The Thirteenth Tale

This book took me a while to read, but now that I finally finished it, I'm happy I stayed with it. From the beginning, I couldn't predict how I would end up feeling about this one. Even after finishing, it is still hard for me to rate it. I like so much about it, yet at the same time I struggled with some parts of it. I settled on a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I will begin with what I like about the book. The writing is incredible. The author's style is very literary and reminds me of great writers I have studied. It felt almost like I was reading a Victorian novel. The atmosphere of the story is also a plus. The moody, Gothic feel of the novel is very well done. It is reminiscent of the writings of the Romantic period, which is my favorite literary period. The characters are interesting and mysterious, and I wanted to know more about their pasts. There is a bit of twist as the reader nears the end of the tale, which is always fun in a book. The book also deals with the idea of truth in storytelling, which is intriguing.

It is harder to explain what I do not like about the book. The whole “twin” relationship that is explored in the novel bothered me at times. There is a bit too much emphasis on it for my liking. The main character's obsession with her sister became annoying to me. I also found that some characters, like Charles, were not developed enough. In addition, the pace of the story is too slow at some points. This made it hard to stick with the book early on.

I am glad that I did continue reading this book. In the end, I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys a dark, moody read.