Title: Summoned to Thirteenth Grave
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Charley Davidson #13
A hollow narrative with only humor and charismatic characters as its merits
Edit 1/23/19 – Changed rating to two stars
So, after reading the book again and giving it more thought while writing my spoiler review last week, I realized very little of this story makes sense. The plots are hollow, and ultimately, there’s no reason Charley couldn’t have snapped her fingers and fixed everything. As has been said in the novels before—She’s a god. A supreme celestial being. She can do anything.
For a full breakdown, read my spoiler review. I’m sorry if it’s low of me to change my rating so drastically after three months, but I can’t decide I have fundamental problems with it and not be honest with you. If you can turn your brain off, you’ll enjoy this book for the fun, light-hearted read it’s meant to be.
Original non-spoiler review:
I would like to thank Darynda Jones, St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
*receives ARC*
*immediately downloads*
*reads feverishly*
*cries*
*blushes*
*snickers*
*blinks, stunned*
*shakes with adrenaline*
*wails with grief*
*sniffles, pulls self together*
*hyperventilates in anticipation of spin-off series*
*brain catches fire*
*drools and stares blankly into space*
No way in good conscience could I spoil this book for anyone this early. Shame on anyone who does! I’ll speak generally for now, then closer to the release date I’ll reread it, double-check my notes, and write a much more thorough spoiler review.
There are some spoilers here for the other books in the series, however, so if you’re not caught up through Twelve, be careful.
I’m satisfied. Mostly. The ending wasn’t 100% what I wanted, but then I didn’t expect to get 100% what I wanted. I think Jones found a happy medium that most fans should be okay with.
So we’ve got the main plot, which is dealing with the hell dimension Reyes broke open/brought forth when he burst out of the god glass. Ground zero is their apartment, and, as they feared it would, the dimension and its influence have spread. They have to figure out how to stop it before too much damage is done—but since Reyes made it specifically for Charley, her usual tricks, e.g. her light, have little to no effect.
Then, in typical Grave series formula, there are other intriguing sub-mysteries that tie into the main plot. What really happened on the day Charley was born? Did Pari identify a serial killer? Who is the departed little boy hanging around, and what happened to him?
Some of the answers and twists I predicted—I’ve got Reyes’s number—and some I wouldn’t have seen coming in a hundred and seven years. Some of them are a little too strange/convenient for me to buy, such as regarding a certain angelic being, but the mythology is so crazy at this point that I just roll with whatever Jones throws at me. The woman is brilliant, and her imagination fascinates me.
We say goodbye to some characters and hello to some very interesting ones I can’t wait to get to know. It was hard to lose the ones we did, but I understand that narratively Jones needed to trim some of the fat. She chose wisely, consolidating some, relieving others who’d never really been useful. Beep will still have plenty of supporting cast.
But I do think Jones dropped the ball on a few minor things. Nothing that diminished my enjoyment of the story—not even a little bit—but things I don’t want to ignore, either. The bit about what happened to Charley’s mother bemused me, and Jones introduced a conflict with Lucifer that I don’t think she made good on. I felt a little cheated by one character’s demise, and a couple things didn’t make sense or their explanations were glossed over. I’ll get into those in the spoiler review.
Overall, I love this installment of the series as much as I love all the others. It didn’t disappoint me despite its faults, and I can’t wait to read Beep’s saga—though I’m not sure we’ll get that anytime soon. Jones is currently working on an unrelated trilogy, but I’m completely confident she’ll write Beep’s story.
If she doesn’t and just leaves us with that cliffhanger… I may need medication.
My SPOILER review of Summoned to Thirteenth Grave
My review of Trouble with Twelfth Grave
My review of Eleventh Grave in Moonlight
My review of The Curse of Tenth Grave
From the publisher:
Fun fact for each of the books in the series
First chapter of Summoned to Thirteenth Grave
