19367070Title: Illusions of Fate

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: September 2014

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Fantasy, Magic

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

 

Synopsis can be found here.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

Review:

Jessamin is far from home, on the more powerful and central country of Albion and far from her island Melei. A small island where the inhabitants of Albion visit. She is there to study, to work and is not expecting the hidden world she finds when she meets Finn, a charming young lord who reveals Albion has much more than what meets the eye. But she is thrown into a larger, scarier world and her lie, her family back home and her new friends are all in danger. Lord Downpike will use any and all means necessary to bring down Finn. Including using Jessamin as a tool.

AHHH!!!! Soo good!

I loved every minute o this book set in Victorian like world with magic running underneath. Jessamin is a headstrong and clever girl who I would love to have been friends with. She feels like an outcast, but holds her head up high. She is being used as a pawn in a game she doesn’t fully understand, but she takes hold o the reigns and decides to choose her own destiny.

And the dialogue! I love Jessamin’s best friend Eleanor. Funny, funny funny. Great writing and some wonderfully funny lines that made me chuckle and smile, thereby forever cementing me as a lunatic in the public cafe where I took my lunch.

Finn is of course irresistible. Swooning aside, he is a good match for Jessamin. Sometimes, it is hard to portray the hero, the good man, as interesting but Finn is someone I would totally swoon over.

Oh, Mrs. White. Why do you have to write such wonderfully charming books? Now how am I going to read anything else after this???

The story is well crafted, slowly building tension with every chapter. There are some scary moments, that made me gasp involving a hammer and a hand. There are some tender moments too like black gloves that heal and shadows that follow.I love the magical elements – the cane, the shadow, the birds. Oh the birds. How I love Sir Bird. How I cringe at all of those other birds who answer to Lord Downpike. I enjoyed every minute of this book.

Also- DID YOU SEE that cover? Gorgeous! I loved this book so much, I couldn’t just have it in ebook form. I bought a physical copy as well. That is love.

Rating 9 Ridiculously Awesome like Cookies and Ice Cream