Alas! I wish Seth Godin's 6/9 blog post on overwriting hadn't been quite so accurate. 'Thirteenth Guardian' exactly emphasizes Godin's point. The author tells the reader about the characters — their thoughts, their looks, their actions — but doesn’t let us really “know” them. No opportunity for inference or conjecture. I spent much of my time mentally editing the book, to the point I couldn’t truly enjoy it.

The topic and plot had so much potential. Disappointing that neither could follow through and deliver. Fans of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code may enjoy this read touted as Da Vinci Code 2.0.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

From the beginning of story telling, myths surrounding the end of the world are mesmerizing. K. M. Lewis has created a work that calls on such mythic themes as Ragnarok, the Mesopotamian Underworld. and the Apocalyptic Vision of St. John. In this first volume of a trilogy, Lewis presents an intriguing answer for the facts behind the myths. What if Atlantis did happen? Why do the Zuni speak of layers of worlds (kivas) built on top of each other? Was there really a great flood?

Lewis introduces us to a small group of individuals, less than 10 whose DNA holds a secret so earth changing it must be protected. More secret than the Templars, the Illuminati, or the Free Masons, this group, the Guardians, dedicates its life to preserving humanity. Florianne Kainzer leads this group. It is she who must rescue those who can save the world. Years of precise planning have gone towards this task. As the planetary civilizations suffer disasters piling on disasters, Florianne stands steadfast. Book One ends in a cataclysm of unimaginable magnitude. The series is a
must read.

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this novel from netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you for the opportunity.

Recommended

This book is not at all what I thought it was going to be. It took about 98% of the story to get to what the little blurb was and even then the part about Eve felt like it was just thrown in because they realized "oh, we haven't talked about this yet."
The more I read, the more discouraged I got and wondering why I was reading this. There feels like there are so many plot holes in this story like the author knew where it was going but forgot some crucial details, i.e., the place they need to go is completely covered in either lava or water.
If you understand science, you will love this book.
Do not read if you are easily offended by careless cast aside of religions, no happy endings, dogs dying (oh yes, we get a dead dog at the beginning of the book in full detail), etc.

Warning: if you don't like books where almost everyone dies, then this book is most definitely not for you.
2.5 out of 5 stars

If you want the spoiler version of my review check out my blog at https://bookgirlreviewsbooks.blogspot.com

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an advanced eBook copy of this title.

In the Thirteenth Guardian, we meet a multitude of characters and see many fates be sealed. The world is changing and the chosen few are coming together to find a way to save the world from mass annihilation, along with the people put in their paths to ensure they are able to meet.

There are great pieces in this story, but they are few and far between. The story takes much too long to progress and by the time we get to the "meat and potatoes" of the story it ends within 10 pages. I think the author could have cut some of the drawn out and repetitive pieces to make room for more storyline. We saw the same cataclysmic events happening across the globe over and over again instead of progressing with the characters. The earth itself becomes a character in this story, but it takes too much page time and overshadows the main 6 that we follow to save it. So much so that once the true plot is explained to set up for the next book, its too far fetched to buy. It didn't sell me as much as it could have if the author had let us in to that piece of the story earlier. The characters were also terribly hard for me to bond with as I spent so much time jumping from person to person that I actually had to stop and think about who was who before continuing in their point of view. I kept asking myself, "So who is on this plane again? How did they get to know each other? What was the point of the conflicting forces?"

The author tries to create a villain on earth as well as around earth and I feel like she could have given half of the page time to the earthbound villains as she did the celestial one. It would have made it seem tied to the story rather than just an afterthought. I don't know if I'm actually invested enough to give the author another 300+ pages for a sequel. Cool ending concept, but it left a bad taste in my mouth as I don't really care for the characters about to embark on this journey.

Six adults need to survive the biblical doomsday to save the earth. Interesting interpretation and spin on religious apocalypse, pity about the time travel.

I have to say that as an enjoyable story, I really liked The Thirteenth Guardian. At times I had trouble putting this book down, and I wanted to read "just one more chapter." The Biblical lore was interesting, the danger the world was in kept me reading, and the science (up until the very end) was believable. I lived in Italy for three years, and I enjoyed reading about events in Rome and the Vatican as someone who has visited there multiple times. As a story, I would give this book four stars.

However, I couldn't in good conscience give it four stars when the writing itself didn't match the caliber of the story. It would be unfair to other books I give four stars to if I gave this book four stars as well.

As an example, sometimes the dialog felt a little wooden. For example:

"Oh, no. That is horrible news, Leo."
"Yes it is."

The characters would have felt more alive if some of them had used more contractions in their speech.

Another issue I had with the writing was the head-hopping. The book was written in 3rd person point of view. Sometimes it would jump into the mind of an insignificant character. In one example, the book went from a main character's POV, to an insignificant character's POV for one paragraph (just to say how attractive she thought he was), and then back to the main character's POV. After reading that, I thought that maybe that character would be significant later, but no. The character died shortly afterwards.

The one other issue that I had with this book was the end. It looked like the book was nicely wrapped-up, and the characters were going to go into their next chapter of their life, and then they start talking about doing this impossible task that would practically need a Deus ex Machina to get done. I'm not sure if there's a sequel planned for this book or not, but if not, then that part of the book was somewhat unnecessary.

What the blurb really doesn't tell you is that this is a disaster book. Like Revelation on steroids. That might be something you're interested in knowing, because this book says that it's about a mystery (and it is) but the Earth dramatically transforms in this book as well.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this book and thought the theories inside were pretty cool.

This book is incredibly well-researched, thorough, and inventive. Told from the perspectives of various characters, the story follows the decline of the world as it is hit by cataclysm after cataclysm. This action-packed novel had me intrigued throughout, and I was constantly on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next.

Although the novel brought up images of a potentially groundbreaking science fiction movie, I struggled a bit with the prose itself. It is clear that the author really thought this out and the end product is an insanely intriguing experience. However, the writing itself is, at times, stilted. It struggles to put you fully into the story in the way you would want with this type of story. Though this is the only true negative, it is a significant one.

That said, I will definitely look out for a sequel so that I can get back on the thrill ride!

I thought I would thoroughly enjoy this book, the premise of the story is exactly of the sort that would appealing to me. Unfortunately the plodding style meant that I ending up disliking everything about the story. The characters are bland and interchangeable. I didn’t care about their fate or the impact the fate of others had on them. I kept waiting for an improvement and kept seeing glimpses which kept me reading to the end but as the improvements failed to materialise I doubt I will bother with the rest of the trilogy.

An interesting take on a world wide apocalypse scenario. I appreciated the mix of characters, and that they had all overcome struggles. I enjoyed the overall plot, but would have liked to have had more showing and less telling of the story line.

I was ecstatic upon reading the blurb and was beyond excited to get the chance to read this ARC. The Apocalypse? Secret Societies? Conspiracies? This book should have been right up my alley.

Unfortunately, the writing style is “tell, don’t show.” Furthermore, a perspective would be set up and then all of a sudden we would be receiving information that the character didn’t know. I found myself forcing myself to read further than I wanted to, in hopes that the style would improve as the book picked up, or perhaps hoping my mind would adjust to the simplistic writing style. No such luck, the execution of this book was poor, though the plot itself showed promise.

I obtained an early ARC copy of this novel through NetGalley, and I freely agreed to review it. This has in no way influenced my opinion.
I had a look at the early reviews of this book, whose description intrigued me, and this is one of those cases where I mostly agree with both, the positive and the negative things that I’ve read about it.
This is a book about the Apocalypse with capital letters, and rather than just narrate the adventures of a group of survivors after the event, we get a fairly detailed description of what happens, and how a group of people, six young people in this case, are selected and brought together with a mission. We don’t get to know the exact mission until the very end of the book, although we are introduced to the characters and their lives (some in more detail than others) from the very beginning. There is no evident connection between them when we meet them, but things are not as they seem.
Although I didn’t recall that detail when I started reading, I soon realised that this book had much in common with YA books. The collection of characters, as many reviewers have observed, are all extraordinary in many ways. They all seem to be fairly well-off, beautiful, intelligent, and, as has been noted, not very diverse. Also, despite being quite young, they have achieved incredible things already. We have a character who is left in charge of restoring a unique artefact by himself, even if he’s only newly arrived in the Vatican and has no previous experience; we have twin sisters who at sixteen are old hands at working with charities all over the world and setting up new projects; we have a young political aide who ends up locked up in a bunker with the president of the USA… Although those characteristics stretch the imagination, they are not uncommon in the YA genre. It is true, though, that it does not make for characters that are easy to identify with or immediately sympathetic. They are, perhaps, too good to be true.
I found the style of writing somewhat distant. There is a fair amount of telling rather than showing, not uncommon when trying to offer information about events at a large scale (the events that occur in the whole of the planet are described rather dispassionately, no matter how many millions of people are destroyed), and although some of the scientific background sounds plausible (I’m no expert, though, so don’t take my word for it), there is a twist at the end that makes it all go into the realm of fantasy rather than science fiction, and I’ve noticed I am not the only one puzzled by that turn of events. Some readers have complained also about the changes in point of view, especially when some characters appear briefly never to be seen again and are also given their moment under the limelight, and I think some readers will find this disconcerting.
I enjoyed the background information and some of the theories proposing new readings of documents, cultural artefacts, works of art, the Bible, etc., which came towards the end of the novel. I also particularly enjoyed the fact that the Guardians are all women and the explanation for the matrilineal handing of the tradition and the role was quite enjoyable. The fact that the six people were chosen because of characteristics that had made them outsiders most of their lives (headaches, stammering, difficult births…) and how those seeming weaknesses turned into strengths was something that I thought worked well and provided a positive message at the heart of the story.
For me, this novel reads like a long introduction, and although there is plenty of action and events that take place during it (in fact, life in the world as we know it comes to an end and a new order of things is established. It does not get much bigger than that), it feels like the prelude to the true story that is to come later, and the bit of explanation we are offered about how these characters relate to the overall story comes at the very end. The book ends where many others would have started and, personally, I wonder if this would have worked better as a prequel to the actual series. Of course, I don’t know what is to follow, so this is all just wild speculation on my part.
A set up that touches on many different topics readers might be interested in (conspiracy theories, a group of survivors after the apocalypse, religion, old documents, mythology, ancient civilizations, science-fiction, fantasy, dystopia…), with many possibilities for further development, that could benefit from developing the characters and their personalities further.

**2.5 stars**

Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc of this book for an honest review.

I was curious about this book because it mentioned the Plagues of Egypt. Usually apocalyptic stories go the way of a comet headed straight for Earth or the most obvious, climate change. When the story revealed that the Plagues of Egypt didn’t only happen in Egypt but around the world at the same time, I thought that was a fascinating take on it.

Though the plagues in this story is exciting, the whole story itself didn’t work for me. The book introduces us to these main characters who are scattered all over the world and each of them has a special trait. These special people need to survive the days of the plague. The story lost me because it kept adding more characters and locations. Throw in all this information from various religious texts, secret societies, plus the scientific aspects of these unusual events taking place, and geographical data, there was a lot going on.

Maybe with more focus on giving the main characters depth, and less on adding side characters this would have worked better for me. That way I could have actually connected to a character. Although I did enjoy some of the geographical information given (especially when the events happen) I felt like the writing became mechanical in these areas. Overall, it wasn’t a book for me but I appreciated the ideas in this book and it has a lot of potential.

I could NOT put it down! Such an interesting and phenomenal book. I'm usually not into scientific or apocalyptic books but this one is so much more than that. It's like Da Vinci Code 2.0 and I am living for it right now! And can we talk about the cover for a sec? Absolutely breathtaking. 100% in love with this book!

Apocalyptic Lit that shines. What a way to start book one of a new trilogy. Lewis's intertwining of mythology and religion, along with conspiracies and secret societies keeps the action fast and interesting. Throughout much of the destruction of the world, I kept thinking, 'This will stop now! Surely...' But the entire plot is a wonderful design of not only origin stories but also the unexplained mysteries of many civilizations throughout history. As the first novel in a series, there were times when I wanted a little more from the characters, but given the apocalypse the earth is experiencing, taking time away from them was fascinating. The characters do seem to be a little too perfect, although there are some hints that there may be less desirable aspects of character developing which may come out in the subsequent books. Hopefully, we will be able to see a bit more of their emotional side along with it. The premise of this book is so interesting - if you are a fan of Dan Brown and/or apocalyptic fiction, definitely give this one a try.

DNF

I got about 17% through my kindle copy of this book which bought me up to chapter 4 and the book was just bringing no joy to me to read, whatsoever. The characters are bad AND badly written. The premise is interesting but it reads like an 8 year old wrote it. The dialogue is robotic and does not resemble anything like an actual conversation and the actions and reactions of the characters are ridiculous.

There was nothing in the first four chapters that made me want to carry on reading this book.

I received this ARC from NetGalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was amazing. As soon as I read the description I knew that this book was going to intrigue me and oh did it ever! The book was fascinating and held my interest throughout the whole book.

The book was really well researched, the story is so deep and makes you question a whole lot. However it clearly and really lacked diversity which is a shame.

This book is going on my favorite books shelf just because it was just that good.

An apocalyptic tale with a handful of young people from all over the world that never met but that have something in common to change it. An ancient organization attempts to contact and round them all up and get them to shelter through various biblical disasters before it is too late. I like the line that this author pursues in part and the tale is a fast read. This is the beginning of a trilogy meant for young adults and characters are a bit stereotyped/fantastic and somewhat cardboard two dimensional but he manages to flesh out more towards the end of this book.

I wasn't sure about the premise going into the book, I was sort of thinking "oh great another book about secret societies."

I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it, the cataclysmic events were intriguing, I found myself wishing there was a map in the epilogue. It's hard to write a review without giving away the ending but I'll just say this book is definitely worth the read. I find myself wishing to see another 'cycle' if you will.

First off, thanks to NetGalley and KM Lewis for providing an e-book for my honest opinion!

My overall thoughts: This book has such an interesting plot! There are secret societies, a unique and refreshing POV on religious texts, myth & folk lore, and some - well seemingly not entirely scientifically accurate - cool speculations on Dooms Day/The Apocalypse. While the premise of this story is amazing - the world is ending in 13 days, and it turns out the plagues of Egypt weren't just meant to be taken as symbolism - I wish the execution and writing had been better. The characters are a bit bland with little to no unique personalities and the style of writing seemed a bit basic. 

A Deep Dive:

- The Plot: Let me just say I live for end of days stories. Especially ones that involve history, science, and mythology. If you love movies and books like The Day After Tomorrow, National Treasure, or The Di Vinci Code, you may enjoy Book 1 in this trilogy. HOWEVER, I could have done without the *time travel* - it opens up way too many plot holes, and it didn't seem necessary to an already interesting take on Adam & Eve, the plagues of Egypt, and even Atlantis. There's a lot going on, and in this case focusing on one thing would make it a lot better.

- The Characters: The story focuses on six main characters, all which have diverse and unique backgrounds, so it's a great start. BUT, there isn't much to their personalities, growth or evolution. I didn't connect with any of the characters, and I wish that I could have been rooting for at least one of them in some way shape or form.

- GIRL POWER: I loved that one of the main secret societies is run solely by women, and that the big reveal at the end of the book has a lot to do with women and their strengths and abilities as humans. It's a subtle nod to all the amazing work ladies do and the author got it right.

- The Writing: This book would have been so much better if the writing style was just a bit different. Most of the conversations are like this: "Oh no. The World is ending. Something is wrong. We must hurry.", and I really felt like there could have been so much more emotion in every aspect of this book (conversations and descriptions). The world is ending! People don't speak properly in conversation when there's panic and terror. Use more contractions, add a bit more personality to these characters, maybe throw in a curse word here and there. I wanted my heart to race each time a new "plague" was hitting, but that extra "umph" was missing.

The Thirteenth Guardian is an okay read. I found the number of characters too overwhelming to keep track of. I also disliked the characterization overall. It's kind of ridiculous how perfect and capable every character is. It's sophomoric and cliche, and I struggled through this one. The story premise is interesting but presented in a way I found unappealing. Other readers with different interests and expectations will enjoy the book, but it's not for me. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.