3 Signs You’ll Love The Thirteenth Child By Erin A. Craig

Erin A. Craig has done it again. What more can we say? Her new fantasy novel, The Thirteenth Child, transports us to a dark, fairytale world inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ “Godfather Death.” 

The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig follows Hazel Trépas, the thirteenth child of a huntsman and the goddaughter of Merrick, the Dreaded End. She grows up to be a healer, gifted with the ability to find the exact cure needed to treat her patients. But with it comes the responsibility to end the lives of those who cannot be cured. 

This novel had us locked in the whole time we read it. Here are three signs you’ll love reading The Thirteenth Child!

Book Overview: The Thirteenth Child

Content Warnings: death, parent deaths, gore, war, violence, illness and plague, cheating

Summary: 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?

You Love Dark Fantasy

Whether you know the Grimm Brothers’ fairytale or not, we know you’ll enjoy your time reading The Thirteenth Child if you’re a fan of dark fantasy! This novel paints such a vivid picture of a time when people believed in three gods: the Holy First, the Divided Ones: Félicité and Calamité, and the Dreaded End. The supernatural comes into play more often than not, especially once Hazel starts fulfilling her duties. It reads like an old storybook, and we just love the dark, uncanny themes.

You Don’t Trust Any Character

Whenever we read mysteries and fantasies like The Thirteenth Child, we know better than to assume every character has good intentions. With the morally gray cast of characters in this novel, it was easier to suspect no one did. And we knew not to trust certain characters when Hazel arrived at court. Everyone has their own secrets, all of which revealed themselves by the fast-paced ending. Plans for murder and chaos came to light, and we’re proud to say we knew it!

You Enjoy Plot Twists

Speaking of being suspicious, you’ll love The Thirteenth Child if you enjoy plot twists as much as we do. The plot twists start earlier than we expected, from the truth about Hazel’s fate to the source of her gift. We can’t forget the secret of the queen’s death and its connection to the plague. And even though there were several plot twists working at the same time, they wove together so well! We didn’t feel confused about anything, and we even noticed some of the clues ourselves. On another note, the ending definitely threw us for a loop, and we don’t know how we would’ve recovered from it without the epilogue. 😮‍💨

Erin A. Craig’s The Thirteenth Child comes out September 24th, and you can preorder a copy of it here!

What do you think of The Thirteenth Child after reading our review? Are you excited to check out Erin A. Craig’s latest Gothic fantasy? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

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