13 to Life (13 to Life, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Aug 20, 2010 Steph rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series-ended, series-book1, year-read-2011, author-웃, age-group-ya-na, sos-games-bsb-r2

Not sure on the rating: 3.5-4★

In typical YA form, there was a girl, Jessie, with a crush on a hot guy, then a new boy, Pietr, comes to school (hot, Russian and mysterious). She's assigned as his guide, show him around school, get him to class on time, etc. All the girls ooh and aah over the hot, new guy, but she's not initially all that impressed (other than he's sweet eye candy). Her two BFFs are interesting themselves. Sarah, a former icy, frenemy, now sweet, word-a-holic BFF. Amy is a hoot, t ...more

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Jul 10, 2010 Kalynn rated it liked it

I would give this book something like 3.5 stars. It's a pretty good read with nice chemistry between our heroine Jessica and Pieter, the new boy in town. It does have some pacing issues, and the heroine makes some monumentally dumb decisions, which were somewhat explained by her recent trauma but not entirely. One of the major contrivances keeping theJessica and Pieter apart throughout the book stems from Pieter, for incomprehensible reasons, going along with one Jessica's self destructively alt ...more

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Dec 19, 2009 Literary Ames rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy, weres-shifters, 1st-in-series, read-in-2010, donated-to-charity, dtb

Slow to start but what a finish! Holy cow! I bit my lip in angst as I was coming to the end, knowing I was going to be left wanting more, and I was bloody right! Ugh.

The beginning started off very Vampire Kisses with a hint of The Awakening, and I worried it was gonna get ugly despite the high praise it's received by many all ready but thankfully it didn't descend into to dull, wishy washy YA drivel. It was smart and understanding albeit slightly confusing until the tidal wave of a big reveal, t ...more

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Mar 16, 2010 Laura Lulu rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, urban-fantasy, shifters

3.5 stars. I really liked the story, lots of mysteries that made it hard to put down, and I will definitely read more in the series. But it reads like an unedited indy book. It has a really bad case of the "Diarrhea of Descriptives". Waaaaayyyy too many overly effusive & unnecessary adjectives, adverbs & descriptive phrases. And there were a couple times where I actually checked to see if I missed a page, because characters were talking about something like it was old news, but they had forgotte ...more

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Dec 12, 2010 Logan rated it it was ok

Shelves: own-won, shifters

First impressions: The opening scenes are really engaging, particularly when Jessie encounters a beast outside her barn. We then jump right into her life at school and the introduction of Pietr, and the book moved really well for the first couple of chapters.

Lasting impressions: The cliffhanger at the end left me curious to see where the story is headed, but the lack of action in this book makes me question whether I would enjoy another installment.

Conflicting impressions: Pacing, pacing, pacing First impressions: The opening scenes are really engaging, particularly when Jessie encounters a beast outside her barn. We then jump right into her life at school and the introduction of Pietr, and the book moved really well for the first couple of chapters.

Lasting impressions: The cliffhanger at the end left me curious to see where the story is headed, but the lack of action in this book makes me question whether I would enjoy another installment.

Conflicting impressions: Pacing, pacing, pacing. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: I have a hard time enjoying a book that moves at a snail's pace. Nothing happens for a very large portion of the book, so while the beginning and end were interesting, the slow middle really affected my opinion of the book as a whole.

Overall impressions: There were elements of this story that I really liked. Pietr is interesting, and I like his complex family. Jessie had me laughing out loud in a couple of scenes. She's really funny, and would be way more likable if she wasn't so hung up on her friend Sarah.

You see, Sarah used to be the cruelest mean girl in the school. She was also responsible for Jessie's mother's agonizing death by fire in a car accident. When Sarah survived and wound up in a coma with memory loss, Jessie took it upon herself to nurse her back to health and turn her into her best friend.

WHAT?

Sorry, I'm not buying it. It serves the story by adding a layer of tension when Sarah starts to revert to her old self, but its primary purpose is simply to add a roadblock to the burgeoning relationship between Jessie and Pietr. Because fragile Sarah has a crush, Jessie couldn't possibly act on her growing feelings for him. Jessie made me so angry during this part of the book that I wanted to shake her. Why are you giving up everything for the girl who took your mother away from you?

The light at the end of the tunnel is the last few chapters. Things really pick up toward the end, when Jessie starts putting together the pieces. We get information that Jessie and Pietr and their families may be linked, and it ends on a cliffhanger.

There are enough cool things that happened in this book that I think the next one may be worth a read, but I'm still hesitant. Jessie was at times funny and likable, and at other times completely ridiculous. Pietr is dark and brooding, but also in insta-love with Jessie. The end was interesting, but the first chapter totally gives away what's happening in the story and therefore dragging out Jessie's realization.

All told, it just didn't work for me. ...more

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