Blog Tour: Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan
Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan
On Sale Date: June 7, 2016
Young Adult Fiction \ Fantasy
Knopf Books for Young Readers
384 pages
My Rating: 4 Stars
Amazon | Goodreads | Website
Julia has the unusual ability to be…unseen. Not invisible, exactly. Just beyond most people’s senses.
It’s a dangerous trait in a city that has banned all forms of magic and drowns witches in public Cleansings. But it’s a useful trait for a thief and a spy. And Julia has learned—crime pays.
Her latest job is paying very well indeed. Julia is posing as a housemaid in the grand house of Mrs. Och, where an odd assortment of characters live and work: A disgraced professor who sends her to fetch parcels containing bullets, spiders, and poison. An aristocratic houseguest who is locked in the basement each night. And a mysterious young woman who is clearly in hiding—though from what or whom?
Worse, Julia suspects that there’s a connection between these people and the killer leaving a trail of bodies across the frozen city.
The more she learns, the more she wants to be done with this unnatural job. To go back to the safety of her friends and fellow thieves. But Julia is entangled in a struggle between forces more powerful than she’d ever imagined. Escape will come at a terrible price.
Murder, magic, thievery, and intrigue fill the pages in Catherine Egan's YA novel JULIA VANISHES.
This is the first book in the Witches Child trilogy. This is the sort of read that draws you in, carefully placing clues and reveals, while cleverly drawing the reader into its dark lair. I had a hard time putting down Julia Vanishes. As I finished each chapter, I would flip to the next promising myself just one more - late into the night.
What I immediately found intriguing about Julia was her ability to vanish in any given setting. Blending in and becoming (as if) invisible.
There, yet not. Which, as a thief and spy, comes in very handy and makes her a valuable commodity. Stealing is what she does best in order to survive, and she has no regrets. What she comes across while spying are murder, magic, and monsters.
Julia is one of those characters who just leaps off the page with her fierce and unapologetic attitude.
I love a flawed heroine, they're some of my favorites in YA. Complex heroines who are given nearly impossible choices. Who are often thrust into dangerous situations where there's a thin line between right and wrong and lives are on the line. Mistakes are made, and there's tangible growth taken from them. This is the sort of heroine Catherine Egan writes, and I could not help but liking this flawed and fiery heroine.
The setting for Julia Vanishes is a dark and gritty world. It is made real by its unique mythology and by the political and magical juxtaposition that run throughout.
The danger of magic is palpable as unseen enemies seem to grow ever closer to Julia. Readers will witness drownings and burnings. They will flee across slums as well as while trespassing in opulent homes. It all reminded me of an alternate Victorian London. With pickpockets and thievery in the backdrop and a serial murderer on the loose - nothing is mundane. At its center are Julia and the strange aristocratic home of Mrs. Och where nothing is as it seems.
There is a touch of romance In Julia Vanishes and it is very much a coming-of-age sort.
Honest and realistic, it is another facet of Julia that felt honest and believable while complementing the nature of the story. Readers who can appreciate a heroine who can make hard choices are going to appreciate it.
Julia Vanishes is recommended to readers wanting a vivid world filled with magic and mystery and a heroine that is both flawed and likable.
The ending left me completely satisfied while leaving me excited for more from this fantastic new series. Witches and magic and a terrific cast of characters made this a great read and a new author discovery. The world created seems to be just unveiling and I want to read more.
About Catherine Egan
I grew up in Vancouver, Canada – a beautiful city nobody in her right mind would ever leave, but leave I did, and you may draw the obvious conclusions about my mind. Since then, I have lived on a wee volcanic island in Japan (which erupted during my time there and sent me hurtling straight into the arms of my now-husband), Tokyo, Kyoto, Beijing, an oil rig in the middle of China’s Bohai Bay, New Jersey, and now Connecticut, where I write books and defend the Eastern seaboard from invading dragon hordes alongside my intrepid warrior-children.
GIVEAWAY
Thanks to Random House Children's Books, One lucky winner will receive a finished copy of JULIA VANISHES! To enter please fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is open to US addresses only, please.
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