8 Rated Books Book Reviews I Love This Series

I Love This Series: The “13 Treasures” Trilogy by Michelle Harrison

Last week, Thea and I posted our joint review of The 13 Treasures ,the first book in the 13 Treasures Trilogy by Michelle Harrison. We both loved that book and as Thea so aptly said, this series has “IT” and I immediately set out to read books 2 and 3 and I loved them too.

The series is composed of 3 books: The 13 Treasures, The 13 Curses and The 13 Secrets. The first two have been published in the UK and the third one hits shelves on Feb 3rd (but only the first one is available in the US so far).

Basically, it follows three main characters, Tanya, Fabian and Red in their dealings with seriously vicious fairies. The books are more plot-driven than character-driven and even though I prefer my books to be the latter, I had no problems with this because the characters are awesome. In book 1, Tanya discovers a few secrets about her family (which is interconnected with Fabian’s) when staying with her grandmother at Elvesden Manor. The resolution of that book heavily involves a secondary character, another girl nicknamed Red, who had been looking for her younger brother who was taken by fairies who were involved with changeling trafficking. Book 2 effectively makes Red the main character of the series as it takes up at the end of book 1 and it deals with What Happened and book 3 is about consequences and mysteries After What Happened in Book 2. I am being all mysterious and brief on purpose as the series has many, many mysteries to be unveiled and I don’t want to spoil them and this is why I decided to write about the series in a spoiler-free overview.

And I am going to do that by, you MUST have guessed by now, giving 13 reasons why I love this series:

Reason The First: The Story It starts with Tanya who could always see fairies but whose mother never believed her and her attempts to tell people about them and make people stop thinking she is lying. These attempts have been thwarted by fairies who don’t want the world at large to know about them and the way they do it, it is HORRIBLE. It proceeds as Tanya finds out more about the fairies, learns how her family is keeping secrets and learns of other people who can see them too; and how, unfortunately, this knowledge usually comes by the way of loss and sadness which is how she becomes friends with Red. The more she and Red know about the world of fairies the more they become tangled with everything that comes with it. This brings me to:

Reason The Second: The Mysteries Even though all books are connected (by way of characters, setting and Consequences), each has its own contained mystery that needs to be unveiled: a murder, a kidnapping and disappearances. The three kids go about to solving them on their own (and with good reasoning) and all of them are not only interesting but well executed too.

Reason The Third: The Secrets The world in this series is full of secret things. Sometimes this can be really frustrating for the reader because WHY can’t people just be open with each other? But this frustration is brilliantly reflected in the story as Fabian at one point says that everything that is happening to them is because people keep so many secrets. But dudes, the TWISTS. They are good.

Reason The Fourth: The Fairies From the get go, it was very clear that the faeries in this book are not of the Disney variety. The majority of them are vicious and bad and they torture both physically and mentally some of the characters. They are even vicious to other fairies. I was majorly scared. There are of course, exceptions, to wit:

Reason The Fifth: Brunswick (Yes, that is all)

Reason The Sixth: Secondary characters The three main adult characters who are related to the three kids play major roles at different stages of the story. There’s Fabian’s father Warwick who plays a major role in book 2; Red’s aunt Rose who plays a major role in books 2 and 3 and Tanya’s grandmother, Florence. I loved how at the end of the series, there is a major showdown and everybody takes part when up until that point it had almost been a adults x children dynamics: the adults pretending nothing is wrong, the children pretending they did not know. The ending shows how the adults have learnt (sort of) to trust the children not only with the truth but also to take care of themselves. It’s awesome.

Reason The Seventh: Romance I am reeeeeally stretching with this one because there isn’t really a lot of romance because the kids are so young (although two of the adults are totally getting together) but there are seeds in book 3. To wit:

Reason The Eighth: Sparrow (Yes, that is all)

Reason The Ninth: Consequences This is one of my favourite things about the series. That every single action has a consequence and it doesn’t matter who, why or when. The entire plot of books 1 and 3 are basically dealing with consequences of one’s actions.

Reason The Tenth: The Changeling Trafficking The theme of children swapped by fairies and replaced with a fairy child (sickly or unwanted) or even with a figure made of sticks is known in western folklore and many books deal with it. I loved how the author took the basic theme and constructed an entire mythology around it, including a whole system of trafficking, of buying and selling and stealing. Interesting, that sometimes the exchange might happen without the fairy family even knowing or wanting it and how there is a group of people formed by both fey and humans that deal with it – trying to fix the exchanges. Going back to the idea of consequences, sometimes this can go awry; sometimes the fey culprit is caught and judged and sentenced and the consequences of THAT to his family is awesome and it connects beautifully with another mystery pertaining to the main characters.

Reason The Eleventh: The Relationships This is a series that relies on strong bonds of love and loyalty. Mistakes are made, secrets are kept by the adults but clearly, everybody does so with good intentions. Plus, the bond of friendship that forms between Tanya, Fabian and Red is pretty cool too.

Reason The Twelfth: The Crossover Appeal This is a series for children and I think children will love this but it also has great crossover appeal for adults – as evidenced by our own reaction.

Reason The Thirteenth: Red I saved the best for last. Red is by far my favourite character, she goes through SO much, has to grow up so fast, has many difficult decisions to make, and she makes them and has to live with the consequences (again, I am back to this) of her actions. Many times, I was close to tears because of this character. She is fierce, she is resourceful and she is TOTALLY AWESOME. Red for the win.

So these are the 13 reasons why I love this series. I finished the last book and its bittersweet ending with a little bit of sadness to see them go and I hope the author goes back to this world at some point. I know I will be there.

31 Comments

  • Jennifer @ An Abundance of Books
    January 27, 2011 at 7:57 am

    I’ve only read 13 Treasures, and I thought it was good, but I was angry with the adults in the story. I felt that they handled their problems poorly and dumped so much on the kids. I’m hoping that your 6th reason means that I’ll eventually get some closure on this topic. 🙂

    Jennifer (An Abundance of Books)

  • Jennifer
    January 28, 2011 at 8:09 am

    Well, I have been looking for another wonderful series to get passionate about and this one looks like it just might be it. It’s a little bit of a bummer that only the first one is out in the US (where I live), but I guess you have got to start somewhere. I’m sure that the next two will follow shortly.

  • The Book Smugglers » Blog Archive » Guest Author (& Giveaway): Michelle Harrison on Inspirations & Influences
    January 28, 2011 at 9:31 am

    […] and her twisted family legacy. Both Smugglers read and loved 13 Treasures, and lucky UK-based Ana finished the trilogy and loved it even more. In celebration of the release of 13 Secrets, the third book in the trilogy, […]

  • Emi
    April 9, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    BEST BOOK EVER!!!!!!! 😀

  • sarah
    June 11, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    i really liked it but it also sort of creeped me out. it has a brillant twist to it though. and it makes you really think. over all i loved it and i got very excited when i heaard ot was a trilogy. :

  • Anonymous
    September 17, 2011 at 10:09 am

    😯 😮 🙁 🙂 😀 😕 8) 😆 😡 😛 😳 😥 👿 😈 🙄 😉 ❗ ❓ 💡 ➡ 😐 :mrgreen:

  • Sophie
    January 12, 2012 at 3:47 pm

    i loved the book!it was soooooooo cool!!!!!!!!!!!
    O.M.G!!!!!!!!!!!
    😀 🙂 🙁 😮 😯 😕 8) 😆 😡 😛 😳 😥 👿 😈 🙄 😉 ❗ ❓ 💡 ➡ 😐 :mrgreen:

  • Rebecca
    January 25, 2012 at 9:39 pm

    hi love the first book! but i havn’t red the other ones cant wait 8) 😆 🙂 😀 :mrgreen:

  • On the Smugglers’ Radar | The Book Smugglers
    February 18, 2012 at 12:02 am

    […] am a huge fan of Michelle Harrison’s THIRTEEN trilogy and I can’t wait for her next book, […]

  • Lilac
    February 19, 2012 at 7:24 am

    Hey there readers,
    I have only read the second book but I LOVED it!
    It was AWESOME !!!

    😀

  • Lilac
    February 19, 2012 at 7:33 am

    (continuation…….)
    The second book was filled with exitement until till the end where it was kinda sad! 😀 🙁
    Can’t wait until I read the other two books!

    smilie 😀 !

  • Claudia
    February 28, 2012 at 6:29 pm

    I just started it, and I just finished the first chapter!

  • Unrest Blog Tour & Most Awesome Giveaway | The Book Smugglers
    April 29, 2012 at 10:31 am

    […] The 13 trilogy (which is AWESOME, you can read our review HERE). Books are: Thirteen Treasures, Thirteen Curses and Thirteen […]

  • blah
    June 4, 2012 at 2:51 pm

    pretty good book 🙂

  • Allyson
    August 7, 2012 at 4:57 am

    This series was… I can’t even find words for it. I cried, laughed, silently screamed (sometimes not so silently), and I always loved each and every chapter, devouring one after the other. Tanya’s point of view was great, but Red’s, hers was magical. Having so much dumped on her at a young age, growing up all too quickly, and then facing her past. Consequenses, I must say, just about sums up how the books each get their plot. I finished the final book last night, and I cried. The epilouge does not suffice for me. What happens after all that is what I wanted, not a bittersweet end giving no direction to what happens. What becomes of all of them? This is my only problem with the books. Overall, it is one of the best series I have ever read.

  • khepri
    September 20, 2012 at 8:19 pm

    hi,i read the whole set and fell in love with! i almost cried when it was over 😆

  • Anonymous
    October 10, 2012 at 10:23 am

    ➡ 😐 :mrgreen:
    ❗ ❓ ❓ 😀 🙂 🙁 😮 😯 😕 8) 😆 😡 😛 😳 😥 👿 😈 🙄 😉

  • karen
    November 10, 2012 at 6:45 pm

    😀 :mrgreen: 😯 omg i loved this book i finished reading all the series i silently cried screamed everithing ! but now i started a nother series the hunger games oh i wish the series keept on goin and a book out fabian to! aniwais I LOVED THE SERIES LOVED THEM!!!!! THEM 😛 🙄 😉 ❗ ❗ ❗ ❗ ❗ ❗ :mrgreen: 🙂 😀 8)

  • goRowan/Red
    January 10, 2013 at 2:36 pm

    I loved these books laughed, cried, jumped up and down, gasped, screamed I knew it, and well you get the point. I wish and hope the author makes more books. It was completely magical, but I’m a bit disappionted with the epilouge because it never gave me insight. Like does Sparrow marry Rowan? Does rose and warwick end up together?

  • rayray
    April 7, 2013 at 2:40 pm

    love the 13 treasures trilogy. Hope Michelle writes another for the 13 treasures trilogy.

  • Cat
    April 21, 2013 at 1:49 am

    I kinda liked the first book better than the second but I can’t get the last book where I live so can someone tell me what happens to James?

  • Lola
    November 4, 2013 at 10:13 am

    The 13 Secrets:
    I think the book is so confusing because I have read it for ages (finally finished) but I still don’t understand, can someone tell me what’s happend!!!

  • Roshel
    December 15, 2013 at 5:56 am

    I would like to encourage all the young readers to read this stunning collection of books which will definitely engulf you in an imaginery world beyond fairies and magic!!!

  • jordan
    June 20, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    The 13 Treasures:

    I think this book is a wonderful book that has a lot of mysterys/adventures/magic and
    fairies it was one book I would recamend for anyone. I love this book so much
    I also love that michelle Harrison put so much effort in this book I love the book and the arthor.

  • Saff
    August 4, 2014 at 7:17 pm

    I love the book the Thirteen Treasures, I thought it was full of mystery and full of apprehension which is why I wanted to read the rest of the series. My heart was pounding as Tanya entered ” Hangman Woods ” and I couldn’t put the book down, which is quite unusual to me, the book was clinging me in me in, it was as if it wanted me to read more! If this book ever became a film I would love to be in it because I thought it was AMAZING

  • Anonymous
    December 31, 2014 at 2:26 pm

    I really enjoyed this series. My friends and I have a 13 Treasures Trilogy Club. We are working on a film for 13 Treasures. I absolutley love this series! I wish Hollywood would make a movie out of this series!http://www.thebooksmugglers.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif

  • Kanani
    December 31, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    I really enjoyed this series. My friends and I have a 13 Treasures Trilogy Club. We are working on a film for 13 Treasures. I absolutley love this series! I wish Hollywood would make a movie out of this series!http://www.thebooksmugglers.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif

  • Anonymous
    January 9, 2015 at 1:20 am

    Sparrow and Brunswick are awesome. So is Spitfire. It’s unbelievable how crazy Suki is. What do you think the cruelest thing she did was? I think it was trapping Crooks in the priest hole or killing Victor to break Samson. But those three sentences about when they found Crooks was heartbreaking! “We found Crooks after searching the house, expecting the body count to rise by one more, but it seems that Suki had something more drawn out lined up for him. He was cramped in the priest hole with a bump on his head and a look in his eyes that none of the Coven had seen before. Finally, the boy who thought escape from anywhere was proved wrong.”

  • purrclaws
    May 1, 2015 at 4:57 pm

    I love this series, it is a shame that not many people have read it. It was just sitting on the shelf when I found it gathering dust. Which is sad. I fangirled so much during the last book. 🙂 No seriously, I did it so much my dad is sure i’m crazy. Yes, Sparrow is awesome, no explanation needed.

  • Emily
    June 18, 2015 at 9:59 am

    The 13 treasures trilogy is incredible! It was definetly a great series. The characters were so real, they had different personalities and thoughts, it was great! Also I loved the fantasy and how you turned fairies from a good thing to mostly a bad thing. I think it was incredible on how you did that, because when ever someone thinks of fairies they think of flying happy creatures. But you definitely changed that point-of-view by saying they ate mischievous and tricksters! Just every thing you did to the book was great and very creative. I thank you for giving me a pleasure on reading. I was never a reader, and I still don’t like reading, but I actually enjoyed this series. I would actually wake up in the morning and be excited to read. And if you have any other book series I would love to read them, because this series was extraordinary!

  • Sasha
    May 22, 2016 at 10:21 am

    I wouldn’t say the writing style and the characters was that memorable, but what made the books in the series (I’ve read two so far) enjoyable for me was the way the fairies and changelings were portrayed. I found that very interesting. Anyone got recommendations for similar books?

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