Adult: Review of Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong

Title: Thirteen Author: Kelley Armstrong Pages: 444 Publication Date: July 24th, 2012 Publisher: Penguin - Dutton  Source: Received a review copy from the publisher

Back Cover

It’s been more than ten years, a dozen installments, and hundreds of thousands of copies since Kelley Armstrong introduced readers to the all-too-real denizens of the Otherworld: witches, werewolves, necromancers, vampires, and half-demons, among others. And it’s all been leading toThirteen, the final installment, the novel that brings all of these stories to a stunning conclusion.

A war is brewing—the first battle has been waged and Savannah Levine is left standing, albeit battered and bruised. She has rescued her half brother from supernatural medical testing, but he’s fighting to stay alive. The Supernatural Liberation Movement took him hostage, and they have a maniacal plan to expose the supernatural world to the unknowing.

Savannah has called upon her inner energy to summon spells with frightening strength, a strength she never knew she had, as she fights to keep her world from shattering. But it’s more than a matter of supernaturals against one another—both heaven and hell have entered the war; hellhounds, genetically modified werewolves, and all forces of good and evil have joined the fray.

Uniting Savannah with Adam, Paige, Lucas, Jaime, Hope, and other lost-but-not forgotten characters in one epic battle, Thirteen is a grand, crowd-pleasing closer for Armstrong’s legions of fans.

First Lines

"Typical guy. You fight through hell--literally, hacking through legions of beasts and zombies and demon-spawn--to sneak home and spend a few stolen minutes with him...and he's not there."

In a Sentence

Thirteen is a fast-paced, satisfying conclusion to an incredibly popular series.

My Thoughts

After the action-packed ending of Spell Bound, Thirteen pretty much drops you head-first into a world becoming consumed by chaos--both physical and political. Thirteen doesn't take much time to really get going, so for those of you who are fans of jumping in right in the middle of the action, this book will probably be right up your alley. 

As far as readers of Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series go, I'm a relative newcomer to the books. I came into the series only at the beginning of Savannah's story line, which began two books ago with Waking the Witch. However, while it was obvious that some of the other characters mentioned had their own adventures and back stories, I didn't have a trouble getting acclimated to the world or the plot coming in at book eleven. With that being said, I DO want to eventually go back and read the other books in the series! 

I think one of my favorite parts of Thirteen was getting to finally "meet" Savannah's infamous mother, Eve. Over the course of Savannah's first two books, I had heard a TON about Eve, and I was glad that she finally made a physical appearance in Thirteen. Furthermore, if you've read Waking the Witch and Spell Bound, you'll probably remember that a LOT of Savannah's emotional issues are tied to to her mother--especially since the two were separated at such an early age. Having Eve back in her life gave Savannah a chance to clear up some of those issues, along with allowing her to finally move on

However, while I found Thirteen to be a fast-paced, enjoyable read, I haven't quite reached the die-hard level of fandom that is often associated with these books. Perhaps it's because I came in on the tail end of the series and missed out on the extended development of some of the minor characters that make appearances in Thirteen. Still, I see why Armstrong is so popular with her readers (As she obviously is. I mean, have you SEEN how many books this woman has published?), and I definitely planning on reading more of her books in the future. I especially want to try her young adult series, Darkest Powers, because I've heard a LOT of good things!

I've found it a bit difficult to write a review for the end of such a popular, long-running series...especially since I've only read the final three books. At the same time though, I think Armstrong has a lot to offer fans of urban fantasy. This series sees the coming together of a TON of characters,  all with their own different mythologies and supernatural powers (or lack thereof). In a story of this size, with so many contributing factors, I think that, as a writer, it'd be rather easy to get bogged down in all the details. But Armstrong handles this difficulty rather well, and for the most part, the plot avoids clunkyness and pitfalls. 

For urban fantasy fans, Kelley Armstrong is one of the biggest names in the genre, and like I said earlier, I can see why. If urban fantasy is your thing, then you should give this series a try at some point!

Links

Add Thirteen to your to-read list on Goodreads.

Find author Kelley Armstrong online.

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Rating

A few flaws but worth reading