Review of Julu

[Gabriella H]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Julu" by Jan Anderegg.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Are you looking for an adventure-packed, out-of-this-world, magical novel? If so, Julu by Jan Anderegg contains all this and much more. Follow the amazing characters of the magical land of Jirvania as they race against time and evil to save imagination and their beautiful home, Jirvania.

Kor, the evil Korrigan, has joined forces with the demon Lamashtu and Sajewar the hag and seeks to rule the world and destroy Jirvania and all the love and hope she represents. He will do anything, even murder children, to carry out his evil plan. Luckily, Jack, Mia, and all their friends are stronger and braver than he could have ever estimated.

I must commend the author for the amount of creativity, planning, and detail that went into creating this book. The world-building and character development are very good. I like how places, people, and events were adequately and beautifully described, and I was able to picture everything clearly because of this attention to detail. I think my favorite part was the use of impactful quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I was constantly looking forward to the next quote. I love the way the book started, and this is very important to me, as I find it difficult to continue reading a book with a boring start.

I enjoyed the writing style, and it didn’t take long to be drawn into this magical story. I also enjoyed the mini-history lessons sprinkled around the story, as the characters traveled between various periods. There were also some humorous parts that I enjoyed, like the introduction of the feared Kor. I can’t say much about this in order not to reveal any spoilers. I believe the central themes in this book are love, the importance of doing good, and choosing to make a difference. There are a plethora of lessons to learn from this story.

Even with all these positive aspects, I have a few things I didn’t really like. I wasn’t fond of the constant time jumps. I found the time jumps quite confusing, even with the explanations at the beginning of the book. I, however, eventually got used to them, and I know they were essential for this story. I also felt like there were too many names to keep track of. Too many characters. As I was just getting used to some characters, more were being introduced into the story, and it felt like I was constantly trying to keep up. I saw only one error, and the book consists of over four hundred pages. Therefore, I believe this book was professionally edited. Due to the reasons stated above, I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars.

Although there are some elements of Christianity in this book, I believe it is suitable for all religions and non-religions. I recommend this book to anyone interested in time travel, adventure, mystery, fantasy worlds, etc. I think this book is suitable for all ages but most suitable for children between the ages of seven and fifteen. Due to the lengthiness, I believe it should be read to younger children, and they should be assisted with difficult words. The book ended on a cliffhanger, as is to be expected since it is the first book in the series.

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Julu
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[Jen Nghishitende]

Thank you for the review, the cover of the book caught my eye as I am looking for books for my daughter. I was happy to see that you recommend it for children between 7 and 15 as mine is 8, although I am worried she might find the time jumps confusing and may be dissuaded from finishing the book, but all in all, thanks!!

[julietmumbua23]

What a wonderful review. I will definitely check the book out.

[Wildflowertheorist]

Julu has a nice cover and an interesting tale, too. Great review!

[Laney K]

I think that time jumps can be quite confusing at times. This does seem like a cute book though. Thanks for the excellent review!