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A short story in the Kate Daniels universe. Kate recruits her teenage ward, Julie, to search out a missing student whose location spell has her hidden somewhere on campus…

This story was included in An Apple for the Creature and Small Magics.

Audible Audio

First published September 4, 2012

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1382 people want to read

About the author

Ilona Andrews

145 books33.3k followers
Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)

Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Oregon with their two children, three dogs and a cat. They have co-authored two series, the bestselling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and romantic urban fantasy of The Edge.

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5 stars
1,134 (33%)
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1,398 (41%)
3 stars
748 (22%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 228 reviews
Profile Image for Anne.
4,739 reviews71.2k followers
February 17, 2021
I love Julie, and this is about a young Julie.
So.
Julie has a rare ability that allows her to actually see magic and tell what kind of magic is being used.

description

Kate wants Julie to go to a school for kids with magic but Julie isn't having it.
Instead of forcing it on her, she sets her loose in the school as a detective to solve a dangerous missing persons case. As you do.
Of course, this means Julie will meet, potentially grow to like, and perhaps even want to continue to hang around the classmates she comes into contact with at the school. And the best way to do that would be to attend the school itself.
Which proves that Kate understands there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Not that you should ever skin cats, sicko!

description

Anyway. It's a cute shorty and if you're a fan of the series, you should check this one out.
Profile Image for Aoife - Bookish_Babbling.
393 reviews403 followers
June 28, 2022
Quick detour with @Kimster for this novella where we spend a day at a potential new school for Kate’s ward Julie who is tasked with a mystery to solve – potentially making new friends and maybe some frenemies along the way as more magic and characters are introduced. Am I the only one who thought Yu Fong might be the Dragon Dude from Dali’s novella? Not sure he is tho as that guy apparently had amazing turquoise eyes as far as I remember 🤷

This was a cute story which helped show Julie’s growth since her intro in book2(?), but also…what age is she? 🤔
Her task seems to be quite the request for a teen… 😱
This magic school sounds like it could have been a precursor to Zodiac Academy; a student goes missing and it’s the potential new girls test to find out what happened? Guess it explains the novella’s title tho 🙃

Interesting new magics were woven in, I haven’t seen them pop up in other fantasy stories, admittedly I have not read all the fantasy books ever written 😅 I want to know so much more about the other students magical powers – anyone know if there’s another novella or does Julie get a spin off series/books later? 📝
Profile Image for Irene.
1,048 reviews123 followers
January 24, 2020



Julie is a character in the series that really grew on me. Didn't think much of her at first but after reading her short stories I believe she has the potential to be a great lead character in future books.. I'm sorry for all the negative comments about her that paused (I hope temporarily) the continuation of her story-thread..
Profile Image for Madison Warner Fairbanks.
3,396 reviews495 followers
March 17, 2024
Magic Tests by Ilona Andrews
Kate Daniel’s series #6.6. Urban fantasy novella. This story is included in Small Magics and at the end of Magic Breaks. Can be read as a stand-alone but best if at least familiar with the world building.
Kate recruits her teenage ward, Julie, to search out a missing student whose location spell has her hidden somewhere on campus.

Cute short. Julie has been fighting school lately and instead wants more magic training or simply to be around Kate more. In this story, Julie gets to go undercover as a transfer student and try to find the missing girl.
Of course, Julie is not totally left on her own, and there is more adult stuff going on that she’s not aware of. It’s kind of adorable that Kate is taking the steps to help Julie and if you know Kate at all, she doesn’t do adorable. But she is a now a parent and she’s wearing it remarkable well.
Profile Image for Renegade ♥.
1,339 reviews
June 6, 2020
4 to 4 1/2 stars

RATING FOR "MAGIC TESTS"
(Kate Daniels, #5.3)
by Ilona Andrews


Excerpts:

Why do you care?" he asked.

"Because none of you do. Look around you - a girl is missing. A girl you saw in class every day got so scared by something, she had to hide from it. Nobody is looking for her. All of you are just going on with your business as usual. You have all this power and you didn't lift a finger to help her. [...] Somebody has to find her. I decided to be that somebody."

I couldn't tell if any of this was sinking in.

"True strength isn't in killing - or ignoring - your opponent, it's in having the will to shield those who need your protection."

He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Who said that?"

"I did." I walked away.

Brook was staring at me.

"Come on, " I told her, loud enough for him to hear the derision in my voice. "We're done here."

***

I hoped I was doing the right thing. Sometimes it's really hard to figure out what the right thing is. You do something, and you wish you could go back in time for five seconds and undo it or unsay it, but life doesn't work that way.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.





Originally posted here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Profile Image for Lucie V..
1,218 reviews3,642 followers
July 24, 2025
When a student from Seven Stars Academy goes missing, Kate enrolls Julie to help find her.

This short story is told from Julie’s point of view, which was interesting because we’ve seen her in the last few books now, but now we can truly get an insight into how she thinks, and also how she feels about Kate and her ward situation.

Overall, it was an enjoyable short story, and I liked it mostly because it allowed me to get to know Julie better. The plot was good, but not extraordinary, and it was too short for me to like or care about the new characters that were introduced. Although I suspect one of them might make an appearance in a later book.

I was under the impression at first that Julie was supposed to investigate Ashlyn’s disappearance while pretending to tour the school. Kind of an undercover job, yet she told her guide why she was at the school, and she asked questions about Ashlyn to every student she met. She was anything but subtle in her investigation. It might seem like a minor detail, but it bugged me because if she is not supposed to be undercover, then Kate could just have gone and ask the students those questions instead, meaning they were expecting Julie to be incognito, but she was not, at all.




0.5 A Questionable Client ⭐⭐⭐
1. Magic Bites ⭐⭐⭐.5
2. Magic Burns ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Magic Strikes ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
🔫 3.5 Magic Mourns ⭐⭐⭐.5 (Andrea novella)
4. Magic Bleeds ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🐅 4.5 Magic Dreams ⭐⭐⭐ (Dali novella)
5. Magic Slays ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5.5 Magic Gifts ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🔫5.6 Gunmetal Magic ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Andrea full-length novel)



Follow me on Instagram 🙂
Profile Image for Gio Listmaker .
286 reviews88 followers
May 19, 2020
Short Story From The Book Small Magics (Kate Daniels #0.5; 5.3; 5.6 ) by Ilona Andrews

Julie Takes On A Sleuthing Nancy Drew Role In This Mystery Thriller

Julie

Ashlyn One Of The Students In Julie's New Magic School Is Missing

Ashlyn

We Get A Revisit From Yu Fong In Magic Dreams (Kate Daniels, #4.5) by Ilona Andrews

An Exciting Look Into The Future Of Julie And Her Kick-Ass Personality

“Why do you care?” he asked. “Because none of you do. Look around you—a girl is missing. A girl you saw in class every day got so scared by something, she had to hide from it. Nobody is looking for her. All of you are just going on with your business as usual. You have all this power and you didn’t lift a finger to help her. You just sit there, reading your book, comfy behind your bodyguards, and demonstrate how awesome your magic is by heating up your table. Somebody has to find her. I decided to be that somebody.” I couldn’t tell if any of this was sinking in. “True strength isn’t in killing—or ignoring—your opponent, it’s in having the will to shield those who need your protection.” He raised his eyebrows slightly. “Who said that?” “I did.” I walked away."
Profile Image for Zoe Artemis Spencer Reid.
628 reviews146 followers
November 30, 2022
Cute little mystery story. Julie sounded like a mini Kate here though, complete with her own mini version of Curran, so not a fans of that, but have instantly adore her friends and I enjoy the magic school atmosphere a lot. Would like a continuation of her own series with the school and the gang. Hope Derek will be a feature there, though.
Profile Image for Narilka.
723 reviews52 followers
March 18, 2021
This is a nice short story featuring Julie as she solves a mystery at a new school. A super quick entertaining read.
Profile Image for Mindy Lou's Book Review.
3,001 reviews799 followers
October 9, 2022
This was a fun novella. I like Julie and it's pretty cool to see from her eyes what her magic is like. I can see here partnering with Kate when she gets older, investigating. I definitely would like to see more her POV.
Profile Image for Just Josie.
1,135 reviews194 followers
June 23, 2020
LOOOOOOOVE!

Look. I love anything written by the Ilona Andrews Duo. I just can’t help it.
They write smart. Interesting. Powerful and they are bloody geniuses. It’s as simple as that.

This short little thing is about Julie.
An orphan turned “Kate’s ward”. And she is being asked to help at out for a mission. A mission on the academy that she is suppose to begin her education at.

I don’t care if they write 30 pages or 400. They always seem sink their hooks in me and I get compelled to read. And I love that feeling.

Plus- Julie called Derek a dimwit.
That is always hilarious😂

Read: 23/06/2020
1st rating: 5 stars
Genre/tropes: Urban fantasy/magic/druids/dragons
Cover: 4 stars
POV’s: Single- 1st person (Julie)
Will I recommend: Always
Profile Image for Sarah.
3,358 reviews1,236 followers
January 14, 2021
1st Read - August 2013
2nd Read - June 2015
3rd Read - August 2016
4th Read - February 2018
5th Read - July 2018
6th Read - October 2019
7th read - October 2020
8th read - January 2021

This story is part of the An Apple for the Creature anthology but I keep track of my rereads here because I don't tend to reread the entire book, just this particular story.

I already mentioned that I only really wanted to read this for the Ilona Andrews story Magic Tests and I have to say that was the best part of the book. It was worth buying just for this story alone and I'll definitely pick it up again when I do my next Kate Daniels re-read. I've always quite liked Julie's character, she can be a little annoying at times but I think she is a fairly typical teenager in that regard, and it was nice to see a story from her point of view. Although this story isn't essential reading as part of the series because it doesn't really effect the ongoing story arc it was nice to get to know Julie a bit better and I'd actually like to see more from her POV in the future. We've all seen how much Julie hates the boarding school that Kate sent her to and now she's home and living in the Keep she seems to think she can get away without going to school at all. Kate has other plans for her though and she has a very clever way of getting Julie to go along with them. We are introduced to some great new characters but the one I was most excited about seeing again was Yu Fong (you may remember him from Dali's short story Magic Dreams). I was already hoping he'd end up being a major character in the series and now I'm thinking he's more likely to re-appear thanks to his friendship with Julie. I loved getting to see Julie grow up a bit and actually work out a way to use her ability to help someone else and I'd definitely like to see her get her own book or spin off series in the future.

_______________________

2nd read:

Kate has mad parenting skills and I love the way she tricks Julie into attending school, sneaky Kate, very sneaky! Julie it great in this short, it's nice to see things from her POV for a change and it's fun to see how much she takes after Kate even though they're not blood related.

I also want to see a lot more of Yu Fong in the future please. His character has a LOT of potential :o)
Profile Image for Mia.
2,862 reviews1,049 followers
May 20, 2023
2.5 stars

Short and fun.
Profile Image for Kate McMurry.
Author 1 book124 followers
December 2, 2025
Terrific short story starring Julie

Julie, the adopted daughter of Kate Daniels, is a key character throughout the KD series. This is one of several short stories in which she is the POV character. I love Julie, and it was wonderful having this opportunity to delve deeper into her personality.

This story first appeared in the "An Apple for the Creature" anthology. It is also included in the short story collection, "Small Magics," which consists entirely of multiple stories by Ilona Andrews. There is an audiobook version of that collection narrated by Hillary Huber and Michael Glenn. There is also a wonderful GraphicAudio production of that collection which is available through Hoopla. This story is also included as a bonus at the end of the GA production of book 5 of the KD series, "Magic Slays," which is also available through Hoopla.

Yu Fong, a magical dragon shifter, appears for the second time in the KD series in this story. He is first introduced in the novella "Magic Dreams." He also has a substantial role in "Magic Triumphs," the final main book of the Kate Daniels series. In "Magic Triumphs," Yu Fong's Suanni (dragon) heritage is a key plot element, and he appears during major magical battles and events involving the main characters.
Profile Image for Choco Con Churros.
842 reviews108 followers
Read
August 8, 2023
Bueno, la historia estuvo bastante entretenida y efectivamente Julie funciona mucho mejor como narradora que Andreas Nash, pero como casi siempre, los relatos me saben a poco. Suelen parecerme más bien un capítulo de algo mayor, que entidades en sí mismas (con honrosísimas y a veces muy bellas excepciones... que no es el caso). Goodreads lectores (Sagas)
Profile Image for Haïfa.
198 reviews200 followers
November 29, 2019
Magic Tests is another short story in Kate Daniels's world and this one focused on Julie, Kate's ward.
Julie is sent by Kate to a magic school to investigate the disappearance of one of the students (with the ulterior motive of signing her up there).

Since reading Harry Potter, I'm quite fond of magic schools. And even if this story was very short, it had the right atmosphere and was very fun to read.

If I had to complain about something, I would say that Julie's POV was very similar to Kate's. I always felt that Julie had a strange mix of strong will, stubbornness and vulnerability but I only got strength, stubbornness and self-confidence (so pretty much another version of Kate).

Regardless, the novella was very cute and it's always a pleasure to discover more facets of the secondary characters in KD world.
Profile Image for Mai ༊*·˚.
243 reviews122 followers
June 11, 2025
4.0 ★— Very cute detour for Julie. I enjoyed seeing her interact in the school environment and handle herself on her own (and her thinking of how Kate would handle something was adorable.)

She’s her mother’s daughter and slowly, but surely, maturing.
Profile Image for Melann.
975 reviews22 followers
August 24, 2025
Petite nouvelle sympathique sur Julie, qu'on voit finalement assez peu dans la série
Profile Image for Silver James.
Author 128 books205 followers
June 23, 2023
Magic Tests (World of Kate Daniels, #6.6) by Ilona Andrews 2023: Yeah, what I said last year. I always forget. LOLOL

2022: Relistening to whole series to end the old year and start the new one. This is a fun tale and as mentioned, I need to remember which audio book it is included in so I can "read" it in order. Ah well. Stuff happens. Better late than not getting the fun of listening, right?

Magic Breaks (Kate Daniels, #7) by Ilona Andrews 2021: I need to remember that this short story is included with the Audible verson of MAGIC BREAKS even though BREAKS is #7 and MAGIC TESTS is techinically #5.3. You know, just in case I want to listen to the complete series in order. Anyway. Kate insists Julie has to go to school. She uses a unique way to pick one from the list Kate hands her. When they arrive for the interview, things don't go quite as Julie expected. This is a fun peek at Julie's life.

2020: Yes, I know. I've includd the audio cover of MAGIC BREAKS with this review. That's because MAGIC TESTS is a bonus short story included in the audio version. This is Kate at her "manipulative mom" best, getting Julie involved in a case at a school. It's a nice little magical mystery and Julie had new magical friends. It's a fun, quickie.
Profile Image for On the Same Page.
729 reviews95 followers
February 24, 2023
It was kind of nice to read a story from Julie's POV, and to get a peek at how her magic works. She acts a bit like a mini-Kate, which doesn't have to be a bad thing, but I think I was hoping she'd feel more distinct/different. Enjoyable short story overall.

"True strength isn't in killing - or ignoring - your opponent, it's in having the will to shield those who need your protection."

He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Who said that?"

"I did."
Profile Image for Sonia.
210 reviews98 followers
May 29, 2020
I forgot how cute this was.

Profile Image for Justin.
671 reviews27 followers
November 20, 2023
this worked really well! julie reads like a young version of kate, so it was really easy to get into. very short and low stakes, but a fun slice of life!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 228 reviews

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