Julia is a moody thirteen-year-old, convinced that adults are out to get her, while she tries to find herself and solidify her beliefs.

John is Julia’s childhood friend; a young boy trying to reconcile the world he knows with a world he feels but cannot prove.

The twenty-two, aware of Julia’s desperate plea for a better life, are in control. Or are they?

This book's premise intrigued me. It starts off with the mystic twenty-two (who are actually twenty-three), and although there are many of them and their purpose is never clearly defined, it’s not too overwhelming.

It also becomes quite fun trying to figure out exactly who does what, and why The Twenty-Two are where they are.

The introduction to the non-mystic characters – Julia and her family, and later on John – takes the book down a notch though. It is unfortunate that the author does not handle characters and dialogue as well as she handles mystic elements. The dialogue often becomes forced and unnatural.

Furthermore the world-building leaves much to want for. Sentences like, “Julia tried to get comfortable in the spacious seat in the spacious rear section of the spacious limousine” are just stylistically poor.

At times, this novel does a superb job of analysing the strife between mothers and daughters. I do feel that some more attention to this could have improved the work.

I think one might label this novel as being esoteric – and that is something it does wonderfully. It addresses the metaphysical in a way few works of fiction have attempted.
Stylistically, however, I found this to be a poor work, which detracted greatly from its esoteric elements.