The 13th Continuum (The Continuum Trilogy #1) by Jennifer Brody - Book Review

Monday, June 6, 2022

book cover for The 13th Continuum by Jennifer Brody



This review was originally posted on November 21st, 2016. It has been updated to meet new blog formats and standards.


The first bit of this book is spent giving the reader a bit of a back story to help them understand what is going on and how humanity was put into the position it is in. In preparation for the Doom, thirteen continuums are created. One holds backups to all flora and fauna discovered at that point. The others house humans. Some are sent deep under the sea and earth. Others are located out in space. Each group of humans has one member tasked with carrying the Beacon. The hope is that these Beacons will lead everyone back to the first continuum after Earth has had time to heal and is once again livable.


The story we get to experience takes place around one thousand years after the Doom.


Myra Jackson, her father, and her younger brother Tink live deep under the sea aboard the 13th continuum. All knowledge and items from before the Doom are banned. The Synod, led by Padre Flavius,  runs everything and believes that returning to the surface will just bring further doom to them.


Captain Aero Wright is part of an interstellar colony aboard the second continuum. Everyone on the space vessel is trained in a military school and emotions are considered both inefficient and a sign of weakness. All marriages are arranged at birth and only exist to help keep the population steady.


In the beginning, the story felt very unoriginal. The back and forth between the multiple perspectives also felt a little abrupt. The actions taken by the characters were very predictable. This story fell victim to several common YA tropes, the most annoying to me being how quickly a character was willing to forgive their friends. It also had the “oh everything is messed up, let's immediately take action without properly processing anything” problem. It does get better, though, especially the last 30%. By the end, I was actually looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.


Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3/5


Should you read it?

It is the first of a really interesting trilogy, so definitely!


Book & Author Information: Goodreads

Published January 1st, 2016 by Turner Publishing

Jennifer Brody: Goodreads, Official Site