13 Treasure Trilogy by Michelle Harrison

The series I just read was very hard to find in the library because they are called 13 Treasures, 13 Curses and 13 Secrets.  My mother didn’t know which one was next because they all had the number 13 in the title. She got the wrong one out for me once. 

You should read the trilogy if you like books that are fantasy and mystery. The story is all about the adventures of three kids: Tanya, Fabian and Rowan (who went by Red in the first two books). They get mixed up in dangerous fairy stuff all involving Rowan’s baby brother who turned out to be her cousin. Rowan is half human and half fairy and works against the changeling trade. When she discovered that her mother was not her mother but her aunt she also discovered that her father was a fairy and she was not meant to be born. The fairies in this book are ugly. They can be human sized if they want to be and they can be seen by non-second sighted people if they want to.

I have a few bad comments about it and a few good ones. 

I loved the books. It was a good series but I didn’t like how the author, Michelle Harrison, once made the characters think that when something was good it was actually bad. There was a scene where the main character Tanya was being punished by Gredin, who is Tanya’s guardian fairy, the punishment was that when she went back home her old dog had turned into a puppy. It wouldn’t be a punishment for me! I think it would be fun for both of us.

I didn’t like the names Michelle Harrison made up for a lot of the places and characters. For example these names I do not like: Fabian, Gredin, Crooks, Tino and Oberon. I chose to pronounce them them wrong because I don’t like them and I changed them to Fabin, Grendin, Tinto and Auburn. The place that Tanya took her vacations at with her grandmother (who was second sighted like her) was called Elvesden Manor. It is hard to pronounce.

I couldn’t put the books down while they were exciting.I read a chapter every night and 3 chapters every morning in bed and then 4 chapters in the middle of the day. Each book has about 420 pages.

I also didn’t like how when you finish one book you don’t have to read the next book. In fact you don’t even know that there is another book. None of them end in a cliff hanger. I do like cliff hangers. 

I recommend that you do not look at the 13 treasures trilogy website because it will give you a sour taste in your mouth. There is only one video on it about Michelle talking about how she got her ideas from someone else. I didn’t like that they weren’t her own ideas.

It was kind of disappointing because the first two books are all about getting Tanya’s friend Rowan’s baby brother back from the fairy realm. They got there just when Seely and Useely Count were switching over from Summer to Fall. When they got to the courtroom they had to do a task and they completed the task. They went back to the fairy realm which is now ruled over by Useely Count. The Count said that they could have the baby brother BUT then when she saw him he was in a fairy family who loved him and he loved them. He didn’t even remember Rowan. So she just left him there. It was disappointing because the work up to the goal was great and then it failed at the end of the second book. I think it is unusual and not that good to end a story badly.

I can tell you about the Counts. There are 2 chief fairies who rule and all the fairies follow one of them. The Useely Count takes over rule of the fairy realm for Fall and Winter. The Useely Count is the bad Count. One fairy rules at a time then all of the fairies follow him.

I personally would not want to be second sighted (which means that you can see fairies). Because I find that it usually it gets you into a lot of trouble!!!

by Claire