Review: 13 To Life (13 to Life, #1) by Shannon Delany

Everything about Jessie Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie’s small town.

It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid.

The paranormal genre is one of my favorites and 13 To Life was a book that fell into this category for me and has now been added to a list of series' that I'll be following in the future. Shannon Delany has a fresh voice for a YA debut author and I had fun while reading her work. She turned the science and mythology angles to her advantage when creating her world of werewolves. While some parts may have been predictable, other questions and curiosities were forming along the way for me, so much so that my interest was kept throughout each turn of the page.

Our main characters Jessie and Pietr were fun and interesting to follow along with, but I was often times frustrated with them as well. Jessie more often than not played the role of a martyr and at times that got old and even irritating. While I wanted to yell and shake Jessie more than a time or two for her actions and suggestions, I also found Pietr at fault for agreeing so easily with her decisions. It takes two to cause the confusion and trouble that they created.

But these irritations didn't stop me from reading on. I was just constantly hoping that Jessie and Pietr would snap out of it and start coming around to may way of thinking (I mean come on). While their "unrequited" love was distressing I also had sympathy for their situation and can only hope that they'll eventually get what they both want in the next book. I'm eager to see how everything unfolds.

With extremes thrown into the mix like the CIA's involvement and Russian Mafiosos pulling any strings they can, I think readers will be equally intrigued with how the plot points pan out. I also think Delany will quickly become an author with few equals as far as her cliffhangers and leaving questions unanswered goes. Delany left me pondering what Jessie's crush Derek has to do with the whole story? Will Sarah follow Darth Vader back over to the dark side? Are people who were thought to be on one side of the battle really just playing it cool until they're ready to show their true allegiances? Only Delany can answer these questions with her follow up installments to the 13 To Life series and I for one can't wait to read more to find out.

I gave 13 To Life (13 to Life, #1) 3 shamrocks!!!