The Thirteenth Child Book Review
Check out my review of The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig, a lushly descriptive gothic fairy tale that teaches the preciousness of life through the exploration of death.
I love real fairy tales. I'm talking Hans Christian Anderson and The Brothers Grimm, stories filled with dark and scary villains and not-so-happy outcomes.
Generations of story tellers used fairy tales to teach children valuable lessons in problem solving and emotional resilience. These dark tales spark imagination and creativity and help inspire social development from the comfort of home.
After dropping off my sweet daughter at college for the first time, I was struggling with very deep sadness and my favorite light romances just couldn't hold my attention for even a paragraph.
After re-reading the same sentence over 4 times, I abandoned my current book and looked for something else. The dark and enchanting cover of The Thirteenth Child called to me and I was immediately hooked from the opening page.
This Young Adult gothic fairy tale romance was everything I needed during a difficult week and I cannot recommended it highly enough.
Curious if this book is for you? Check out my full review below.
If this is your first time reading one of my reviews, you may want to check out how I score my reads with this scale guide here.
Summary of The The Thirteenth Child
All gifts come with a price.
Hazel Trépas has always known she wasn’t like the rest of her siblings. A thirteenth child, promised away to one of the gods, she spends her childhood waiting for her godfather—Merrick, the Dreaded End—to arrive.
When he does, he lays out exactly how he’s planned Hazel’s future. She will become a great healer, known throughout the kingdom for her precision and skill. To aid her endeavors, Merrick blesses Hazel with a gift, the ability to instantly deduce the exact cure needed to treat the sick.
But all gifts come with a price. Hazel can see when Death has claimed a patient—when all hope is gone—and is tasked to end their suffering, permanently. Haunted by the ghosts of those she’s killed, Hazel longs to run. But destiny brings her to the royal court, where she meets Leo, a rakish prince with a disdain for everything and everyone. And it’s where Hazel faces her biggest dilemma yet—to save the life of a king marked to die. Hazel knows what she is meant to do and knows what her heart is urging her toward, but what will happen if she goes against the will of Death?
What I Liked
Here's what I would tell my best friend about the book:
- Authentic Fairy Tale Prose: The story telling in this book is top notch. I was hooked from the very first page and utterly captivated until I finished it just days later. Grimm's fairy tales were dark and never shied away from danger and destruction. This isn't Disney's Ariel, this is the Little Mermaid turning into foam in the waves.
- Dark but Soothing: After dropping my first daughter off at college, I was struggling with grief and couldn't concentrate. For some reason, a book that doesn't shy away from tragedy makes me feel like the author is commiserating with my struggles. Though the book explores death, I found the overall tone to be hopeful since it proves just how precious life is.
- No Gore Just for Gore's Sake: Death is not pretty and the story does not shy away from this but I did not find the details to be overly grotesque or drawn out. We're given just enough detail to know the pain and horror of the situation without it ever crossing into horror.
- Uniquely Magical: While several romances and romantasy books I've read can follow similar tropes, this story felt utterly unique and creative to me. I loved the world building and details around Hazel's powers and her relationship to her godfather.
- Compassion and Empathy: Hazel faces multiple moral decisions throughout the story and even though she makes mistakes she always chooses to act out of compassion and love.
- Page Turner: I couldn't stop thinking about the story and found myself picking it up to read all weekend long.
What I Didn't Like
Every reader needs something different from a book. What I may not have preferred may be your favorite part.
After a really amazing beginning to the story, I was disappointed how much of the middle focused on the King's mysterious illness. At that point it became more about the royal family and the politics of the realm and less about Hazel's unique gifts and challenges.
There's also a large chunk of the middle where we don't see anything from Merrick. It was the relationship between Hazel and her godfather that intrigued me most so I was disappointed to shift away from that plot for so long.
How Spicy Is It?
🚫: The Thirteenth Child rates a Level 0 on my spicy books rating scale. Passion and desire are mentioned but there are no romantic connections beyond kissing that appear on page.
Overall Score
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I give The Thirteenth Child an enthusiastic five stars on my star rating scale. I read this 500 page book in just 3 days because I simply could not put it down.
I was captivated by the story telling and details, I loved watching Hazel mature through her challenges, and I was moved by the ending and unique love between her and her godfather.
Favorite Quotes
"Birthdays are important times, don't you think?" he went on, musing.
"I've never thought so." Leopold made a face.
"They are, and anyone who says otherwise had something terribly traumatizing happen to them as a child." He wasn't wrong."
"There is no one right answer, I suppose. There are only many, many small choices that will (hopefully) make up the whole of one good, long life. A life worth remembering, I hope. If all that life boils down to is our choices, obviously I need to start making better ones."
"A slice of cake is not a hardship."
"No," he agreed. "But going through life allowing others to impose their will upon you, simply because it gives them pleasure to do so, could be. Not could be," he corrected himself. "It is."
"Never a disappointment. Always a wonder."
"Today I look at you and wonder what you might have become if I'd not saddled you with dreams of only my own making."
"Ninety-nine years sounded so vast and yet was nothing: a wisp of breath, a flutter of moments, the hiss of a candle's flame."
"A wish was nothing but a hopeful regret, and here, at the end of my life, I had none."
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Content Warnings
The Thirteenth Child is a dark fairy tale that does not shy away from death. Physical injuries are mentioned frequently along with sickness and pain. Most of it is fantastical in nature and the author never lingers too long on gore.
There are a few content warnings that could be spoilers, so I'll list them here for you as needed.
- Death: This is a predominant theme of the story and it is explored throughout the book.
- Murder
- Cutting and Scars
- Plague and Severe Illnesses: Some with Cures, Some Without
- Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse
- Execution
- Poisoning
- Child Abuse
- Ghosts and Haunting
- Cult-like Religious Fanaticism
When I list the triggers like this, taken out of context, it makes the book sound horribly dark and not fun. However each of these elements are used within the context of a gothic romance to show the main character experiencing growth through significant trials and challenges.
I would not hesitate to let my younger teenager read this wonderful book.
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