Book Review: The 13th Sign by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb

Posted by Lizzy on Dec 19, 2012 in reviews | 0 comments

The 13th Sign by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb

Genre:  MG Fantasy

Publisher:  Feiwel & Friends

Releases January 8th, 2013

Links:  Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

What if there was a 13th zodiac sign?

You’re no longer Sagittarius, but Ophiuchus, the healer, the 13th sign.

Your personality has changed. So has your mom’s and your best friend’s.

What about the rest of the world?

What if you were the one who accidentally unlocked the 13th sign, causing this world-altering change—and infuriating the other 12 signs?

Jalen did it, and now she must use every ounce of her strength and cunning to send the signs back where they belong. Lives, including her own, depend on it.

How much does your star sign affect your personality?  According to the 13th Sign, it completely controls it.  When Jalen unleashes the 13th zodiac sign, she changes the personality of everyone, including herself.  This personality shift of all the characters did inhibit my ability to connect to the characters, as I wasn’t sure what they would do with the new personalities vs their old personalities.  Ellie, Jalen’s best friend, is impersonated TOO well by Gemini, and the fact that Jalen couldn’t figure out who was who caused her to distance herself from Ellie.  It’s a shame, because I liked both Ellie and her impostor.  I’m not quite sure what was the point of Jalen constantly trying to figure out the real Ellie.  It would work in a movie, but in a book where the two characters can change places, look identical, and there’s no possibility of inserting hints when the reader can’t keep visual track – it’s annoying.

The plot was very reminiscent of Percy Jackson, only the monsters and helpers didn’t seem to “happen” by any pattern.  There was no buildup, in fact the pacing seemed to lag to the point of closing the book for good right before the next bad guy showed up.  And then it was over too quickly and another boring spout of “will the real Ellie please stand up?” began.  The helpers showed up as if the writer written herself into a corner…and it happened almost every chapter.  Jalen and her friends weren’t able to solve anything on their own – unlike Percy Jackson and his friends.

I think this story would of been better as a series, and have Jalen vanquish only a couple a “monsters” in a book.  Since she was running around trying to get from point A to point B and on a strict time limit, there wasn’t any room for subplots or character development.  The story definitely did not live up to its potential.

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher/Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.)

I am basically a big dork who would still be going to school if they’d let me. (But they won’t, cause that’d just be weird.) So instead I write historical fiction! All of the research, none of the tests – I’ve got the best job in the world, doncha think?

SELLING HOPE was given a starred review by Booklist, who said it was “a bouncy tale populated by a terrific cast of characters!” And AUTUMN WINIFRED OLIVER DOES THINGS DIFFERENT has been nominated for the Volunteer State Book Award (2011-2012 list) and was chosen to represent the State of Tennessee in the Pavilion of States at the 2009 National Book Festival. I’m delighted to have AUTUMN serve as Tennessee’s ambassador!

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