Title: The Thirteenth
Author: G.L. Twynham
Series: The Thirteenth Series
Genre: YA Sci-Fi Fantasy
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 9 2009
Editions/Formats Available In: Kindle/Print/Audio Book
Blurb/Synopsis:
Imagine starting at the end and finishing
back at the beginning. This is the story
of a teenage girl called Valerie Saunders who is about to be thrown through
time and space. Being bestowed with abilities beyond her wildest nightmares,
she discovers that she not only has to deal with turning eighteen, her first
job and an unwanted tattoo, but also magical powers and intense urges to fall
in love. She envisaged she would spend her life blending into the scenery, not
blowing it up!
Val has a calling, but which side is
dialling her number?
Review
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The Thirteenth is an unusual story. We have an 18 year old girl named Val, who thinks she is a normal teenager, but is very soon to learn how unusual she is. Right from the very first chapter you are plunged into action. Which I loved.
What I didn’t love
was that I felt that Val was a tad bit unreal. She meets an older man in front
of a tattoo parlor, and immediately discloses her story and the most intimate
details of her life, which I find unusual especially since she has loving
parents who she is keeping such details from. I won’t say exactly what happened
to make her spill her guts to this stranger but it did have a very abnormal
twist which is why she did it, I just felt that speaking to her parents
actually would have made a bit more sense.
That aside I can
honestly say I will be reading the rest of the series as they come out. The
action was fast paced and kept you turning the pages. I just had to find out
what was going to happen next. By the middle of this book I was turning page after page at a rate just so I could keep up with all the action packed drama. The twists and turns that this author throws the readers way just astounded me and I never saw some of them coming.
And the ending…
WOW! I can’t wait until I can get the next book in the series. The way the
author left this story off just opens up an entirely new world for the
Sci-fi/paranormal genre. Such originality, that I must applaud her for.
I have only one recommendation to the author, correct the grammar/typo errors in the book there aren’t many but they always seem to be at critical moments, and make Val more personable in the next book. Because as she is now I just can’t understand why those people (sorry can’t name names here or spoilers may slip) all seem to flock to her.
I am definitely recommending
this book for the Younger YA and up. And since it is such an action packed
story I’m sure it will grab many right out of their seats.
All in all I give this a very strong 4.5 stars, just didn't seem to hit that 5 star mark for me.
Details/Disclaimer: Review copy was
provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. The free book held no
determination on my personal review.
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Author Bio
Born in Wellingborough in 1972, Georgia was
brought up with her two older brothers in a sleepy Leicestershire village until
at the age of fifteen, her parents decided to move abroad, taking her with
them. A new country and a new language helped her come out of her shell and for
eleven years, she lived and worked on the beautiful island of Menorca.
Georgia wrote short stories and poetry from an early age but her real passion for writing didn’t truly emerge until she was 31. Writing for her own web site and articles for magazines helped to support her and her daughter. After meeting her now fiancé, she was given the encouragement and opportunity to write full-time and the rest is history.
Georgia felt there was a need for a strong British female heroine. She also wanted a main character that had a normal family, with problems that most teenagers/young adults in this country might be experiencing and could relate to. And so Val Saunders, daughter to Mike and Susan Saunders, was born.
Georgia spends time with her daughter in their home in Leicestershire and her life is filled with promoting her books, writing and walking her dog Milly, the Jack Russell.
Author
Links
Excerpt
Chapter 1
The Tattoo
A young woman stood alone looking up at the
night sky, a cool breeze effortlessly caressing her slim frame as darkness
closed around her. At long last it would be her turn to be part of something
that had been her destiny since birth.
She moved on, passing the pond; she caught her reflection in the water and smiled. The time had arrived; the moon had reached the tops of the trees. On this particular evening, the shadows of the dense woods, mixed with the bruised sky made the adventure that lay ahead seem all the more exciting.
As she left the village behind and made her
way into the woodland, her body filled with anticipation. She began to run.
Knowing instinctively where to go, she
weaved like a needle in and out of the undergrowth, dodging the trees as if
they were merely smoke trails rising in front of her.
She was moving swiftly when an unfamiliar
sound suddenly stopped her dead in her tracks. A strange crackling in the air
made every hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Something was very wrong.
She span around, trying to find where it was coming from, but soon realized it
was everywhere. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.
She had cautiously started to move forward
again, when the silence was shattered once more by another wave of sound. In
the confusion, her foot caught under a loose tree root, causing her to fall
awkwardly into a pile of leaves. Before she had time to stand up, she heard
violent screams coming from the distance. These weren’t joyful cries; the cries
of pleasure and happiness she had been expecting. These turned her blood cold
and left her paralyzed where she lay on the wet forest floor, her heart
pounding.
After a few seconds, she gathered enough
courage to slowly lift herself up and move forward again. She was suddenly very
frightened, aware of the risk she was taking just by being there. She darted to
an old oak tree, hiding for a moment in the shelter of its huge trunk.
Cautiously, she edged around it. Everything
was quiet again so she leant the top half of her body out, to see if it was
safe. In that split second a ball of light came towards her, travelling at
amazing speed and growing as it came, until it seemed to be the size of a mountain.
When it hit her, its power engulfed her
whole body and she was instantly lifted off the ground. She screamed helplessly
as it raised her into the treetops.
Her ears filled with a piercing noise, like
nothing she had ever heard before. Her whole body felt like it was burning up,
yet still she kept rising and rising, until she was high above the trees.
Then the light and noise stopped as quickly
and as it had started. Her upward flight came to a violent halt, and she began
to fall. As she tumbled through the trees, the thick branches scratched
aggressively at her clothes and face. The ground came towards her at terrifying
speed. The scream that was struggling to escape her was silenced when she hit
the ground with tremendous force. Her body filled with pain, the taste of warm
blood filled her mouth, and she slipped into unconsciousness.
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