Thirteen (Otherworld, #13)

by Kelley Armstrong

[celinenyx]

Thirteen (or 13) marks the end of an era. For at least a few years, there won't be any full-length Women of the Otherworld books. I'm still hoping she will write some spin-offs in the form of a trilogy or something. I think I'm completely in denial that this actually might really be the end.

I have had a hard relationship with the last few books in this series, but Thirteen returned to that what made me fall in love with the series. Awesome characters, cute interactions, and plenty of action. I won't try to give a summary of the plot, but it will suffice to say that shit hits the fan in Thirteen. Most notable are the parents and grandparents of our lovely half-demon supernaturals that rear up their heads. I loved the way Ms Armstrong handled these lord demons, making them scary yet somehow vaguely relateable and human.

Almost all characters make a short appearance in the book. This was done with variable success - I think some characters could have used more page time, while others could have done with some less. The book has the same length as all of the other Women of the Otherworld books, but for this kind of "letting all characters pass by" to work it should have been longer. There is a conflict between Paige and Lucas that is never fully resolved. We don't really know what will happen to Eve and Kristoff. In itself the ending was satisfying, but I can't help the feeling that I was expecting more from the ending of such a long series with such a big and diverse cast of characters.

There is plenty of action in Thirteen and it was one of the quickest reads I've had lately. Savannah finally finds some balls, and the dynamics between and inside Cabals have always been a fascination of me. The book ticked more than enough boxes to fulfil my criteria of a good book, and if it hadn't been the last one it might have been a five-star book. But it leaves me with questions, and I know there won't be a next book to answer them.

Having read the entire Women of the Otherworld series now, I can whole-heartedly say that I recommend them. They're good urban-fantasy, and a few of them have been amazing. Most of them were great. A few were okay. Because of the narrator changes it gives more the impression of books set in a world, rather than one continuous narrative (like with the Sookie Stackhouse books). The ending might not have been perfect, but it was a good one. It didn't leave me with a bad taste in my mouth, just a desperation to find more Paige, Elena, Savannah and Jaime.