Review: NUMBER THIRTEEN IS #1 IN MY BOOK
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 1, 2014
When I first read the synopsis for Number Thirteen by Bella Jewel I knew I'd be hooked. What I read I loved and so of course I had to one-click immediately. Wow am I so glad I did! This book grabbed me from the very first sentence and did not let me go until the very last word of the epilogue. And even now I'm still thinking about it. I love when a book does this to me, when it stays with me hours or even days after I've finished reading it.So what did I love about it? Pretty much everything. I love that it's NOT a BDSM romance. I love that it's a story of survival, of courage, hope, faith, determination, love and above all trust. The girls have lost so much and yet gain so much from this life-changing, at times horrific, experience. They learn to trust that William does what he does for a reason and in exchange William learns to trust that not everyone judges him the way he believes they do. Number Thirteen and William develop feelings and a relationship unlike anything I have ever read before. I loved the emotional pull of this story. I felt fear, loathing, disgust, anger, frustration, sadness, happiness, and even love. In the same way the girls experienced everything, I did too. It felt real, I felt like I was there watching it all unfold. I thank the author for her writing style truly capturing what the characters were feeling or doing or thinking. And on that note, Bella Jewel's note at the end of the book was one of the best I've ever read. I was so thrilled to read that she started with an idea and followed it as best she could until the characters just took everything in a different direction and she went with them on their wild ride not knowing exactly how it would end up. I love when an author isn't afraid to let go of the outline, of the original storyline and just allows the characters to take over and tell their story the way it's meant to be told. In this case, William and Number Thirteen told quite a tale, and I cannot imagine it having gone any differently. Even the parts of the story that had me screaming at my Kindle and wanting to throw it across the room (particularly towards the end) were just perfect.Number Thirteen is a book with a deep and important message within its pages, teaching readers a valuable life lesson. I think Bella Jewel did an outstanding job with this story and I can only hope that there will be more to it, particularly having to do with William's brother Ben...please Bella please?? :)