up and think that it had so much potential, but subjectively I was just so annoyed at Hazel's decision making that I had to knock it down a few stars so this review is more of a light rant than anything.
Very very charming start and I was so invested in this sort of gothic Cinderella origin story with a death god that Hazel had. I was fully immersed with no complaints maybe until the middle.
I think this book is trying to fit too much into one story due to the amount of time-skipping that happens. Hazel's family is fleshed out well in the beginning, and so is her adoptive father Merrick who I adore, but characters after that first quarter of the book have relationships with her that are developed offscreen which... isn't the best IMO considering how much they affect what Hazel does? Kieron barely had the chance to be a character which is why I could not care less about their relationship and was frustrated when Hazel wanted to forgo her future that was built up for several chapters to stay behind and be with him. She also only knows the king for a few chapters before she gives up one of her candles for him and I was soooo annoyed with her for that. She at least got consequences for it but it just doesn't make any sense for her to do that if she spent all of these years growing up with loyalty to her godfather?
I thought her meet cute with Leopold at the beginning of the book was very great, and I knew he was gonna be the long term love interest and was excited for that. But when we meet him in present time he is just so unbearable!! I was OK with that because I was like he's gonna character develop to be better, and he does I guess, BUT it happens after a 11 month flash forward sequence where he gets sent away and even then - as soon as he comes back - he compares Hazel to one of his father's prostitutes in the middle of breakfast??? And she doesn't even care. And after that he is permanently really nice and attentive to her all of a sudden so his personality just doesn't make any sense to me; I didn't care about their romance either. I think this book would have been better if it was Merrick and Hazel-centric and explored her growing into this sort of mystical deity-like figure in the world. His gifts to her just ended up going to the royal family in the end which makes me wonder what the point of them really were? They brought peace to the kingdom for a while, but it's tragic in that they did not affect the world in a long term like he wanted. There's so much with Merrick that is not wrapped up because he disappears after she pulls the candle stunt (rightfully so!!) and only reappears at the end of the book when Hazel is about to die.
I do have a lot of positive thoughts toward this book's themes, prose, and aesthetic build-up and think that it had so much potential, but subjectively I was just so annoyed at Hazel's decision making that I had to knock it down a few stars so this review is more of a light rant than anything.