Drawing on the Grimm Brothers’ dark fairytale, “Godfather Death,” this new novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows is a sweeping, fantastical saga of actions and consequences.
This is 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.
All gifts come with a price.
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?
From the astonishing mind of Erin A. Craig comes the breathtaking fairy tale retelling readers have been waiting for— what does a life well-lived mean, and how do we justify the impossible choices we make for the ones we love? The Thirteenth Child is a must-read for fans of dark fairy tales, romantasy, and epic fantasy alike.
ERIN A. CRAIG is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows, Small Favors, and House of Roots and Ruin. She has always loved telling stories. After getting her BFA in Theatre Design and Production from the University of Michigan, she stage-managed tragic operas filled with hunchbacks, séances, and murderous clowns, then decided she wanted to write books that were just as spooky. An avid reader, decent quilter, rabid basketball fan, and collector of typewriters, brass figurines, and sparkly shoes, Erin makes her home in West Michigan with her husband and daughter.
My thoughts: drawing on the Grimm Brothers’ Grandfather Death, this fairy tale features Hazel, the Thirteenth Child of the title, born to parents who should really have stopped at one or two children. The gods come to them and offer to foster her, her parents decline the offers until the Dreaded End, the god of death, arrives.
Then nothing. He doesn’t come for Hazel until she’s a teenager, whisking her away to the Between, the home of the gods, to fulfil the destiny he lays out for her.
There’s a twist to his requirements and as Hazel grows, she learns that there is more required of her than first appears. A healer must also become a killer. She must honour Death’s instructions. Until she finds she can’t, killing the king could cause devastation and ruin hundreds of lives, but the only way to save him could destroy the bond between her and her godfather. Can she risk it all?
Hazel is a fascinating character, her godfather, Merrick, has no humanity and doesn’t understand hers, her reluctance and her fear of death. Her choices upset and perplex him. He doesn’t understand free will or empathy.
The story twists and turns, humanity and the gods exist in such different spheres, their desires clash with those of the humans they manipulate and request worship from. Hazel struggles with her gifts, powerful as they are, but she cannot be what the gods desire and remain human. The book is clever and intriguing, beautifully written and at times moving and effecting.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 