a very enjoyable take on myth and gods, woven into a beautiful fantasy world that will touch readers

I will always devour anything that this author writes. It was such a hauntingly beautiful book and I could not put it down. The world building and the characters were wonderful!

The Thirteenth Child was everything I've come to expect from Erin and then some! Hazels story really starts out sad. Her parents don't want her so they decide to offer her up to the gods. The Dreaded End (Aka the god of Death or Merrick as Hazel calls him) is the god who says he'll take her. When he finally comes back for her after YEARS of her having to live with her family, most of of whom want nothing to do with her, he gives her an entire cottage full of books so she can learn to become the lands best healer. Merrick also gave her the gift of being able to know how to heal any ailment. That however comes at a cost that Hazel has to live with. The story only gets better from there. The relationship that Merrick and Hazel have is certainly a complicated one but I loved it so, so much!

I did enjoy this story. I took a half point off because I pretty much figured out what might be going on and who was the cause. However, it didn’t prevent me from continuing to read it. Hazel made a great female character, because she was so poignant. Her emotions and turmoil were descriptive that I found myself crying on her behalf.

I found myself torn between anger with Merrick on Hazel’s behalf and pitying him because it was clear he didn’t fully know what he was doing. Merrick would make a wonderful prequel story. Or even a quick short story bonus chapter. Though I think I would love to learn more about the other gods as well.

Overall, I rate this novel 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Thirteenth Child follows Hazel, who was born as the unlucky thirteenth child in her family, to which the Dreaded End made a deal with her mother that he would take our protagonist in one day. But one day turns into another, and eventually, Hazel loses hope. With her parents barely making ends meet, Hazel's upbringing is grim, to say the least, and by the time the Dreaded End decides to claim her, she's had nearly a decade of unwanted and unlove from her family.

The Dreaded End, known as Merrick, tell Hazel she has a gift and takes her to a cottage in a place not of the world where she is instructed to learn the art of healing, which will help her hone her gift.

After a year of study, she's placed in a small town where she becomes a well-known healer and even falls in love, but when a brutal accident occurs to the boy she loves, she tries to use her powers to keep him alive. This is when she learns how delicate the balance of life and death is and that she has been bestowed three lifetimes, so any love she finds will only end in heartbreak—and a slew of ghosts to follow her around.

Distraught, she spends years in confinement, coming to terms with this new lot in life. When she finally decides to return, soldiers from the king's army are there, desperate for her help in curing the king. She agrees, learning the illness is unlike any she's every encountered, and is desperate to be the only healer that can solve this case.

This story is beautifully dark. Told with lush gothic details and a cast of macabre characters you won't want to put down. While the book had a little bit of a slower start, your mind and heart won't be able to tear themselves from the pages. If you haven't read an Erin Craig book. Stop whatever you are doing and read one now. You won't be sorry.

The Thirteenth Child is a fantasy tale blended with romance and horror. Starting from the time Hazel is quite small and going into her late teens, the story covers her life as death's goddaughter, both a blessing and a curse. With a world that grows as Hazel does, we see her humble beginnings, life in the Between (isolated in a limbo between life and death), heartbreak and learning about life, until the last half of the book where she is taken to the castle and all her experiences of life come into play and culminate in a hauntingly beautiful ending.

This is my first read by the author, and I am not disappointed.

I absolutely loved this book. I love Erin’s writing and the way that she takes these fables and turn them into really amazing stories. I loved these characters and the Selina that the main character faces throughout this book.

I read this book in the midpoint of October. It was a surprise to me to find out that this book has 512 pages because it felt like I read through it so quickly. It doesn’t feel long. This book delivered on being a great Halloween vibes read. Gods with nefarious intentions. A girl that’s been chosen, but is too young to bare the responsibilities given to her and makes mistakes.

I feel like books that show teenagers making the decisions in their lives that result in not the best outcomes is an important thing to explore in books. It’s important to acknowledge that teens are young humans who are learning how they think about and see the world and they will make many mistakes and those mistakes will have consequences.

When Hazel receives her gift, all the books she read and the surgical practice she had, was not enough preparation for the task that she has to undertake. The mental strength and the foresight to know when to give mercy and when to heal is not just something you can be told and expect to follow perfectly at all times. I think the mess she makes in this book is accurate to throwing a very unprepared teen into a position without any real mentorship. Most of the book she’s on her own and her godfather shows up mostly just on her birthday. When she has questions of morality she doesn’t have anyone to help her in those dark decisions. The death shroud by itself was not enough.

I do appreciate Hazels desire to do good and I do think that she was trying to do the best she could in her circumstances. Growing up in a home full of people that saw her as a nuisance. Being taken in by a Godfather who is rarely around. Trying to figure out first love, split second moral decisions, and the weight of her gift all on her own.

Overall, ‘The Thirteenth Child’ is a magical read with fantastical gods and difficult situations. If you love fantasy mixed with a bit of horror this book is for you. I enjoyed it very much.

The writing was superd, the descriptions and characterizations made me feel like I was part of this world and knew the main character very well, the author is a fabulous wordsmith. I will say I do wish the book was a little shorter than the 500+ pages it was, I have a short attention span, anything over 400 is pushing it before I get antsy and want to move on- but that is a me problem, so those who love an epic winding story here you go. The book very literally spans the life of the main character Hazel from basically birth until the end, but this is a standalone so there was a satisfying conclusion. This is a great next book for anyone who enjoys a touch of magic in their books full of other worlds, mercurial gods, royal courts, deaths and murder, but keep in mind a large chunk of the book (at least like 3/4th, maybe more) was heartbreak. This was a sad read, poor Hazel.
I will most obviously pick up anything else this author writes because she crafts a good story, even if it made me feel really down.

Erin Craig will be a forever auto-buy for me. She is the queen of hauntingly fresh folktale and fairy tale retellings. This was one of my favorite reads of the year.

5 stars. A new favorite for sure. This book BROKE me in chapter 16 and slowly won back my heart bit by bit. There was so much that I loved in this book - I loved the medical and healer aspects of Hazel. I loved the use and the symbolism of the number 13 (a personal favorite of mine). I loved the family journey from Hazel feeling like the outcast in her own family growing up as a child to finding a family in the palace and how much she grew to love each member of the royal family in their own way. I loved the world that Erin set up - from the countryside to the palace to the In Between, everything was so vivid and fit so perfectly. I loved the gods and especially Merrick. His setup just goes to show that even the best intentions for the gods don't always go to plan, but he loves Hazel so fiercely and it is so beautiful (ok, I'm crying!). And Hazel's life journey is just--so fulfilling. Erin A. Craig's writing hits every spot - from horror to utmost beauty. I will not be forgetting this book anytime soon.

Hazel is the thirteenth child born to unhappy parents and she's not at all wanted. The thought of being burdened with another mouth to feed is something the cannot bear, so they sell her to The Dreaded End, only he doesn't come to claim her for a long time, and when he does he has great designs for her to be a healer. In addition to this she's able to see which people are meant to die to prevent hundreds of future innocent deaths. When she's called upon to save the kind, she's thrust into a world unlike anything she's ever known before, and nothing is quite as it seems.

Erin A. Craig is basically an autobuy author for me. Small Favors is easily one of my favorite books. With The Thirteenth Child, she doesn't disappoint. This book is super atmospheric, something I think Craig does phenomenally well. You are completely immersed in the world. Hazel is practically a living creature. Your heart aches for her time and time again, and you want so much for her just to have a smidge of happiness. This is a beautiful book, and I can't recommend it enough.

I really love Erin's writing in the couples books I have read so far! She writes with such hauntingly beautiful prose! Her character's suck you in and you can't help but root for them! I really enjoyed this tale, it was the perfect autumn read! I can't wait to continue to read Erin's book!

This book was filled with intrigue and characters that were so easy to fall in love with. I was hooked from the very beginning when we learn about Hazel's horrible family and afterwards, her gift.

Hazel was the perfect FMC to follow. She was so kind and gentle, yet she was able to fight for what and whom she loved.

My only critic is that I thought the beginning was a little slow and disjointed from the rest of the story.

✨"There is no shame in turning on those who turn from you."✨

Enchanting tale. Being born the thirteenth child evokes certain powers. Yet as that child, your family has already overloaded their affections and supplies on all your siblings. Sometime you are forgotten and survive on your own.
The Gods of different sectors may choose to raise a thirteenth child, claiming them at birth. Hazel has been claimed by one of the gods and her destiny is filled with challenges.

As a big fan of the author I was so excited to read this book. I was very surprised to fin it fell flat in the pacing ad over all story for me.

I don't think Erin A. Craig could do any wrong in any books that she writes. She literally writes everything I love. I could read a 1,000 page book from her and it still would be too short. This was the perfect gothic, fairytale-esque novel that I never knew I needed. I want more from Hazel and I will cherish this book forever.

ERIN A. CRAIG DOES IT AGAIN!! She never misses. This was INCREDIBLE!! I have no words. I don't know what to say other than WOW. I got so emotional at the end, which made me love this book even more. It was so moving and special. Hazel is one of the most selfless characters I've ever read about. This really felt like a fairytale and confirms to me that Erin A. Craig is one of my favorite authors, up there with Jane Austen, Daphne du Maurier and Juliet Marillier. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone! 6/5 stars!

The Thirteenth Child is a dark fantasy that revolves around Hazel, an unwanted thirteenth child, claimed as godchild before birth by the Dreaded End, the god of death. Unwanted by her family - used as a drudge, dressed in handed-down rags, and with her bed in the barn - Hazel is constantly reminded by her parents that they didn't want her, can't afford her, and are quite upset that her godfather appeared at her birth, took her in him arms, then handed her back to her mother and fled away, leaving only a quilt. This is her life until her 12th birthday, when her grandfather reappears and takes her away with him, leaving her in a lonely, isolated cottage until she has read, understood, and can remember the contents of a large selection of books, all aimed at teaching her what she needs to know to be a healer, a gift she was born with. This is the beginning of her new life, gaining renown as a healer, and healing herself (mostly) from the emotional damage of her childhood.

I quite enjoyed this novel right up to the ending, which seemed to just... end. It felt unfinished, as if the author wasn't quite sure how to end it, and reduced my pleasure in the rest of the book. The rest of the novel was an engaging story, with interesting and well-explored characters and an unusual take on the talents of a healer. I do hope there's a sequel - certainly, the ending would imply one - but I also hope that if there is, it actually ends, instead of just petering out as this one did.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Another haunting and atmospheric offering from Erin A Craig, perfect for late autumn nights. I was on the edge of my seat several times and my heart broke for Hazel more than once. I'm always putting Erin's books out on our staff picks display and this one will be going in my rotation!