Why did I read The Twelve-Fingered Boy?I'm a fan of John Hornor Jacobs. His debut novel
Southern Gods blew me away. (You can check out
my review of Southern Gods here.) The Twelve-Fingered Boy is Jacobs's first YA novel, and it sounded like an awesome read.
The Strengths I have a strong affection for coming of age stories, and I don't find myself reading male POV YA books very often. The Twelve-Fingered Boy was able to fill that spot in my heart and make me a very happy reader.
I love the friendship between Shreve and Jack. This is something I look forward to reading more of in the rest of the series.
Superpowers! Can a YA fantasy get better than the main characters having special abilities? I'm not sure that it can for me. If you love books like the Lorien Legacies (
I Am Number Four, etc.) then you should check out The Twelve-Fingered Boy as well.
I'm very happy to report The Twelve-Fingered Boy is a full story. I bitch A LOT about series books not giving a full story in each volume. I firmly believe that any and every book should be able to stand on its own. Even though there is a larger story arch and questions left unanswered, The Twelve-Fingered Boy is completely capable of standing on its own.
The design of the physical book is fantastic. I'm very blessed to have a hard copy. It's a great read so I certainly recommend downloading the ebook if that is your thing, but bibliophiles, keep in mind this is a stunning book.
The front and back matter are printed on dark paper.
The WeaknessWhen the big baddie
Mr. Quincrux forcibly enters Shreve's mind (not a spoiler/in the book blurb), Shreve has a very strong reaction to how he's been violated. I was uncomfortable with the extent to which Shreve was equating this violation especially given the fact that Shreve goes on to do the exact same thing to others.Would I recommend The Twelve-Fingered Boy to others?Yes! It was a really great read.
The Shibboleth comes out in March so I will definitely be reading that one soon as well.