The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig | Spoiler-Free Review

"Because no matter how big and overwhelming the present felt, no matter how my heart ached or rallied or sank again, no matter how I tried to wish myself out of the moment I was in, I knew that was all it was. A moment. One tiny moment in a life destined to have far too many."

The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig tells the story of Hazel, a young healer navigating a ruthless court to save the life of the king, grappling with a pantheon of gods with questionable agendas as she fights for agency and true love in her own life as the goddaughter of none other than Death himself.

This book is a retelling of the Grimm's fairy tale "Godfather Death," in which a man with a dozen children asks for a benefactor for the unborn thirteenth child. It's very short, but I actually wouldn't recommend reading it before reading The Thirteenth Child, because it will spoil the novel.

Erin A. Craig is the author of House of Salt and Sorrows (a "Twelve Dancing Princesses" retelling), its sequel House of Roots and Ruin, and Small Favors (a "Rumpelstiltskin" retelling), all of which I really enjoyed. So it shouldn't be much of a surprise to learn that I also really enjoyed my time with this book. Craig's books are formulaic and predictable to a degree, but don't let that deter you from reading. She blends atmospheric fantasy with gothic horror masterfully.

There are really two parts to this novel: the first, where we meet Hazel and follow her through adolescence, becoming a renowned healer and living with her godfather Merrick (more commonly known as The Dreaded End); and the second, when Hazel is called to the palace to help the ailing king. I would say the pacing of these two parts were wildly different, and that did throw me off a little. I wish we had spent more time in the first half, maybe even aged Hazel up a bit so her growth didn't seem so rapid. But that's just me. 

My favorite character in the whole book was, without a doubt, Merrick. He's this primordial being, the god of death, who knows no limits and discriminates against no one, and yet he's also a bumbling godfather who doesn't know the first thing about raising a child and being a parent. I found him endearing and terrifying all at once. 

What you might find surprising is that my second favorite character was actually the love interest! I thought his character growth was phenomenal, you could really see the change in him as the story progressed. I tend to find with most YA novels that the love interest is this rakish playboy who actually has a heart of gold, he just hides it from everyone (except for the main girl, of course). But in this novel, the love interest actually grows out of that behavior and becomes someone more. He actively changes himself for the better and I just think that's neat.

I really don't have any qualms with this book. Was it a bit predictable? Yes, in that "YA fantasy with a romantic subplot" kind of way. Was the villain a bit obvious to me? Yes, because I know how Erin A. Craig writes her villains. If you've read her other books, I think you'd understand what I mean by this. As I had said before, she follows a formula, but I don't find anything wrong with that. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I gave The Thirteenth Child a CAWPILE score of 7.58, which comes out to a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.