Parents' Guide to The Thirteenth Child

This sweeping fantasy is full of macabre surprises—beheadings, plagues, vengeful ghosts—and sweet ones too, like the tender relationship between a young healer and her godfather, the god of death. There's often tension between Hazel and the Dreaded End. He claims her from her neglectful family 12 years late, dictates her future, and doesn't understand her need for companionship. He also doesn't understand why she can't kill on command without so much remorse, even if it's the natural order of things. But he also cares for Hazel deeply and through the years finds a way to express it and learn from her compassion.

This relationship is the complex emotional center of The Thirteenth Child. Compared to it, the love story feels less important and less intriguing. Perhaps it's because Prince Leopold does very predictable things: acts up as a spoiled royal, then changes his ways for a disapproving Hazel. Still, it's easy to root for Hazel and Leo finding love. There's little joy in a job trying to cure a nasty plague, and a whole lot of pressure when godly forces stir things up. The gods have a hand in the finale's excitement as well, along with an unstable, threatening king. But like the rest of the tale, the dark, twisty suspense makes way for poignancy by the not-so-dreaded end.