13 by Kelley Armstrong, UK edition cover.

Title: 13 (Women of the Otherworld #13)
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Orbit (24th July 2012)
Blurb:

13. The breath-taking, explosive finale to the Women of the Otherworldseries.

War is coming to the Otherworld. A sinister cult known as The Supernatural Liberation Movement is hell-bent on exposing the truth about supernaturals to the rest of the world. Their violent, ruthless plan has put everyone at risk: from werewolves to vampires, from witches to half-demons.

Savannah Levine – fiery and unpredictable – stands at the heart of the maelstrom. There is a new, dark magic inside her, granting her the power to summon spells of terrifying strength. But whether this magic is a gift or a curse, no one knows.

On the eve of battle, all the major players must come together in a last, desperate fight for survival – Elena and Clay; Adam and Savannah; Paige and Lucas; Jeremy and Jamie; Hope, Eve and more . . . They are fighting for their lives. They are fighting for their loved ones.

They are fighting for the Otherworld.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

13 is the final book in Kelley Armstrong’s brilliant Women of the Otherworld series. This book brings to an end a brilliant series that has featured witches, sorcerers, demons, angels, vampires, ghosts and necromancers – just to name a few. After 13 books I am really sad to see the series draw to a close.

13 centres mainly around Savannah Levine. When we first meet Savannah in Stolen she is a child, but by the time of 13 she has grown up and become her own person. As the daughter of a half-demon witch and a sorcerer, Savannah is unique. This uniqueness draws the attention of The Supernatural Liberation Movement. 13 takes place not long after the events of Spell Bound, and ties-in directly with the plot of the book.

One of the things I most enjoyed about 13 is that as a reader I got to reunite with all the characters in the series – not something that happens often, especially as the cast grew. Not only did I get to reunite with all the characters, but they were all important to the plot of the book which I think was great plotting on Armstrong’s part. I especially liked the fact that whilst the narration mainly focused on Savannah, Paige, Elena, Hope, Jamie, and Eve all had chapters dedicated to their part in the battle. The plot of the book was full of action and romance and suspense, which is just what you’d expect from a book in this series.

Whilst I am sad to see the end of such a brilliant series, I think Armstrong did it justice with 13. I would, of course, have loved it to have been longer, to have more threads wrapped up. In spite of that, I think Armstrong chose to end the book – and the series – in the right place. And, although this is the end of the series Armstrong will still be writing in this world. There is a short story collection that is supposed to be published in 2013, and if you read young adult literature you’ll know both her The Darkest Powers Trilogy and her The Darkness Rising Trilogy – which is still not quite finished – are set in this world too. So whilst I’m sad this series is over, I look forward to stepping back into the Otherworld at some point in the future.