Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 272
Received: Received an e-ARC from Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: January 8, 2013Buy From Amazon.ca / Buy From Chapters.ca /
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Goodreads Synopsis:
What if there was a 13th zodiac sign?
You’re no longer Sagittarius, but Ophiuchus, the healer, the 13th sign.
Your personality has changed. So has your mom’s and your best friend’s.
What about the rest of the world?
What if you were the one who accidentally unlocked the 13th sign, causing this world-altering change—and infuriating the other 12 signs?
Jalen did it, and now she must use every ounce of her strength and cunning to send the signs back where they belong. Lives, including her own, depend on it.
My Review:
So I am one of those people who are interested in astrological signs and what they mean for your personality (not that I'm obsessed, I just find it fun and amusing sometimes to read horoscopes . So naturally I was interested in a book that dealt with a 13th sign that when unlocked changes everyone's personality. For me, I am a cusp sign, I waver between Sagittarius and Capricorn, and definitely have characteristics from both, with this new sign, my sign changes quite a bit. What would you do if all of a sudden you unlocked this strange new horoscope sign, causing everyone around you to change in attitude, doctors, lawyers, etc. I really enjoyed how Tubb showed off this difference in people throughout the story.
First let me start out by saying yay for a standalone book! This book was so much fun and intriguing, but the author really knows where to end things, and I don't need to worry about what else will happen. I also really liked that there was no romance in this book, the book focuses on Jalen and this quest that she is on. I think it was really interesting to use the quest theme in this way, how Jalen must battle each of the astrological signs to get through and save the world from completely changing.
The beginning of the story was really confusing and all over the place, we don't really get information on the characters or what is going on with them. Jalen and her friend seem really young, but we are never actually told how old they are, or who this Nina is that she continually talks about (later you find out it's her grandmother). We find out that something is wrong with her grandmother but no explanation of what it actually is... I think there needed to be more characterization because everyone felt a little flat in the beginning.
I felt that I got off to a rough start with the book, but when Jalen begins to embark on her journey everything turned around for me and I was really interested. I love how as we encounter each sign throughout the book, there is a different test for Jalen, and she comes up with her answers through reading and learning about the signs. Jalen was a great MC for me, she is just a kid who has no idea what is going on but slowly her strength resolves and she fights for what she believes. But the greatest thing about Jalen is that she still has her own problems and she doubts herself at moments, she is a real character who still needs help from time to time.
Hmm, sounds like an interesting concept even if the execution was maybe a bit off! I don't take astrological signs seriously either - but they are fun to think about and I would think the set up of the book as each sign being a different task would be very fun, as well.
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