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Chapter by Chapter

A mostly Young Adult book review blog run by a mother and daughter team.

The 13th Sign

The 13th Sign - Kristin O'Donnell Tubb I absolutely enjoyed The 13th Sign by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, and I truly believe it is a story that MG readers will thoroughly enjoy. Why? Ummmm…because the twelve signs of the Zodiac come to life! Yes, you heard me…pretty awesomesauce right?The 13th Sign opens up in a voodoo shop in New Orleans, and on main protagonists, Jalen’s, birthday! After many years of tradition where Jalen and her grandmother, Nina, come and get their tea leaves, palms, or tarot cards read. But this year, Nina is in the hospital battling cancer, so this year, Jalen has brought her best friend, Ellie, with her.It’s in this shop that Jalen comes across The Keypers of the Zodiak book. After being told by the shop keeper that she can’t have the book, Jalen and Ellie take the book and go to Jalen’s home to try and open it. After figuring out that the key to open the intricate lock on the book is in her grandmothers jewelry box, Jalen started an unbelievable event that changes everyone in the world.Jalen unknowingly opens up a 13th zodiac sign, Ophiuchus. And in doing this, apparently Jalen has angered the other 12 zodiac signs, and they come to life and are now after Jalen to stop her from gaining the power of Ophiuchus. And now, the zodiac signs have deemed Jalen as their challenger and will stop at nothing to stop what Jalen has started. One by one, the signs come after Jalen and her friends, and one by one, Jalen and her friends have to defeat the signs and send them home into the stars.The idea and concept of this book was one that I found so interesting. I loved the idea of all the different zodiac signs to come to life, and allow us to see some of their powers. I loved how the key to defeating these signs was to decipher a cryptic answer found within the descriptions of the signs. And I also loved the idea that because of the entrance of this 13th sign, the personalities of every one has been altered…whether it’s for the better or for the worse. I also really enjoyed the side story regarding the disappearance of Jalen’s father.Author, Kristin O’Donnell Tubb does a fantabulous job of grabbing the reader’s attention with the multitude of battles. Her descriptive writing skills are amazing, and you can’t help but get caught up in the moments. I also really loved the emotional side of the story when dealing with Jalen’s grandmother. Just reading the intimate moments between Jalen and Nina were tugging at my heartstrings.I was a little annoyed the extreme 360 to Jalen’s mother’s personality when the 13th sign was released. I couldn’t really understand how she could freak out as much as she did to Jalen.I would recommend this read to MG readers everywhere! Fans of horoscopes and zodiac signs will devour this quick read, and will have them totally comparing themselves to the zodiac descriptions found in the book. I know I did, and I am such a Cancer!