Review: Illusions of Fate

Title: Illusions of Fate
Author: Kiersten White
Rating: ★★★

So I just finished this book a couple of moments ago and usually I would wait to write my review so I could process the book. However, I feel like if I wait I'm just going to forget all of my thoughts. I'll begin by talking about the non-spoilery parts of the book. This is a stand- alone young adult fantasy novel. Let me repeat that, STAND ALONE. I unfortunately did not know that when I bought the book and thought it was going to be a series. I WAS WRONG. I'll talk about my thoughts about this later on. Anyway, the story takes place in the country of Albion where our narrator, Jessamin, is so that she can further her education. She is originally from another country called Melei. Although this is a fantasy world, the whole setting and time period remind me of Victorian England, which is my FAVORITE time period. I'm not sure if this was the time period that we were supposed to think of but I did. Anyway, Jessamin is quite homesick in Albion and is mainly focusing on her studies, until she meets Finn. Jessamin's soon swept up into this world of magic and plotting that soon gets her into trouble.


That's all I'm going to say for the non-spoiler section because now I really want to talk about the book. I really wanted to fall in love with this book and I thought I was going to! It just didn't click for me. I loved the writing style and the language that author used to put us in this time period but there was something missing. I really liked Jessamin and Finn but I feel like I couldn't connect with them. In my opinion, there was a lack of background information. Yes, we know that Jessamin is from Melei and that her father is an Albion man and she is blackmailing him to attend so school. And we know that Finn has these magical powers just like all the gentry in Albion society and that both of his parents died. AND WE KNOW Lord Downpike is after Finn's book of Hallion magic. We know all of these things but they just didn't connect with me. And if I didn't connect with the main characters, I certainly did not connect with the secondary characters like Eleanor, Ernest, or Ma'ati. OH and Kelen. Let's not forget about Kelen who all of a sudden happens to be Lord Downpike? Sure, that would have been a great plot twist if Kelen had been seen more than three very small instances that we see him in the book.

I think the reason why I didn't enjoy this book as much as others have is because it was so short and because it is a stand alone. The only stand alone books that I read fall into the category of contemporary. I have always avoided stand-alone fantasy novels. Why? Well this book is a great example of why. SO MUCH MORE COULD HAVE HAPPENED. There could have been more descriptions of the gentry class and their special powers, there could have been more backstory with the characters, and there could overall just be more excitement and adventure. I'm not going to lie, as I was reading the book was starting to remind me of The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare (which is an amazing trilogy, GO READ IT). I mean the type of magic was different as well as many aspects but the book was set up in a way where I thought something big was going to happen. In my opinion, nothing really big ever happened. There was no moment where I was like wow! or I can't believe that just happened! And I wanted one of those moments so badly as I was reading.

What really made this three stars for me was again the last pages of the books. Everything seemed just quickly tied together so that the book could just end. I will admit that I actually thought Finn was dead and was about to throw the book across the room when I realized he was still alive. That made me a bit happier. Anyway, the whole thing with Kelen being Downpike did not work for me at all. I mean it was really interesting but I wish we could have gotten a longer and more in depth explanation as to why Kelen did what he did. I know it was because the Albions tortured his mother but I wanted to go deeper into that whole situation. 

I feel like I'm being really picky with books lately. I think I'm going to Barnes and Noble tomorrow so hopefully I'll pick something up that will get me out of this reading funk! Thanks for reading my review!