Michelle Harrison

Thirteen Treasures #2

13 curses

Hannah Yang

I made the mistake of reading 13 Curses before 13 Treasures, so I'm not sure if I'll go back and read it or not. However, 13 Curses was a great, great read!

The one thing I loved about 13 Curses is the writing style; it's simple so you can understand it quite easily, but the plot is so rich and everything makes sense. At first you're like "whaaat?" and when you have more information, you just cannot put the book down.

I loved this book's characters as well; Rowan especially. You don't usually see characters as well developed as these; Rowan has a devil-may-care attitude and can be rude/snappy but underneath it all, the only thing she wants is for her brother James to be under her care again, and unlike most female heroines, she does get scared like a natural human being. I could totally feel her character and I really could see what she was going through; her flashbacks also really help add depth and layer into the story.

The only characters that I didn't reeeally love were ironically enough, Tanya and Fabian (but especially Fabian). They just seemed bland and boring (especially Fabian). Tanya is all nicey nice to Fabian at first and then boom, she's being all snappy and "Shut up, Fabian". And Fabian's just dumb - it seems that all he cares about is his father and getting himself out of trouble. I wish I could say more praise about them both, but they were pretty disappointing.

I did like the adventure and action that kept this going; Rowan saw bits and pieces of her past and others' pasts (the Hedgewitch being Agnes Fogg, Eldritch being Snatcher's assistant, etc.) so you really feel the flow of the story. I love how all the characters have parts in Rowan's past; like Nell, who wasn't just a silly housemaid with awkward actions, she actually played a part.

I was surprised that finding the 13 treasure (or rather, curses) started about halfway through the novel. I didn't really mind, but this caused the author to need to speed the book along, which made the 13 curses seem so much easier to find. I love how the curses warped the original powers of the treasures, and how everything fit together (like Oberon overeating because he was wearing "The Platter").

One thing I didn't really like how Rowan was (view spoiler)[half fey (hide spoiler)], which seems to be too opposite her ideas (being against fey for taking her brother). Overall, it was a great read and I would definitely recommend it!

13 curses Thirteen Treasures #2

Reviews