R Orr

Lottie never dreamt of running away. It always seemed like that would cause more problems than she already had. That was until a tiger-turned-human knocks on her window in the middle of the night, and offers to take Lottie to the Whale in the Sky, a place where magic and wonder exist, and where Lottie can escape everything, for good.

On the Whale, she meets the Whalers, the happy, welcoming people who also live there, and Modesty, an albino shapeshifter with a secret past. Overseeing it all is the Ringmaster, a mysterious figure whose magic is felt all around -- with his help she becomes the person she's always wished she was, Daisy, a girl who's confident and exciting, the exact opposite of Lottie. Yet, despite their carefree lives and festivals and fireworks, there's something strange about the Whalers and the Whale itself, and Daisy begins to find herself wrapped up in the layers of magic, losing more of herself every day.

With the help of friends both magical and human alike, she finds herself in a race against time to find the girl she used to be, before Lottie is lost forever to the magic of the Whale.