Shannon Delany

Delany's second book in her 13 to Life series picks up where the last left off a couple months down the line. Things go from barely tolerable to intolerable remarkably fast. With the CIA watching their every move, and the Russian Mafia still hanging out there waiting to pounce, the Rusakova Werewolves have more than the usual growing pains to handle.

All of the questions I had, in regards to character motivations and development of secondary plots, are pretty much answered or given enough show more time to flesh out to the point where it satisfied me (for the moment). Derek's interest in Jessie, Wanda's sudden 'I know things!', even Max's weird fascination with Amy, they're all given plenty of time to develop and mature. Sadly other things change as well. Growing increasingly uncomfortable with the amount of harm he continually puts Jessie in, Pietr tries to put distance between them, but like any boy he doesn't explain this to Jessie.

I felt wretched for her. Nothing is working out for her, no matter how hard she tries to please everyone they just aren't happy enough. Delany keeps the pace high-strung throughout most of the novel. She builds upon the first book's hints and winks about Junction, as well as pushing along the trauma of high school itself.

Some was a little rushed feeling, like Cat's choice to test a concoction that Alexi makes. Her reasoning is well laid out throughout the book, but it was so reckless. She's kind of taken to task for it, but in the end its largely overlooked for far more pressing concerns. Like Derek. Knowing the secret behind his smile made me look back at his actions in 13 to Life differently. Small things, that seemed so off in the first book (which I even remarked upon), made so much more sense.

On a slightly less supernatural side (though I have my doubts on this score) the tenous connection Sarah seems to have with reality further snaps and we get to see just what kind of shrew she was before the accident.

The end of the novel had me clenching my jaw. My first reaction was to cry out in horror because it just seemed so wrong after everything that had happened...but at the same time it felt almost right. The book was leading towards a more drastic solution to the problems Jessie's dad thought she had, so it made sense. Her dad didn't understand--neither she nor Wanda felt a need to explain to him the exact particulars of their lives--all he saw was the aftermath. The aftermath which was pretty bad and could easily lend itself to unwise presumptions.

Book 3: Bargains and Betrayals is due out in August. Which seems much farther than it is. I can't wait to see how Jessie gets out of her predicament and what sort of answers the Rusakovas find. The tantalizing two sentence synopsis, tied with the title has me biting my nails already in worry however. show less

I started this book, appropriately, on the day a massive snowstorm came to town.

I had fun reading this book, but it wasn't spectacular...which kind of stumps me.

The characters were, mostly, very well done. Everyone who seemed flat and one-dimensional on first sight became more complex as I read further. We've got Jordan, the main character, who we're told only lives to look pretty...but she does anything but swoon when fate comes knocking. We've got a romantic match...but neither is show more actually sure they're in love, though they do like and enjoy each others' company. We've got a heartless, torturing villain...who decides to take in an orphaned daughter he didn't know existed, who shines lights in the cracks of his life until he doesn't want to ignore them any longer.

So why don't I like this story more?

I think a major part of it was the bait-and-switch back cover text, which seemed to imply that this was Jordan Astraea's story, when it very much isn't, and that it would be set mostly on an airship, which only happened at the very end. (I'm not counting it as a spoiler in here, since it's on the jacket text.) The former is especially ironic, because I actually really like large casts of characters with interwoven stories--but I spent so much time wondering when Jordan was going to show up that it distracted from the story itself.

Part of it is also the complete lack of ending. I know most publishers won't sign a fiction author without a series deal, but this is getting ridiculous.

I was also incredibly unimpressed with the fact that no one seemed to notice the reason why Jordan's magic appeared so suddenly. The big "reveal" made me scoff, not satisfied to finally understand what was happening--and that's with the dose of generosity I give books for younger people.

I can't really figure out what age level this is aimed at. It seems like it should be YA--there are some incredibly bloody and dark moments. Weirdly, though, a couple of torture scenes are barely alluded to. This doesn't make sense to me, given the violence of other scenes, and left me wondering what kind of torture the characters were undergoing that left them pretty much physically functional and mentally clear when it wasn't actively happening.

The world building was a bit confusing--I couldn't figure out why so many things were capitalized until a long way into the book--but fresh. A steam-punk novel in which steam is dismissed as a waste of research and resources, since magic is so readily available. It took me a bit longer to than usual to feel like I understood the rules of the world, but not so long that I gave up (as I did with Secrets of the Fire Sea).

So yeah: a good bit of fun, some nice feminist moments despite its appearances to the contrary, a decent cast with some oversimplified and some unusually complex characters, and much-needed character growth on at least three counts. But not a book I'll be shouting from the mountaintops

Quote Roundup

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"You have been babied for far too long. As my youngest everyone has provided you with everything you might ever want for and--I daresay--a bit more. But you have chosen a path of your own. Finally. Now grow into it. Grow up and do things yourself." show less

I want to start this with a quote, which will only be a spoiler if you hadn't read the end of Book 3. "I expected victory...I never expected a single hard-won victory could still feel so much like defeat." (pg 280) That quote sums up this book spectacularly well in my opinion. Everything the Rusakovas have wanted is theirs at the beginning of this book. They rescued their mother, found a cure to their werewolf issues and have each other.

So how does everything go wrong so quickly? When does show more something that should feel so right start to feel so wrong?

I've been hooked on Delany's "13 to Life" series from the very first book. There have been ups and downs, but by in large I've found myself drawn into Jess and Pietr's world and eager to watch their story unravel.

For the majority of the book this wasn't the Pietr and Jess I knew however. With the cure comes a change in all their personalities, but Pietr is...a shadow of his former self. Uninterested in anything (not even making out with Jess), quiet and studious you'd never guess this was the passionate, impulsive Pietr Rusakova from the first three books.

Jess is also at odds with the strong, independent girl from the past three books. Whether it’s because she's dealing with the changes in Pietr, and how emotionally distant he becomes, or the sudden menace at her school making her friends ill, Jess is very often lost at sea and struggling to remain afloat. She remarks to herself at one point that Cat has been the one to stand by and bolster Amy, something that Jess regrets and laments because she wanted to be the one to bring Amy out of the funk she was in. This almost lovesick and fuzzy Jess is a bit grating at times. She made me wish to shake her so she'd get her sense back and fight harder.

DESTINY AND DECEPTION however is a good reflection of this change. The threats in this book are of a more personal nature, impacting everyone in an individual way and as a group. Their classmates falling ill and mysteriously undergoing their own changes, a return of a person from Alexi's past--the stakes are much higher and as the ending shows, nothing should be taken for granted.

Word of warning, Book 5 RIVALS AND RETRIBUTION, comes out in August--don't read the synopsis. The end of this book is all but ruined by the synopsis of Book 5 and even though what occurs at the end of book 4 is a stop gap measure at best, I really would have liked if the tension wasn't suddenly gone by a few badly chosen words.

Review originally posted at Night Owl Reviews show less

13 TO LIFE has been one of my favorite YA paranormal romance series since the first book. Its one of the few series I could turn to and say 'Risks! Author took risks!' because Delany does take some risks. None of her characters are what you'd consider to be stand up role models much of the time--half of the first two books Jessie is either plotting ways to keep Pietr from his girlfriend or helping to break into highly secure government facilities. The Rusakovas, despite being the right most show more of the time, were part of the Russian mafia. Alexi lied so much it hurts the brain to think, Max is (at best) a terrible flirt and at worst a womanizer.

This isn't to say none of that was for a good reason--some of it was beyond their control, some of it was in service of a higher purpose (saving their mother for instance) and some of it was just lack of foresight or logical thinking. They weren't bad people. And most of what happens to Jessie can be blamed squarely on her inability to recognize what is right in front of her. A lot. Not a little bit. Not a tiny bit. But a lot. By the end of Book 2 I sincerely doubted her ability to discern the difference between a wise action and an impulsive one.

So going into Book 3 I was a bit apprehensive. The end of Book 2 was...upsetting to say the least. Not only because I realized Jessie came by her inability to see the obvious genetically (from her father, who I lost some respect for honestly). And the end of this book is just as upsetting, though differently. In a lot of ways this felt like it was the build up to the fourth book, which has earmarks of making up for lost action time in this book.

Seeing Jessie and Pietr apart, truly apart, for a good chunk of book made me really look at them as individuals. Most of their thoughts were consumed with each other, but without having the other so close by it made them seem more lost and disjointed. Without Alexi's viewpoint (the book cycles between Jessie and Alexi) I would have missed a lot simply because he has an outsider's view. His sole purpose is to protect his siblings and he is a very dedicated individual. Despite how they treat him (rightly or otherwise), despite the difficulties they present (hard to corral a bunch of teen werewolves when you're just human) and despite the impending danger. The younger Rusakovas are very impetuous. They come up with a plan and that's all there is to it. The plan will work because they will MAKE it work. Alexi meanwhile tries to get them to understand they can't just rush off, force doesn't always win the day.

While I'm enjoying the deepening of the plot and the edge its begun to take, I'm wistful for the first book where the main problems revolved around Jessie being a dope and too trusting and Pietr attempting to just be as normal as possible. As we go further into the series they're beginning to seem less like teenagers and more like adults and I mourn the loss (even if they still manage to hold onto the angst). show less