REVIEW: Julia Defiant by Catherine Egan

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Publisher: DoubleDay Canada

ISBN: 0385684681

Format: Hardback, Paperback, E-Book,
Audio-Book

Release Date: 13th June 2017


Links: Goodreads, Amazon.com, Indigo,
B&N, Book Depository


Rating: 8/10


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?

Review:



**Thank you to PenguinRandom House Canada for sending me a free copy in return for my honest review**

Julia Defiant is the exciting sequel Julia Vanishes (which you can read my review of here). I loved the first book, but this one was a huge improvement over the first.

Julia continues to be a fantastic main character. She has lots of positive qualities - smart, loyal, and determined to name a few, - but she also has flaws. I loved seeing her grow and mature throughout this book.

The book is told using first-person and I think I would have preferred the story a little more if it was using third. I've always personally preferred third person, but I do think first-person works well for this story. 

I loved the plot for this book even more than the first. It was full of suspense, action, and mystery. I loved every second. It was much more exciting and fast-paced compared to the first book, which I enjoyed much more. We are introduced to some new characters, with a much more complex plot and got to learn even more about the different types of witches (which is something I wanted after reading the first book). I felt a lot more of a connection with the characters in this book than I did the first.

There were plot twists that took me completely by surprise and I could never have predicted where the story would go and after reading the ending I'm even more excited for the third book.

Catherine Egan is brilliant at writing and creating a vivid setting. I really loved the amount of detail that went into the description, whether about the city or the characters. All the different scenes were excellently written and much more developed.

I'm really excited for the third book, Julia Unbound, to come out later this year and I'm excited to see where the series ends off.

Fans of witches, magic and beautiful settings should definitely pick up this series!