The Thirteenth Guardian by K.M. Lewis

May 18, 2019 Sheila Goicea rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-ebook, sci-fi, 2019-releases, 2019-completed-reads, arc-via-booksirens, religion

I received a copy of this book via BookSirens in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! In no way does this affect my rating or review.

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All included quotes have been taken from an ARC and may not match the finished publication.

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Content Warning: Death and destruction (by natural disasters)

”Could the true story of the Garden of Eden be completely different from what we have been taught? Did Michelangelo conceal the same ancient knowledge in his Sistine Chapel painting? That something happene

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Sep 03, 2019 Erika Sarutobi rated it did not like it · review of another edition

1.5 stars just because the ending was interesting.
With all honesty, the sypnosis sounded more interesting than the whole book.

Now, when my reviews are realllly long, it means that I hated what I've read and nitpicked over everything that I disliked.

So, this was an interesting premise but the execution was horrible. The inspiration from the myths and religions with the author's twist was great (which is mostly mentioned in the end though) but it still wasn't enough. I'm honestly so disappointed. ...more

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Sep 09, 2019 Alaina rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2019, 2019-arcs, sci-fi, fiction, young-adult

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like The Thirteenth Guardian but I just couldn't get into it. I would rather watch all the Da Vinci movies ever made than re-read this. If I'm being honest, I was really disappointed with this because the synopsis sounded amazing and I was intrigued. Yet, when I dove into this book I was instantly bored and constantly getting distracted by every little thing outside of the book.

I don't really want to dive into ...more

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Aug 20, 2019 MYSS|READS rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really loved the premise of the book - an impending apocalypse, biblical lore, conspiracies, a cast of strangers who find themselves connected in a way they never could have predicted. As an avid consumer of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series, this book should be perfectly suited to my tastes, however, there were a few things about The Thirteenth Guardian that prevented it from being a 4-star read for me.

My ma I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really loved the premise of the book - an impending apocalypse, biblical lore, conspiracies, a cast of strangers who find themselves connected in a way they never could have predicted. As an avid consumer of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series, this book should be perfectly suited to my tastes, however, there were a few things about The Thirteenth Guardian that prevented it from being a 4-star read for me.

My main issue is how the story is written. It just really wasn't my cup of tea. I felt the pace was too fast - I like an action-packed story as much as the next person, but I don't want to feel rushed. There was also much more TELLING, rather than SHOWING. From feelings to setting descriptions, it was all so straightforward and blunt, which did not help to bring either the characters or the story to life, and ultimately made it hard for me to fully immerse myself into the story. The cast of characters, while all interesting and unique in their own way, did not really strike a chord with me. I really found it hard to connect with them, and I think that mostly had to do with how unrealistic I found them and their reactions to be. They were either crazy attractive, crazy smart, crazy wealthy, or all of the above. And even though the main crew was comprised of adults, there was something about them that made them seem very... young. I get that this is all fictional, but sometimes I couldn't help but think: "Did an adult really just say/think that?".

Despite these issues - which are, of course, subjective - The Thirteenth Guardian was a fun read. It is a very interesting story with a lot of action, cool characters, and many a biblical conspiracy (which are always entertaining to read). There were so many layers, so many characters, and so many things going on, that you can really tell that the author put a lot of work into researching and planning this story. If you like Dan Brown's work or enjoy reading urban fantasy and apocalyptic science fiction, then give The Thirteenth Guardian a try. ...more

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Jun 29, 2019 chloe ♡ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-read, i-own, review-copy, publisher-sent

i received a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. all opinions below are my own.

this book was mindblowing.

i’m catholic, and even though my family isn’t super religious, i was sent to sunday school as a child to learn about the ten commandments and stories in the bible, such as moses leading the israelites out of egypt, and my presonal favorite – noah sailing away in an ark with his family and a bunch of animals when it rained for forty days and forty nights.

these stories ar ...more

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Apr 06, 2019 Jypsy rated it it was ok

The Thirteenth Guardian is an okay read. I found the number of characters too overwhelming to keep track of. I also disliked the characterization overall. It's kind of ridiculous how perfect and capable every character is. It's sophomoric and cliche, and I struggled through this one. The story premise is interesting but presented in a way I found unappealing. Other readers with different interests and expectations will enjoy the book, but it's not for me. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchan ...more

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Jun 11, 2019 Shakera rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Imagine, one day is just as normal as the last. A few days go by, and then an earthquake of a 9.9 magnitude occurs. Your country has never experienced such a catastrophe. Next, a tsunami, wiping out all of the east coast of the United States... New York, Boston, Pennsylvania, Florida... all underwater at the bottom of the Atlantic. Horrific natural disasters are happening all over the world in degrees undreamt of. One of the things each of these events have in common is people hear trumpets comi Imagine, one day is just as normal as the last. A few days go by, and then an earthquake of a 9.9 magnitude occurs. Your country has never experienced such a catastrophe. Next, a tsunami, wiping out all of the east coast of the United States... New York, Boston, Pennsylvania, Florida... all underwater at the bottom of the Atlantic. Horrific natural disasters are happening all over the world in degrees undreamt of. One of the things each of these events have in common is people hear trumpets coming from the sky. The main thing each event has in common is the book of Revelations from the Bible. K.M. Lewis has brought the apocalypse of the Bible to life in The Thirteenth Guardian, but there's a huge secret, and it's a good one, quite the doozy.

There are six people all over the world who believe they are just ordinary people. Avery, Eli, Kaliya, Remi, and the twins, Carmen and Toni are all special. They don't have special powers, but they possess what it would take to re-establish humanity and build the world to be what it should be. They just need to make it to Austria. There, they will learn about a secret society that has protected the knowledge of humanity, but just like all things, there must be balance. Because there is good, there must be evil. There is another secret society that wants to keep the six from making it to Austria. If Avery and the rest make it there, all hope is lost for their cause. The differences between the two secret societies are interesting. Both have powerful people in places and they both think what they are doing is to the betterment of humanity. The main difference, the secret society Eli and group are making their way to are called The Guardian. There are three guardians and they are women, have always been women, and will always be women. The guardianship is hereditary and past on throughout several generations since the beginning of time. This is bound to be a story that will keep you glued to your book/kindle.

The description of the book only mentions Avery, which I thought was interesting, but you have to get through about six percent of the book before you meet Avery. You meet Eli first and you get to know a little bit about him and wonder if you're reading the right book. This had a The Da Vinci Code vibe to it, which I enjoyed. You get to know a bit about the six throughout their travels to Austria with each day bringing a new and even more horrific event than the day before. While each person brings something to the table in a way that will help humanity, I think Remi will be an interesting character to keep an eye on. He makes a comment towards the end of the book and I think it would be interesting to see where the author takes that character.

I don't think you have to know the Bible to the book of Revelations, but this book could help with that. I thought this book was captivating and I finished the book in one sitting. It looks to be a part of a series, maybe even a trilogy. I'm excited to see where this goes! ...more

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Jun 04, 2019 Sharon Mariampillai rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, e-books, books-i-have, must-read, tbr-finished, 2019-reads, 3-stars, r2rs-authors-only

I received a copy from BookSirens, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you K.M. Lewis for giving me the opportunity to read your book. This was an alright read. I thought the story was good. It had action and suspense, but I found it a bit boring. The characters were okay. I did not love them or dislike them. They were not that relatable to me, so I had a difficult time connecting with them. I thought that the ending was okay. I hope to continue to read more books by K.M. Lewis. Overall, an ...more

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Jun 27, 2019 Athena D. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, read-in-2019, netgalley, 2019-4-star-read, 2019-new-to-me-authors

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 STARS

Full review to come

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Mar 16, 2019 Isabel ✰ rated it did not like it

Shelves: g-survival

** EDIT: I was going back through my books for the year, and I can't stand by my original rating of two stars. The experience of reading this book was bad. I honestly have no positive memories of this book. I would have DNFed it if it weren't an ARC. All of those things put together should equal a one-star rating, but I think I went with two because this is one of the first ARCs I was approved for, and I was so excited about the experience that I tended to rate ARCs higher than I probably would ** EDIT: I was going back through my books for the year, and I can't stand by my original rating of two stars. The experience of reading this book was bad. I honestly have no positive memories of this book. I would have DNFed it if it weren't an ARC. All of those things put together should equal a one-star rating, but I think I went with two because this is one of the first ARCs I was approved for, and I was so excited about the experience that I tended to rate ARCs higher than I probably would have if I'd picked them up in the store. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming :) **

Alright friends, let's jump into it. Based on the other reviews of this book and the summary, I thought I would really like it. And I stand by my early analysis that it's a fascinating premise that has a lot of promise. The problem, though, is in the execution. I'm gonna be completely honest here, it took a lot of willpower for me to get through this book. I definitely skimmed through pretty significant chunks of it.

The Thirteenth Guardian is first and foremost a survival apocalypse book, about a group of people working to survive a series of increasingly devastating natural disasters. And yes, it features secret societies and conspiracies and all that delicious goodness. However, I couldn't enjoy those things, because, in my opinion, this book failed in a couple other, more important areas.

1) Main characters. The Thirteenth Guardian follows (mostly) six main characters as they try to survive. However, my beef with literally all of the characters is that they are the kind of characters I wrote as a sixth grader: obnoxiously perfect, good at everything, and extremely unrelatable. Avery is a) extremely beautiful b) a star basketball player and c) Very Smart and studying astrophysics at Stanford. This is just one example, but it tracks for all the rest of our characters. Because of this, I disliked them from the beginning and was never able to root for them or feel invested in their stories. My emotions towards them ranged from apathy to pure hatred, but if there isn't a single character I like, you can bet I won't like the book. (Remi in particular...oof. Talk about unlikable.)

2) Side characters / POVs. If you thought to yourself, "Six main characters? Sounds like kind of a lot" then you have another thing coming. This book switched POVs like nobody's business (like...usually several times each chapter) and added new ones constantly. I believe the author was going for a vignette sort of feel, but for me, every time a new POV was introduced, I rolled my eyes and gritted my teeth. Each POV, no matter how inconsequential, got a backstory which took up entirely too much time. I was bored and even more disinterested in these brief side characters than I was in our main six.

3) Writing style. The last thing that really took me out of this book and made me struggle through it was the writing style. Normally, I wouldn't criticize an author for their writing, but in this book, it negatively impacted my reading experience in a big way. The author seemed to avoid contractions like the plague, which led to unnatural feeling dialogue. It was deadpan to a fault, and in the beginning, in particular, I just felt like I was reading a math textbook or something. There was also a lot of repetition that felt like the author didn't trust the reader to make even the smallest of leaps (a la "'Wow,' he said with shock. He did not expect the other man to know this." Not a direct quote but this was the vibe). I resorted to the skimming because reading every word made me want to smash my face into a wall.

I gave this book two stars because the actual action was pretty good, and I still think the premise has promise. It was a good idea, but man, the execution. I can't recommend this book.

ARC provided via NetGalley ...more

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Apr 29, 2019 Olga Miret rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I obtained an early ARC copy of this novel through NetGalley, and I freely agreed to review it. This has in no way influenced my opinion.
I had a look at the early reviews of this book, whose description intrigued me, and this is one of those cases where I mostly agree with both, the positive and the negative things that I’ve read about it.
This is a book about the Apocalypse with capital letters, and rather than just narrate the adventures of a group of survivors after the event, we get a fairly I obtained an early ARC copy of this novel through NetGalley, and I freely agreed to review it. This has in no way influenced my opinion.
I had a look at the early reviews of this book, whose description intrigued me, and this is one of those cases where I mostly agree with both, the positive and the negative things that I’ve read about it.
This is a book about the Apocalypse with capital letters, and rather than just narrate the adventures of a group of survivors after the event, we get a fairly detailed description of what happens, and how a group of people, six young people in this case, are selected and brought together with a mission. We don’t get to know the exact mission until the very end of the book, although we are introduced to the characters and their lives (some in more detail than others) from the very beginning. There is no evident connection between them when we meet them, but things are not as they seem.
Although I didn’t recall that detail when I started reading, I soon realised that this book had much in common with YA books. The collection of characters, as many reviewers have observed, are all extraordinary in many ways. They all seem to be fairly well-off, beautiful, intelligent, and, as has been noted, not very diverse. Also, despite being quite young, they have achieved incredible things already. We have a character who is left in charge of restoring a unique artefact by himself, even if he’s only newly arrived in the Vatican and has no previous experience; we have twin sisters who at sixteen are old hands at working with charities all over the world and setting up new projects; we have a young political aide who ends up locked up in a bunker with the president of the USA… Although those characteristics stretch the imagination, they are not uncommon in the YA genre. It is true, though, that it does not make for characters that are easy to identify with or immediately sympathetic. They are, perhaps, too good to be true.
I found the style of writing somewhat distant. There is a fair amount of telling rather than showing, not uncommon when trying to offer information about events at a large scale (the events that occur in the whole of the planet are described rather dispassionately, no matter how many millions of people are destroyed), and although some of the scientific background sounds plausible (I’m no expert, though, so don’t take my word for it), there is a twist at the end that makes it all go into the realm of fantasy rather than science fiction, and I’ve noticed I am not the only one puzzled by that turn of events. Some readers have complained also about the changes in point of view, especially when some characters appear briefly never to be seen again and are also given their moment under the limelight, and I think some readers will find this disconcerting.
I enjoyed the background information and some of the theories proposing new readings of documents, cultural artefacts, works of art, the Bible, etc., which came towards the end of the novel. I also particularly enjoyed the fact that the Guardians are all women and the explanation for the matrilineal handing of the tradition and the role was quite enjoyable. The fact that the six people were chosen because of characteristics that had made them outsiders most of their lives (headaches, stammering, difficult births…) and how those seeming weaknesses turned into strengths was something that I thought worked well and provided a positive message at the heart of the story.
For me, this novel reads like a long introduction, and although there is plenty of action and events that take place during it (in fact, life in the world as we know it comes to an end and a new order of things is established. It does not get much bigger than that), it feels like the prelude to the true story that is to come later, and the bit of explanation we are offered about how these characters relate to the overall story comes at the very end. The book ends where many others would have started and, personally, I wonder if this would have worked better as a prequel to the actual series. Of course, I don’t know what is to follow, so this is all just wild speculation on my part.
A set up that touches on many different topics readers might be interested in (conspiracy theories, a group of survivors after the apocalypse, religion, old documents, mythology, ancient civilizations, science-fiction, fantasy, dystopia…), with many possibilities for further development, that could benefit from developing the characters and their personalities further.

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Mar 10, 2019 ˗ˏˋ aphrodite ˊˎ˗ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: new-releases-2019

3.5-3.75/5 stars.

*I received an eARC through NetGalley but all opinions are my own*

oh man, oh man when I read the description of this I IMMEDIATELY sat down and read it. I am fascinated by the mythology of religion and there is just NOT enough biblical lore in books and the thirteenth guardian just made me realize how much I want that void filled.

so since there aren’t any reviews for this I wanna try to be thorough with my review but I’m a delinquent so pardon my in-eloquentness.

plot:
we follow ...more

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Sep 11, 2019 Luiza rated it did not like it · review of another edition

This was... Disappointing.

I am a sucker for apocalyptic stories and I love a good twist on mythological tales, so I really wanted to enjoy this book and I tried to do so... It just wasn’t possible.

Starting with the characters: not a single one of them is well developed (or at all developed, in fact). None of them even seem human. They are all the most beautiful and most intelligent and the best at everything they do and have no flaws whatsoever. And they are all inexplicably successful at like 2 This was... Disappointing.

I am a sucker for apocalyptic stories and I love a good twist on mythological tales, so I really wanted to enjoy this book and I tried to do so... It just wasn’t possible.

Starting with the characters: not a single one of them is well developed (or at all developed, in fact). None of them even seem human. They are all the most beautiful and most intelligent and the best at everything they do and have no flaws whatsoever. And they are all inexplicably successful at like 20? For some reason, the recently graduated Remi is considered essential to the functioning of the government... Even though his rich mom was the one who got him the job and he had been working there for a few weeks at most. Eli is still in college, if I remember correctly, and just started his summer job at the Vatican... But he is the one chosen to handle the preservation of the most precious artifact that the Church has wanted for centuries.

And, good God, all the female characters are gorgeous. We get it. No need to keep going on and on about how the curvy Latinas (and this pretty much how they are described) get all this attention from boys at their high school. And, also, I found it more than a little problematic that the daughter of a Japanese woman and an Australian man took after her father (because of course she did) and had an Eurocentric type of beauty... But she went to school in Japan and there she was considered THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN EVER AND ALL HER FEMALE CLASSMATES HATED HER BECAUSE SHE WAS SO PRETTY AND THEY WERE SO JEALOUS... I couldn’t find this information, but if I had to guess this was definitely written by a white male (and if not... What are you doing??).

Plot-wise it was... Okay. The mysteries were all predictable and I had lots of issues with the execution to be honest. Like when they are finding out they are special and what makes them believe that they are being told the truth is that the person talking to them knows some symptoms they’ve experienced throughout their lives (and that had not been mentioned before so no build up there)... And the super rare symptoms were... stuttering... and headaches... and that’s it. So uncommon.

Also, the whole world was ending and there was no emotion to it whatsoever. The characters barely react to it. Well, we are told they are “overcome with despair” a few times, but do we ever see them truly cry and scream and get desperate? Nope. Even when Remi’s girlfriend dies, the only thing he asks is “Can we do something about it?” and when the answer is “no” HE DROPS IT AND NEVER MENTIONS IT AGAIN. A few days later he was flirting with Avery — who lost her DOG and we’re only told she was upset about it for a few minutes.

It’s worth mentioning that, though the book tries to give a scientific explanation for things... It fails. Badly. None of these explanations make sense. For instance, if the world suddenly stopped spinning, it wouldn’t be just the oceans and the air that would keep on going: we (and everything else in the surface of Earth) would be violently affected by it. We would be thrown off the planet. Newton has some interesting thoughts on inertia, maybe look it up.

I received this copy for free from Booksirens in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Mar 26, 2019 Rigel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Solid 3.5 stars.
Woah okay hold on, I have very mixed feelings about this. At first I was annoyed about how preachy everything was and I truly believed it would become a fully-fledged christian-lit which I am not into because I am not religious in the slightest and get aggravated when it drags on.
But... It all pulled together and turned out not to be religious. I think?
Although the inaccuracy of the s Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Solid 3.5 stars.
Woah okay hold on, I have very mixed feelings about this. At first I was annoyed about how preachy everything was and I truly believed it would become a fully-fledged christian-lit which I am not into because I am not religious in the slightest and get aggravated when it drags on.
But... It all pulled together and turned out not to be religious. I think?
Although the inaccuracy of the science ground my nerves, I was able to accept that this is fiction and science doesn't actually have to be real (the whole mind-wipe neuroscience bit did lead to the docking of a few points though because I find it hard to accept inaccuracies in my field of study even if I know it's fiction, and I HATE to be that person but I really can't help it).
The main six characters were all way too perfect to be believable which some people may not like but I didn't mind.
I liked that we actually saw the apocalypse going down (unlike most books where we just see the aftermath) and we were told exactly why it was happening before the end of book one.
Oh, also another thing that lead to me docking some points, was that I think the author considers the USA to be way more important than it actually is? Like when shit was getting real grim it's said that everyone (and I mean it's said that everyone in the world) turned to the president of the US for reassurance instead of their own leaders. There was also a lot of "the US is the most advanced country in the world" (um okay) and "the world will only survive the apocalypse if the US is there to guide them through it" and all that american-centric crap that I (and I'm sure many non-americans just have to roll their eyes at).
Also, now that I think about it, what happened to the main antagonists? They hit one of their marks and then they're done? I don't know it just seemed like Lewis may not have been fully committed to writing them in to the story apart from a few mentions.
Overall, yeah I enjoyed it and I'd pick up the sequel.
Solid 3.5 stars. ...more

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Jun 02, 2019 Kristin Sledge rated it it was ok

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an advanced eBook copy of this title.

In the Thirteenth Guardian, we meet a multitude of characters and see many fates be sealed. The world is changing and the chosen few are coming together to find a way to save the world from mass annihilation, along with the people put in their paths to ensure they are able to meet.

There are great pieces in this story, but they are few and far between. The story takes much too long to progress and by the time we get to ...more

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Mar 11, 2019 Maryam rated it really liked it

I sat down to read a few chapters before I called it a night but next thing I knew, It was 3:00am and I'd finished the entire book! It was PHENOMENAL. I absolutely loved how seamlessly Lewis incorporated the mythological aspects of religion and the allure of secret societies with actual history, all the while keeping the story riveting as ever. Lewis' writing made everything sound so plausible, so eerily familiar that I kept looking out the window, waiting for all hell to break loose at any mome ...more

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Jun 26, 2020 Nadishka Aloysius rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I downloaded this on a free kindle offer many months ago and took it up only because I was in between series to read.
The story is definitely apocalyptic / dystopian as said in the blurb.
I particularly liked the fact that there is a link to the Biblical plagues. It is quite believable that the infamous plagues, or the flood of Noah were actually near end-of-the-world events. I liked the premise that these occur from time to time. I liked how the author drew from various ancient cultures and bel ...more

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Jun 11, 2019 Lindsay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, young-adult, fantasy, 2019-books, bible-verses, science-fiction, biblical, apocalyptic

"The Thirteenth Guardian" is written really well. It is for the young adult genre but it really seem like it could be for adults as well. I was really captive while reading this book. The story is really good. Yes, it does not go into the characters to much as to detail. That is okay with me given that I am thinking the events that is taking place around the world is what this book is mostly about.

It made it so real. I am not wondering if this could happen to our world in a few months. Are we g ...more

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May 05, 2019 Nikki Sojkowski rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, reviewed, i-own-a-copy, why-did-i-pick-this-up, received-from-author, first-reads, did-not-finish, advanced-reader-copy, sci-fi, read-in-2019

I was ecstatic upon reading the blurb and was beyond excited to get the chance to read this ARC. The Apocalypse? Secret Societies? Conspiracies? This book should have been right up my alley.

Unfortunately, the writing style is “tell, don’t show.” Furthermore, a perspective would be set up and then all of a sudden we would be receiving information that the character didn’t know. I found myself forcing myself to read further than I wanted to, in hopes that the style would improve as the book picke ...more

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Apr 14, 2019 CapricornReads rated it it was amazing

I received this ARC from NetGalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was amazing. As soon as I read the description I knew that this book was going to intrigue me and oh did it ever! The book was fascinating and held my interest throughout the whole book.

The book was really well researched, the story is so deep and makes you question a whole lot. However it clearly and really lacked diversity which is a shame.

This book is going on my favorite books shelf just because i ...more

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Jul 02, 2019 Lauren Kastermans rated it really liked it

The Thirteenth Guardian is an apocalyptic action-packed ride from the first page. Combining symbolism and themes from Egypt, The Holy Bible, Da Vinci Code, this novel effectively combines themes of faith, and doubt into a seamlessly written package.

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Apr 18, 2019 Kat rated it did not like it · review of another edition

DNF

I got about 17% through my kindle copy of this book which bought me up to chapter 4 and the book was just bringing no joy to me to read, whatsoever. The characters are bad AND badly written. The premise is interesting but it reads like an 8 year old wrote it. The dialogue is robotic and does not resemble anything like an actual conversation and the actions and reactions of the characters are ridiculous.

There was nothing in the first four chapters that made me want to carry on reading this b ...more

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Jun 12, 2019 Karen (BaronessBookTrove) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the YA Bound Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. The end of days has finally come.
The Thirteenth Guardian by KM Lewis is a genuinely different approach to all the different types of dystopian books that I have read over the years. Mr. Lewis truly takes it into a new spin. Taking all the ancient stories, paintings, and all the religious teachings that we have known throughout time to wrap them up ...more

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Aug 28, 2019 Jo rated it liked it · review of another edition

The early pages struggles to find its groove as it drags through exposition on the characters, but it picks up once the cataclysmic chain of events start.
Lewis portrays these events with the gravity and spectacle it deserves (total "2012" vibes) - succeeding in conveying the horror and the captivating moments within an event with such abrupt pace. Lewis blends in the cinematic qualities of these spectacles with a somehow detached narrative (occasionally switching gears when we turn to a certain The early pages struggles to find its groove as it drags through exposition on the characters, but it picks up once the cataclysmic chain of events start.
Lewis portrays these events with the gravity and spectacle it deserves (total "2012" vibes) - succeeding in conveying the horror and the captivating moments within an event with such abrupt pace. Lewis blends in the cinematic qualities of these spectacles with a somehow detached narrative (occasionally switching gears when we turn to a certain POV). Harrowing things happen on rapid succession without any explanation - contributing to the horror of the situation. This part, K.M. Lewis truly nails.
My main problem, though, is with the main characters and the dialogues. We only get *told* of the main characters' notable traits, and sometimes it doesn't show. Everyone treats them as exceptionally special individuals (for mindblowing and somewhat creepy reasons), but it seems all that's special about them is that they were connected by a string of coincidences - not who they are and what they know. The dialogue sometimes comes off as cheesy, and some were superfluous to a fault. I found it quite hard to believe that someone would go off to a monologue on a conference call with six other confused people without getting interrupted at all. This gets written off as "charisma" but it doesn't feel like it.
I found the revelations in this book to be quite intelligent (as much as it is horrifying), but also quite polarising. The book sets up the big good figures as a matriarchy and the villain with motives no deeper than "retaining control and power" as a patriarchy - this will definitely be a very polarising book since it practically demonises men in power (although I digress. The president of the United States and the male authority figures involved in this book is written as sympathetic characters). The set up to the string of disasters, which pull from ancient literature and religion is also set up beautifully although this ends up becoming mere exposition. Lewis quite wisely avoids reference of a *certain* Christian major figure, since their inclusion would quite hard to get into without further polarising the book.

The book ends rather abruptly and there's no clear sense of an ending when the eARC stops, so I was left quite baffled about the choice of ending. As a starter of a trilogy, I have no idea where this series will go, and not in a good way.

Since this book is quite of a mixed bag for me, I'd read the sequel to see where the story and the writing goes. But I will come with my reservations, since I almost DNFed this book. Bottom line, I loved the ideas and the cinematic pieces; not so much for the characters and certain plot points.

If you loved the Robert Langdon series and wanted higher stakes and actual epic and catastrophic scale, I'd say this might be a book for you.

I received eARC from BookSirens for an honest review ...more

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Jun 13, 2019 Michelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: https://bookbriefs.net**
The Thirteenth Guardian is the first book in the young adult trilogy by the same name by author K.M. Lewis. The Thirteenth Guardian is like the DaVinci Code mashed with a re occurrence of the plagues of Egypt. It is a whirlwind adventure from start to finish. I really got swept up in this book, and though there was a bit much going on at times, it was a really well done novel, and it has left me excited to continue o **You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: https://bookbriefs.net**
The Thirteenth Guardian is the first book in the young adult trilogy by the same name by author K.M. Lewis. The Thirteenth Guardian is like the DaVinci Code mashed with a re occurrence of the plagues of Egypt. It is a whirlwind adventure from start to finish. I really got swept up in this book, and though there was a bit much going on at times, it was a really well done novel, and it has left me excited to continue on in the trilogy. I really need to see what is going to happen next! Be warned though, this series is about the apocalypse. There are a series of natural disasters that threaten to destroy earth, so be forewarned about that going into the series.

In The Thirteenth Guardian, we meet a group of six strangers that find themselves inexplicably bound together. The first of the strangers that we meet is Avery, but the book is told from all of their perspectives, switching off between chapters with each of our 6 perspectives. I love reading a book told in multiple perspectives, and though six might seem like too much, K.M. Lewis made it work. It's hard for me to pick a favorite character so far. I think I will be able to pick one after I read the second book, but so far I really like the whole cast of characters. There is a bit of mary Sue (and whatever the male equivalent is to a too perfect character) but I think as the books progress, we will really do a deep dive into what makes the characters who they are. Them being so perfect didn't really bother me while I was reading, partly because there were so many other things going on in the plot for me to focus on.

This book had some many elements that I love. There is a quest style adventure, full of secrets, secret societies and history. This is a book right up my alley and I have to say K.M. Lewis really delivered. The writing is fantastic and the plot is really intricate and interesting. At times the story may feel overwhelming because of the sheer amount going on, but just stick with it, because it all comes together, and it leaves you wanting the next book immediately. If you are a fan of secret societies throughout history and you love the adventure style of the Robert Langdon books, then the Thirteenth Guardian trilogy is going to be right up your alley. I really enjoyed this book. I can't wait for the next one in the trilogy!

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs ...more

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Apr 08, 2019 Devon (ReadByDev) rated it liked it

First off, thanks to NetGalley and KM Lewis for providing an e-book for my honest opinion!

My overall thoughts: This book has such an interesting plot! There are secret societies, a unique and refreshing POV on religious texts, myth & folk lore, and some - well seemingly not entirely scientifically accurate - cool speculations on Dooms Day/The Apocalypse. While the premise of this story is amazing - the world is ending in 13 days, and it turns out the plagues of Egypt weren't just meant to be tak First off, thanks to NetGalley and KM Lewis for providing an e-book for my honest opinion!

My overall thoughts: This book has such an interesting plot! There are secret societies, a unique and refreshing POV on religious texts, myth & folk lore, and some - well seemingly not entirely scientifically accurate - cool speculations on Dooms Day/The Apocalypse. While the premise of this story is amazing - the world is ending in 13 days, and it turns out the plagues of Egypt weren't just meant to be taken as symbolism - I wish the execution and writing had been better. The characters are a bit bland with little to no unique personalities and the style of writing seemed a bit basic.

A Deep Dive:

- The Plot: Let me just say I live for end of days stories. Especially ones that involve history, science, and mythology. If you love movies and books like The Day After Tomorrow, National Treasure, or The Di Vinci Code, you may enjoy Book 1 in this trilogy. HOWEVER, I could have done without the *time travel* - it opens up way too many plot holes, and it didn't seem necessary to an already interesting take on Adam & Eve, the plagues of Egypt, and even Atlantis. There's a lot going on, and in this case focusing on one thing would make it a lot better.

- The Characters: The story focuses on six main characters, all which have diverse and unique backgrounds, so it's a great start. BUT, there isn't much to their personalities, growth or evolution. I didn't connect with any of the characters, and I wish that I could have been rooting for at least one of them in some way shape or form.

- GIRL POWER: I loved that one of the main secret societies is run solely by women, and that the big reveal at the end of the book has a lot to do with women and their strengths and abilities as humans. It's a subtle nod to all the amazing work ladies do and the author got it right.

- The Writing: This book would have been so much better if the writing style was just a bit different. Most of the conversations are like this: "Oh no. The World is ending. Something is wrong. We must hurry.", and I really felt like there could have been so much more emotion in every aspect of this book (conversations and descriptions). The world is ending! People don't speak properly in conversation when there's panic and terror. Use more contractions, add a bit more personality to these characters, maybe throw in a curse word here and there. I wanted my heart to race each time a new "plague" was hitting, but that extra "umph" was missing. ...more

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Sep 10, 2019 Allison Springer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

The thirteenth guardian is an interesting telling of Revelation and the world that emerges on the other side. The author has smartly diversified his group of protagonists not only ethnically, but in their areas of expertise and interest. One might criticize that this is done too well, too conveniently. Then again , this is fiction and therefore the author has license to head in whatever direction they choose to arrive at the tale and its conclusion. Since this is a planned trilogy, the reader do The thirteenth guardian is an interesting telling of Revelation and the world that emerges on the other side. The author has smartly diversified his group of protagonists not only ethnically, but in their areas of expertise and interest. One might criticize that this is done too well, too conveniently. Then again , this is fiction and therefore the author has license to head in whatever direction they choose to arrive at the tale and its conclusion. Since this is a planned trilogy, the reader does arrive at a conclusion, but its not the end of the tale.

There are six young people scattered around the world who are important to the survival of mankind. We meet them against the backdrop of a strange heavenly object approaching the earth and the events that follow. First, blood seems to rain from the skies in the form of an iron oxide compound that causes death. Eli, a young man from Croatia who is interning at the Vatican working with artifacts and ancient texts, can't help but notice the similarity of this event to those depicted in the Exodus. Meanwhile, Avery, a very tall and talented American college basketball player, experiences a deadly volcanic eruption as she is on a trip in South America. Almost simultaneously, an earthquake takes out the east coast of the United States, where Remi, a wealthy and talented recent Ivy league graduate is working with the Speaker of the House and finds himself headed to the Presidential bunker in West Virginia. This, along with a few other narratives is our introduction to the group of main players who are important to the survival of mankind.

The story moves back and forth between the events happening to the Earth, the journey each of the young people makes and some cryptic hints about an opposition to the continuity of life on the planet. Its a lot to take in.

While the book seemingly comes to a very neat conclusion, so much is left unanswered and unexplained. The closest I came to becoming emotionally invested in a character was with Eli, the biblical scholar. I felt cheated by not having the whole story and I just didn't develop an emotional attachment to the story. I don't think I'll be reading any sequels. While I did enjoy the story and thought it an original take on fantasy/science fiction, it just didn't compel me. ...more

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May 18, 2019 Brooke Lorren rated it liked it · review of another edition

I have to say that as an enjoyable story, I really liked The Thirteenth Guardian. At times I had trouble putting this book down, and I wanted to read "just one more chapter." The Biblical lore was interesting, the danger the world was in kept me reading, and the science (up until the very end) was believable. I lived in Italy for three years, and I enjoyed reading about events in Rome and the Vatican as someone who has visited there multiple times. As a story, I would give this book four stars.

H I have to say that as an enjoyable story, I really liked The Thirteenth Guardian. At times I had trouble putting this book down, and I wanted to read "just one more chapter." The Biblical lore was interesting, the danger the world was in kept me reading, and the science (up until the very end) was believable. I lived in Italy for three years, and I enjoyed reading about events in Rome and the Vatican as someone who has visited there multiple times. As a story, I would give this book four stars.

However, I couldn't in good conscience give it four stars when the writing itself didn't match the caliber of the story. It would be unfair to other books I give four stars to if I gave this book four stars as well.

As an example, sometimes the dialog felt a little wooden. For example:

"Oh, no. That is horrible news, Leo."
"Yes it is."

The characters would have felt more alive if some of them had used more contractions in their speech.

Another issue I had with the writing was the head-hopping. The book was written in 3rd person point of view. Sometimes it would jump into the mind of an insignificant character. In one example, the book went from a main character's POV, to an insignificant character's POV for one paragraph (just to say how attractive she thought he was), and then back to the main character's POV. After reading that, I thought that maybe that character would be significant later, but no. The character died shortly afterwards.

The one other issue that I had with this book was the end. It looked like the book was nicely wrapped-up, and the characters were going to go into their next chapter of their life, and then they start talking about doing this impossible task that would practically need a Deus ex Machina to get done. I'm not sure if there's a sequel planned for this book or not, but if not, then that part of the book was somewhat unnecessary.

What the blurb really doesn't tell you is that this is a disaster book. Like Revelation on steroids. That might be something you're interested in knowing, because this book says that it's about a mystery (and it is) but the Earth dramatically transforms in this book as well.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this book and thought the theories inside were pretty cool. ...more

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Apr 25, 2019 Nikki rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, unique-plot, dark, bad-writing

**2.5 Stars**

Tsunamis, flaming meteorites, earthquakes, and poisonous dust are only a few of the disasters that will plague Earth in the wake of a passing meteor. In a world experiencing the end of days, six strangers will be thrown together as the last few remaining survivors on Earth to rebuild society.

While I thought the premise for this novel was a creative, fresh take on the “end of civilization” biblical apocalypse, I did not feel the writing was of a quality on par with the storyline. Th **2.5 Stars**

Tsunamis, flaming meteorites, earthquakes, and poisonous dust are only a few of the disasters that will plague Earth in the wake of a passing meteor. In a world experiencing the end of days, six strangers will be thrown together as the last few remaining survivors on Earth to rebuild society.

While I thought the premise for this novel was a creative, fresh take on the “end of civilization” biblical apocalypse, I did not feel the writing was of a quality on par with the storyline. The dialogue had a rather juvenile feel to it. Also, the pace of the story seemed at odds with itself. I enjoy a good action storyline, but the character development was very poor and hastily done. The author takes time to describe characters who end up dying just a few pages later, yet as readers we don’t really gain any insight into the thinking and motives of the main characters. One thing I found to be truly annoying was the constant reference to the amount of time a character spent doing something. For example, “The pair stared into the heavens in silence for more than five minutes.” And, “It had been eight to ten hours since daylight returned.” This continuous mention of time (seconds, minutes, hours, days) becomes repetitive and a bit obnoxious. It’s the lack of literary description and the insertion of definite blocks of time that really takes the reader out of the story world. Lastly, and I could be wrong as I’m no scientist, but some of the events seem a bit far-fetched, even for science fiction. (view spoiler) Maybe, but a few things like that sort of exceed the realm of possibility.

So, in the end, I’d have to say my final thoughts are that this book has potential. Anyone who loves a fast-paced, dramatic action story will likely enjoy what K.M. Lewis has produced; however, for those readers who are also writers, expect many roadblocks to enjoying the book.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
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Mar 24, 2019 MJ P rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

SO *deep breath* - Started this book with the intention of reading a couple of chapters a day over a few weeks. O.M.G!!!! I couldn’t put it down! And now, I’m mad as heck that I’m done - I WANT MORE!!!!!

I feel like I just got off an epic rollercoaster ride that had crazy, yet believable conspiracies, awesome insights into ancient civilizations and unconventional secret societies.

Lewis did a number on me with the provocative ideas and explanations of some of the most baffling or otherwise hard t SO *deep breath* - Started this book with the intention of reading a couple of chapters a day over a few weeks. O.M.G!!!! I couldn’t put it down! And now, I’m mad as heck that I’m done - I WANT MORE!!!!!

I feel like I just got off an epic rollercoaster ride that had crazy, yet believable conspiracies, awesome insights into ancient civilizations and unconventional secret societies.

Lewis did a number on me with the provocative ideas and explanations of some of the most baffling or otherwise hard to explain aspects of my personal religious belief system. I was raised a Christian and taught to believe in the Bible as the book of LITERAL Truth. Lewis connects the dots through science, other religious texts and the craziest modern day occurrences (that have been documented on youtube and in the news - Yes I checked!!), as explanations for some of the most controversial storylines in scripture. I found myself not just intrigued, but actually open to considering a wildly different, yet plausible perspective on what happened in Genesis, at the Exodus and what will happen the end of days!

My absolute favorite aspect of the book was Lewis' surprising take on who actually pulls the power strings to run the world!!!! Ive always imagined there were ‘men in black hats' somewhere influencing the outcomes of critical aspects of humanity - who would have thought that WOMEN (YAAAAAAAAS POWERFUL WOMEN) are actually in play !... So so good!

It was a page-turner from start to finish. And Lewis did an incredible job of building up to an ending, or should I say a beginning, that I did not see coming. Honestly, the book is paced and written like a movie with a surprising clincher that leaves you desperate for multiple sequels. I can't wait to learn more about the fate of the 6 - especially Avery and Kaliya. And to see the role that technology plays in the new world.

Totally worth the headache I now have from a sleepless night of binge-reading.

I would give it 6 stars if I could.

#TheThirtheenGuardian #KMLewis ...more

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