ABOUT
Title: Julia Defiant
Author: Catherine Egan
Series: Witch's Child #2
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Release Date: June 13 2017
Synopsis:
Julia and a mismatched band of revolutionaries, scholars, and thieves have crossed the world searching for a witch. But for all the miles traveled, they are no closer to finding Ko Dan. No closer to undoing the terrible spell he cast that bound an ancient magic to the life of a small child. Casimir wants that magic will happily kill Theo to extract it and every moment they hunt for Ko Dan, Casimir s assassins are hunting them.
Julia can deal with danger. The thing that truly scares her lies within. Her strange ability to vanish to a place just out of sight has grown: she can now disappear so completely that it s like stepping into another world. It s a fiery, hellish world, filled with creatures who seem to recognize her and count her as one of their own.
So . . . is Julia a girl with a monster lurking inside her? Or a monster wearing the disguise of a girl?
If she can use her monstrous power to save Theo, does it matter?
I received a copy of the novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
"What can I say, except WHATTTTTTTT?????" is my first thought after I finished this book.
If you've read my review for the first book in the series, you know that I wasn't quite taken by it until the last 1/3 of the book. I can safely say that is not the case with this sequel.
Julia Defiant picks up right where Julia Vanishes left off, with Mrs. Och and Julia's whole crew travelling to Tianshi, the capital of Yongguo. It's perhaps the most powerful empire in the world and they are a country that allows for witches to exist as long as they register with the government. There, the crew hopes to find a monk that has put a powerful piece of magic inside baby Theo so that they can hopefully undo it.
There is a whole new city that we get to see the characters inhabit and a place where magic is not outlawed and used in everyday life. Tianshi has magical bells that when rung in a certain way can change the weather. The empire is very clearly based on Imperial China with the names, and the culture and even the cover. You can see the Chinese influences in it. I was a bit sceptical going in as to how this was going to happen, but it was pretty fine overall.
A lot happens for Julia in this book with her going on more missions as she seeks out the answer to hopefully help baby Theo with his massive magical problem. She meets a new spy boy in Tianshi who has "swoon-worthy cheekbones" and cute dimples and a wonderful smile. I thought that was super cute how she had a kind of thing with this fellow spy.
Julia has grown so much since the beginning of the first book. As she's even herself stated, the person she was at the beginning of the first book is light years away from who she is now. She's learned a lot more and experienced so much more. She's found herself thrust into the drama and machinations of dying gods and she is learning to hold her own against them. In fact, pretty much all the characters in the main cast of the book are so very interesting and have a past that is tied into the history of the world that they inhabit.
We also get to learn a lot more about the past and magic and how it all works in this book which also ends up showing us more about who Julia truly is, perhaps. Literally, I was so shook when we find out more about who Julia is and why it is that she can do the things she can do. Mind. Blown. I literally swore out loud when I got to that part. This book is everything I wanted out of a sequel to Julia Vanishes and I absolutely cannot wait to see what is in store for Julia in book 3, Julia Unbound. There's so much more I want to know and so much left for her to do.
Also, can we maybe get a world map in these books? Julia Vanishes came with a map of Spira City and Julia Defiant comes with a map of Tianshi, but there was so much talk of crossing mountains and this small warrior kingdom in between the mountains that they didn't want to cross that had my head spinning. I need a MAP. PLEASE.
My experience so far with this series reminds me of my experience with the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. The first book wasn't much at first and then so much more opens up for the reader as we move along. It also has a seriously interesting and complex world where the characters are simply take up the mantle of solving problems that will change the world. I seriously can't wait to see what Julia will get up to in book 3 and what more we'll learn about her.
Happy Reading!
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