This sequel to 13 Treasures can stand alone without having read the first book, however, you’ll become addicted to Harrison’s marvelous story and writing style and want to read it.  I read them out of order and understood the story perfectly–no awkward or wasted time in the story backtracking or explaining or transitioning.  In 13 Curses, Red (Rowan) is working to find her baby brother who had been kidnapped by the fairies, but time is against her.  The fairies have quite a different set of rules and Red ends up trading places with Tanya, the main character in book one, and must stay in the fairy underworld.  In order to get her brother, Red must complete a task, to recover the 13 charms from an ancient bracelet.  The charms all have a specific power and are hidden in the real world.  Red works with Tanya and Fabian, also from book one, to figure out the puzzles.  One storyline within the book is how Red feels so different from others.  Both she and Tanya are similar in how they can both see fairies and are fearful of them.  But Red feels responsible for her baby brother being kidnapped as well as for the accident that killed their parents.  She discovers that her Aunt Rose is actually her real biological mother, and the woman she thought was her mother is her aunt.  She is angry and can’t understand how Rose could have given up her baby.  But when she completes her task and finds her baby brother, she realizes that he has bonded with his new ‘fairy’ mother and doesn’t remember her at all.  She realizes she must give him up, even though she loves him, in order for him to be happy.  This helps her in realizing her own situation with her own mother.  I can’t wait for the third book.  Excellent!