Julia Defiant

Gr 8 Up—The second installment in the trilogy finds protagonist Julia questioning her humanity as her ability to vanish grows and changes. Now when she disappears, the 16-year-old can travel to a fiery world—possibly the mythological hell known as Kahge—where her reflection shows a beastly version of herself, and the gruesome creatures seem to know who she is. Julia keeps this a secret while adjusting to life in Yongguo—a more witch-tolerant country than her native Frayne—where she and her cohorts have gone to find Ko Dan, the only person who can extract a remnant of a magical, dangerous book bound to Theo, the small child Julia was paid to kidnap in the series opener. Throw in a new love interest, questions surrounding her parentage, the beginnings of a Fraynish revolution, and an offer to work for her enemy, and Julia—an admirably complex heroine—is just about in over her head. This sequel boasts the same solid world-building and character development as in the first novel, but in a new setting (whereas the original was set in the Europe-like Frayne, the follow-up takes place in a country that more closely resembles Eastern Asia) and with some new faces.