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A review by blewballoon
The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig
Did not finish book. Stopped at 63%.
This book is gloomy, but not in a fun way, and it's a bummer, but not in a meaningful way. It feels like sad things happen just because. Hazel never seems to learn from her painful mistakes or from any of the tragedies she witnesses. At this point in the book (63%) she's being especially frustrating.
I liked Hazel well enough for the first like 30% of the book, but she's lost my favor now and I don't find any other characters likable or interesting. Even the god of death is a bit boring and disappointing. The gruesome imagery also feels pointless, the world building feels too vague and nebulous for it to contribute to the atmosphere. At first I thought this world might be similar to Little Thieves with the way the gods are involved and presented, but the fantasy setting is too incongruous with itself, there are many anachronisms and modern vocabulary that pull it back and forth across potential time periods.
The audiobook narrator is alright, and I was going to try to push through with a higher speed (I was already at 1.55) but I saw that I still had 6 hours left and I don't really want to spend 6 more hours on a book I'm not enjoying at all.
I liked Hazel well enough for the first like 30% of the book, but she's lost my favor now and I don't find any other characters likable or interesting. Even the god of death is a bit boring and disappointing. The gruesome imagery also feels pointless, the world building feels too vague and nebulous for it to contribute to the atmosphere. At first I thought this world might be similar to Little Thieves with the way the gods are involved and presented, but the fantasy setting is too incongruous with itself, there are many anachronisms and modern vocabulary that pull it back and forth across potential time periods.
The audiobook narrator is alright, and I was going to try to push through with a higher speed (I was already at 1.55) but I saw that I still had 6 hours left and I don't really want to spend 6 more hours on a book I'm not enjoying at all.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and War