Review Detail

Joey Graceffa brings a witchy book to the readers. THE TWELVE takes place in a world where each month a Zodiac Witch is born. Ophelia and Serena are twin sisters, born between two zodiac signs and suddenly plucked from their place at the orphanage and offered the chance to join a powerful coven. The Twelve, a coven of the strongest witches, want Serena and Ophelia to join. But to do so they must train and hunt Dark Witches.

Ophelia and Serena are interesting characters to follow. They don’t always make the best decisions, but they still feel like characters to root for. I didn’t connect with Ophelia’s character in the same way I did Serena’s, but that is solely because of some strange choices that Ophelia made. She’s not a bad character, but the choices were enough to pull me away from her a bit. I also really enjoy the side characters that we are also introduced to. The bonds that form between them is fun. It fits with the characters and the setting, and the author writes those bonds and burgeoning connections well.

The plot and pacing of this book flows really well. Joey Graceffa seemed to want a bit of a faster pace in this book, almost immediately throwing the readers into a scene and keeping the entire book moving at a much similar speed. There are some slower moments, but they don’t drag the story. They provide resting moments for the readers, times for them to catch their breath.

The hardest thing to talk about is the ending of this book. I won’t spoil anything, but the ending definitely has me hoping that this book doesn’t remain a standalone. I want more, especially because that ending was not something I wanted from this type of book, nor was it something I was expecting when I first started reading.

The world building was really fun to explore. It’s a world that readers can’t experience for themselves, so they rely on a good writer to take them on that journey. And Joey Graceffa managed to do that well. He made an interesting world that had relatively solid rules that the people within that world had to abide by. The pieces were revealed to readers in an authentic way, not just full info-dumping but managing to weave it in a way that fits the story. It was good and fun.

THE TWELVE is a fun fantasy novel by Joey Graceffa and I hope it doesn’t remain as a standalone. Fast-paced, filled with interesting characters, and taking place in a world that I would love to see more of; it swept me away very early on.