Overall, I enjoyed the story. I found myself doubting everyone and seeing that any of the characters could have been the wraith. Definitely a great time!

I seem to too often write in my book reviews that I liked the concept but was disappointed by its execution and this is a prime example. Unlikable or rather un-relatable lead character and a stream of very unlikeable add ons. I skimmed through most of it just waiting for victim 12 to be identified but even that was clouded in vague dialogue.

I really enjoyed the previous NV Peacock novel, so I was looking forward to reading this latest by the author. The premise sounded promising- thrilling with a twist of supernatural and horror.

I have such mixed feelings about this entire book though. Overall it was an interestingly fun read. Nothing about it was boring and I had a good time trying to figure out who the killer was. It was a fast read and I like Peacock's writing style.

The down side was, I feel this should have been labeled more of a young-adult book. Every character, though they were adults, seemed highly immature. The way they behaved was so hilariously unbelievable. Also, the entire aspect of Dee having once been possessed could have been left out of the story- there could have been another way to go about the mental health aspect other than a demonic possession. For some reason that bothered me.

There were characters that were introduced in the story that I felt could have been omitted completely. They added a bit of mystery, but in the end the explanation of their involvement was annoying, confusing and nonsensical.

I felt the ending was wrapped up too quickly and without any real planning or thoughtfulness. It seemed messy and I would have liked more explanations and closure to some of the characters.

All in all this was a 3 star read for me. Thanks to Netgalley and Hera for allowing me an advanced e-copy.

"The 13th Girl" is available today in the U.S. so get your copy now!

Happy Reading!

Thank you to Netgalley and Hera for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book publishes on 2/1/24!

This book follows a single POV with a narrator that readers are forced to question their reliability. The common tropes in this novel are crime, mental health, and religious trauma. Please check any relevant trigger warnings before picking this up! For me, the majority of this was a slow burn; I believe that there were some red herrings throughout placed intentionally by the author, but after reading I still question the outcomes of them. My favorite part was the epilogue, as it was quite unique from other books in this genre that I have read and ended the book in an intriguing manner.

I had no idea what to expect going into this one, but I ended up being hooked! Yes, Dee’s personality seems a bit flat and naïve, but it makes sense to me considering she spent her formative years in a mental facility. I thought she was inappropriately funny and I couldn’t help but root for her as she was trying to identify a terrifying serial killer. I couldn’t wait to get home to keep reading this one. There were a few parts at the end that didn’t work for me, but all in all, this was a scary thrill ride!

4.5/5

"The 13th Girl" by N.V Peacock was an enjoyable 4-star read. Dee spent decades in a mental institution after an accident as a child. Following the incident, she became the subject of an infamous documentary. Dee suddenly finds herself intrigued by The Righteous Wraith, a serial killer who kidnaps, murders, and then publicly poses their victims. Dee wants to create her own award-winning documentary while trying to stop this killer from claiming their next victim.

I thought this book told an interesting story. I noticed in other reviews that some readers couldn't engage with the narrative due to the religious references. In my opinion, most of the time, the religious references were applicable to someone who had been through what Dee experienced. There were a couple of instances that felt forced, but this didn't change my overall opinion of the story.

Dee's mother deserves to be called a few bad words; throughout the book, she is rude and never shows her daughter any compassion. I would hope that a parent would be more understanding of their daughter after everything Dee had been through. I thought I had it all figured out, but then N.V. Peacock threw in a twist right at the very end. I would recommend this book to thriller fans.

Thanks to Hera, N.V Peacock, and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this ARC and share my honest review.

Magnificent and thrilling. This will be one of my top reads of the year. Excellent story with twists and turn that keep you reading with the lights on. 5 stars.

While I enjoyed the concept of this book, I thought it could have been done in a much shorter format.

Love this book, a sometimes uncomfortable read about Dee, a former inmate at a mental hospital, her family and a select couple of friends.
She becomes involved with a serial killer, and the story of how that devolves,
Throughout you cringe and think is this the illness or is this her personality? Is anyone going to give her a break? Can we trust anyone? Great style of writing!

This book was such a good read for me. It was quite fast paced with all the things that were happening in and around Dee's life. The characters were really well written and the storyline flowed well around them giving us a look at what had happened to get Dee to where she was when I turned the first page right through to the great epilogue which while unexpected was a very appreciated chapter of the book
The cast of characters was so vast I really struggled to pin down who the Wraith might have been as there were just too many potential suspects. At one point I even suspected Dee's Mother due to her over bearing manor of needing to know and trying to control everything in Dee's life! The reveal when it came made sense of a few observations I had made while reading and even though I didn't suspect the whole ending it was a very satisfying read.

I was so excited for this book as I absolutely loved “The Brother”, but this totally missed the mark for me.

Dee was potentially a likeable character, but so much didn’t make sense and the character wasn’t developed. She was a victim of a car accident and so her parents had her exorcised? What kind of parents are these people? They then shoved her in a mental institution for 10 years! What?

Dee wants to set up her own crime podcast and seeks signs from God in everything she does. The religion thing was odd and made no sense in relation to the plot.

The whole thing didn’t tie together well and it was a struggle to keep going.

2 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, N. V. Peacock and Hera, for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This was bad.

Recently discharged from a mental health facility, Dee is adjusting to normal life. After a traumatic brain injury and exorcism, she hasn't been quite the same. She finds comfort in documentaries and hopes to one day make her own. When a killer starts taking girls in her hometown, she sees a perfect opportunity to film her documentary. Can she find the killer before he takes another girl?

Yikes.

Dee's trauma is never fully explained. Her brain injury as a kid changed her from a quiet, loving kid to someone having violent outbursts. Her parent's solution? An exorcism, not even a true one, just some hired goons with fake credentials. Frankly, her parents are villains. The fact that they put no research into who would be performing an exorcism on their daughter is ludicrous. Also, do they not know about what traumatic injuries can do to someone, especially a kid who isn't fully developed? One Google search, and trust me, plenty of reliable and legitimate research talks about the science behind brain injuries and how it can dramatically change someone. This is based in England, so I don't know how the legal system works over there, but it's not discussed how she goes from a traumatic exorcism to a mental hospital for a decade. What's even more ludicrous is that she still lives with her parents. Not in the sense of, "Why would Dee do that, she is an idiot," but because where else is she supposed to go after being away from the world for ten years? But the fact that her parents treat her like a child and that it's never addressed is a huge misstep. Plastic forks, her mom tracks what she eats, she's not allowed to have her bank card...am I the only one who sees how wrong this is? She seems to be a fully functional adult; the injury seemed to cause violent moods, but those are mainly under control throughout the whole book. Nothing about Dee's origin story is explained well or thought out.

Despite the trauma the exorcism caused, Dee is intensely religious. This in itself is not weird; many people find comfort in God. But her "religion" doesn't make a lot of sense. She goes to a Catholic church, yet the book says she is not a practicing Catholic. She prays daily and asks God for signs and such. But the signs? A chicken nugget shaped like Jesus. A lighting strike tells her that one of her suspects in the case is innocent despite only talking to him twice. What faith is this? I am genuinely curious. Nowhere in the blurb does it talk about how much her religion affects her, but in the book it is brought up every two paragraphs. How weird to not include that in the summary.

*NOTE: I am not dissing religion. I AM religious. It's like the author didn't want to explore any theology and just threw prayers and miracles together, hoping for the best*

I didn't care for any of the characters. Despite most of them being in their thirties or older, they talk like teenagers. They all blur together; nothing stands out about one of the supporting cast. Dee's coworkers are middle-grade bullies. Also, the amount of time total strangers see Dee and mutter "weirdo" is a perfect example of comedy. Mental health problems do not make one weird. Let us not nail that stereotype into the reader's heads.

Dee's "weirdness" comes from how she views the crime only as an opportunity. She sees the crime only from the perspective of being a documentary. She condemns others for the same things she does, but since she has "good intentions" (read: to make a better documentary than a friend who betrayed her) she thinks it's okay to take pictures of victims and see them only through the lens of what their tragedy can provide for her.

The mystery was convoluted and didn't make sense. The reveal made me roll my eyes and was far-fetched. The author wanted maximum shock value without making it flow with the rest of the story.

Rant over. Find another mystery, guys.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hera, for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

The 13th Girl is a gripping, can't-put-down thriller with notes of horror. Dee has had a deeply traumatic past, starting with a horrific accident that led to severe abuse by her parents and an eventual prolonged stay at a mental health facility. Decades later, Dee is finally being released and is trying to live a normal life. However, upon her release, she learns of a serial killer on the rampage. As an aspiring documentarian, she decides that her first project as she enters "normal" life will be about this serial killer. The killer has grotesquely tortured and murdered 12 girls, can Dee discover the killer before the 13th?

I'm shocked at all of the less than stellar reviews. Yes, this book is very detailed and gruesome, but it fits with the overall plot of the serial killer. There are definitely aspects of horror throughout. I thought the book was extremely well-written. I loved Dee as the narrator. While she comes across as super unreliable due to her past, she is actually one of the most reliable narrators I've read in the thriller genre. While Dee is naive and innocent, she is also intelligent and observant. This all leads to her being a very unique POV. I thoroughly enjoyed The 13th Girl and have already recommended it to all my thriller-loving friends.

I was so excited to read this novel, it sounded right up my street but I was sadly disappointed.

We meet main character Dee, out of a mental institute as her parents thought she was possessed and well known as the exorcism was documented. Dee is not liked, she has a job and people avoid her at all costs.

She lives with her parents, who are just horrible characters. How could any parent do that to their child is just bizarre to me.

There is a serial killer at large and Dee is wanting to try and get him caught. I just could not get on with this novel, quite disjointed for my liking. I felt like Dee was a really hard done to character and it felt cruel to be reading about her - weirdly that has never happened to me before.

Thanks for allowing me a copy, I really hate not finishing a novel and I did try but this one is not for me.

12 girls gone. Can she save The 13th Girl?

This was fairly mediocre. I didn't hate it but I far from loved it. A little boring and predictable.

I liked the idea of this book and tried to push myself to finish it. However I got 25% in and it felt like it was dragging. Nothing was happening and it was so slow. If it had been faster paced and less details about things that didn’t matter to the plot this could’ve been a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hera for the ARC! What a twisty book. The middle was a bit slow for me. Not my favorite.

2.5 stars

Based on the description, which definitely caught my attention, I expected a fast-paced novel. Sadly, that wasn't what I found. The beginning and end were okay, but the middle was way too slow. Dee was a challenge to connect with, as she didn't have any qualities, likeable or not, to root for or against. She's just there as a character. There was an unexpected twist, so I did enjoy that.

Great plot with some twisted characters. Had a hard time connecting to the story at first but eventually was drawn in and rooting for the leading lady. Lots of twists and turns!

4 stars. I think the religious aspects and focus on God made it take a bit longer for me to get into this book. However, I found it to be a genuinely enjoyable read with a unique premise once I got hooked.

Synopsis: The Righteous Wraith is on the loose and the police are no closer to catching the killer on his tenth kill than they were at his first. Dee the protagonist has recently been released from St. Agatha’s where she was treated for a Traumatic Brain Injury that short circuits her amygdala and causes her to “see RED.” Dee as a child, was subjected to a less than ethical exorcism that was then turned into a blockbuster documentary. Dee decides that she will make her own documentary on The Righteous Wraith now that she has been deemed “normal.”

🔪What I liked:🔪
-A protagonist that is honest in her observations, but naive enough to not always know how to interpret those observations.
-A villain who literally had everything I have been asking for.
-A serial killer who sends petty notes taunting the media and police force. “Teamwork does not make the dream work in this constabulary”
-A whole lot of victims kept the story moving pretty quickly once the protagonist gets interested in The Righteous Wraith.
-A dog named Lucifer.


🛑What I didn’t like:🛑
-A lot of talk about religion and God, that was occasionally hard to push through— especially at the beginning. I wish the author would have made a quick statement or paragraph as to WHY religion was so important to Dee. Religion is not something I attach any importance to in my own life, so it would have been nice to have known why Dee did so I could have understood her better. And yes, of course I can make assumptions as to why… but you know what they say about assumptions… Her own parents walked away from religion so I couldn’t help but wonder why Dee didn’t?

Overall, this was a unique read for a thriller that I think many thriller fans will find enjoyment in. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.