Illusions by Aprilynne Pike

Illusions by Aprilynne Pike

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Illusions starts out a few months after the closing events of Spells. Laurel's relationships with David and her parents are great, she's doing the normal high-school thing and is happy and focused. Until Tamani arrives at school posing as a Foreign Exchange student alongside a strange new girl that is definitely not human. Insecurity, guilt and fear bombard Laurel as she tries to ignore her resurfacing feelings for Tamani.
My opinion...
I love that Aprilynne jumped right into the storyline, rather than spending chapter after chapter reintroducing characters and recapping plot lines. Unfortunately it's been a looong time since I read Spells and I found myself rather lost at times trying to remember things such as what the Winter Fey powers are, the specifics of Klea's and Tamani's departures, etc. This was still a great book, but if you haven't recently read Wings and Spells, you will not appreciate Illusions to the fullest extent.
Tamani's romance is hotter and swoon-worthy, regardless whom it's directed towards ;), but the rest of the relationships are kind-of blah. This makes Tamani ultimately steal all the focus from Laurel, which I don't think was intended. I love Laurel, I love her conflict and personality, but she was dry in this one.
The ending was predictable, but hardcore, nonetheless. I did have to refer to Spells to fully grasp the weight of the twist, but that may just be my own memory short-comings. I would love to hear whether these problems arise with other readers.
Overall, I enjoyed Illusions. Better than Spells, not as great as Wings. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Thanks to Around the World Tours for sharing the ARC!



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