Monday, June 6, 2016

Blog Tour: Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan and Giveaway!


Title: Julia Vanishes
Author: Catherine Egan
Series: Witch's Child #1
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: June 7, 2016
Source: Publisher

Guys! Guys! Guys! This book! OMG!



Julia Vanishes is about...well...Julia.  She is a teenage girl who is a criminal.  She just one criminal of a larger network of criminals.  She finds the money is good and is much better than what she could earn doing an "honest" days work, so she has no plans on changing her direction in life.

This story takes place while she is working as a spy in a well to do household.  She is undercover as a housemaid and is to report any and all things that happen in the house.  And things definitely happen in the house.  Weird things.

She has no orders beyond that, so she doesn't know what shes looking for specifically, she's going at it blind until they tell her that the job is done.

Oh and Julia has this cool thing that she can do.  She can vanish.  She is still there, but people (most any ways) cannot tell that she is there.

Let us first talk about the world building!  This world that Catherine Egan has crafted is quite brilliant!  There is magic in this world, however, it is outlawed.  So anyone who can do it is hunted and killed.  It seems to take place in history.  It also appears to be Earth as we know it, but it isn't.  It is beautifully written and very easy to imagine in your minds eye while you are reading.  There were so many time that I found myself wanting to try to draw or paint a scene!!!  If only I had skills worthy enough to even try...

I will say this though, the beginning is slowish.  It takes awhile for this world to get built up.  Then the story really takes off and WOAH!

Now...the characters!  I LOVED quite a few of them.  However, some of them, were pretty rough to read (especially in the beginning).  There are only so many times you want to hear how a specific characters face always looked before you want to yell at the book and say "I GET IT ALREADY STOP TELLING ME!"  And a few other characters felt a little under developed and almost awkward at some points (specifically the character Wyn)


The paranormal elements of this story were very strong and well thought out...and there were quite a few of them.  The magic and witches was very interesting.  It was like back when we would burn witches at the stake, however, these witches don't burn...they can only be drowned.  So it was an interesting twist on something that actually happened in our own history in this story.

Guys! This book was a book that I was very iffy about in the beginning.  I thought it was a bit rough and slow, but I kept going.  Then slowly it all started to make sense.  It also felt like Catherine Egan found her flow with the story.  By the time I hit the half way point I was totally hooked.  Then, by the end, I was visibly cringing and making other facial expressions to go along with what was going on in the story.  I WAS THAT INTO IT!

I loved Julia Vanishes.  I cannot wait until the next book in the series comes out.  I just hate that I am going to have to wait FOREVER for it to be out.  Maybe I will get lucky and Catherine Egan will get it out faster than expected.  I can only hope.

My Rating
5 Stars

This review is based on an ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.




GIVEAWAY


Giveaway is open to US residents only. 13 years or older.  Reading is Better With Cupcakes is not responsible for any lost or stolen items.





Blog Tour Schedule:
May 17thSciFiChick
May 18th: Bookhounds YA
May 19th – A Midsummer Night's Read
May 20thJessabella Reads
May 24thBook Swoon
May 27thGreat Imaginations
May 31stThe Young Folks
June 1stThe Fandom
June 3rdKatie's Book Blog
June 7thWinterhaven Books
June 10thButter My Books
June 15thReading Teen
June 17thFiction Fare
June 18thFangirlish

2 comments:

  1. Ghosts are my favorite thing. I don't get enough good ghost stories without obsessive violence though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't think I can HAVE a favorite paranormal thing. Would you ask a mother to choose her favorite child?! Not a fan of ghosts, but witches and demons are probably my favorite paranormal stuff.

    ReplyDelete