Book Review: The Thirteenth by G. L. Twynham

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*UPDATED 1/27/13

My avid love for books goes back to childhood when my mother taught me to read and carted me to and from the library several times a week. I suppose it was no surprise to my family and friends when I majored in English education in college. I then worked for several years as a high school English teacher before I had my son. While teaching (and even now), I made it a point to stay current on new and popular young adult novels and keep them stacked on my classroom shelves.

“The Thirteenth” is the first book in a young adult fantasy/scifi series by UK author G. L. Twynham.

Georgia Twynham has been writing since she was a child, beginning with short stories, poetry, then articles and now novels. In writing “The Thirteenth,” she wanted a strong female heroine, but one with a normal family. She created a main character that has regular problems that teenagers everywhere would be able to relate to.

The main character of this story, Val Saunders, seems like an ordinary teenager at first. She has her awkward moments and insecurities like any other teen. On the eve of her 18th birthday, strange things begin to happen to her along with the sudden appearance of a Zodiac tattoo on her arm. Along with her long-time best friend and several new friends, Val weathers the succession of strange events that lead up to a surprising twist explaining her destiny and who she really is.

My take:

I really enjoyed this book!  It moves quickly, and I was drawn into the story almost immediately, from one scene to the next. I wanted to know what was happening to Val and what her next adventure would be; so it was definitely a page turner for me.

When I read books, I always try to guess what’s going to happen, who’s the bad guy, etc. I have to confess that the strange developments/surprises at the end…yeah, I didn’t see those coming! Also, without giving too much away, I’ll say that the book seems a fantasy almost all the way to the end, when it suddenly turns into a scifi novel. I’m curious to see if the rest of the series could be classified in the elusive “science fantasy” genre.

The characters weren’t as developed as I would have liked; however, this is the first book in a series, so it makes sense that as the series continues, the characters will grow. Also, there are quite a few cliches (but, hey, my writing is obviously full of cliches!), but nothing I found overtly obnoxious.

Overall, I’m looking forward to reading the next installment, The Turncoats! You can learn more about The Thirteenth series and G. L. Twynham HERE. And there’s good news for readers on the go like me: all three of Twynham’s books are available for the Kindle!

G.L. Twynham is giving away 20 Kindle/e-pub copies of “The Thirteenth,” but the giveaway ends in 3 days! Hurry and enter HERE.

Note: I received a complimentary Kindle download of “The Thirteenth” from G. L. Twynham to review and was not compensated for this post. I was not asked to write a positive review, and the opinions expressed above are my own and may differ from the opinions of others. Affiliate link present.

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6 Comments

  1. Once upon a time in a reality far, far away one of my most favorite things to do was hide out with a good book! Those days are soooo gone lol… Great review and it sounds like it would be a great read. I wish I could promise I will read it, but the next best thing is that I’ll tell my daughter. She lives and breathes Sci-Fi and horror. Thanks 🙂

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