Pages: 288
Publication: September 09th 2014 by Harper Teen
Series: N/A – Stand Alone
Source: Harper Teen via Edelweiss
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“I did my best to keep you from crossing paths with this world. And I shall do my best to protect you now that you have.”Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.
Jessamin, the main character, was interesting enough but unfortunately I didn’t quite latch onto her as I should have. I liked her well enough but I didn’t have any strong feelings for or against her. I did love how she treated her friends and companions though, she really holds them in high regard. Finn, it was the same feeling. I liked him but didn’t feel strongly for him. I liked him and Jessamin together and I definitely rooted for them along the way but other than that… nothing. My favorite character though had to be Eleanor. She was just a funny, witty friend to Jessamin and I loved her light and flighty personality.
I really enjoyed the world however I wish there was more world-building. A lot of the time I was confused when the different islands/countries were mentioned and I wish there was a bit more of a back story. It took away from the story because I couldn’t connect all the dots in my head.
The storyline was interesting and unique (at least to me). I loved the interesting play on magic, in that only nobles could use it. It added some intrigue to the story and also added some suspense as you knew Jessamin had to depend on others for help against Lord Downpike. The pacing was a bit slow, which was strange seeing how it was a stand alone novel so you knew that it had to wrap up eventually. There were times where I thought it was just too draggy and I wanted to move it along but it definitely came through at the end.
The romance aspect of the story was sweet and well done. I loved Jessamin and Finn’s back and forth and the small ‘chase’ that ensued. It definitely wasn’t instalove as Jessamin pushed back so much, which surprised me because they were on limited time to fall in love 😛
One thing I do appreciate with Illusions of Fate is that it’s a stand alone. I loved that the story was wrapped up completely by the end of the book. The ending was a bit shocking, I knew that one aspect was going to happen like it did but others really surprised me.
I did like Illusions of Fate, but there is something that kept me from completely falling in love with the story. I don’t have a lot to say one way or another because it just didn’t have that ‘wow’ factor for me. I do recommend this though you if you are looking for a fun, interesting and quick fantasy read!
I really liked this one. Writing a standalone fantasy is so hard I feel like because of the world-building, but this one totally worked for me. Eleanor was definitely one of my favorites. She was such an awesome friend. I think I connected a bit more to the characters than you did, but like you I wasn’t completely wowed by it. But for a standalone fantasy, I think it was pretty good. 🙂
I agree, it must have been so hard to get everything into one book and still be complete! Most fantasies are like long series, or at least trilogies so it’s amazing that it all fit nicely in one book AND that it wrapped up good, that’s what I was most nervous about!