Monday, August 25, 2014

Review: Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

From Goodreads: 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.

My Rating: 2.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Kiersten White's Illusions of Fate was a book I was enticed into reading because of its beautiful cover. Once again though, I got burned for judging a book by its cover.

Although it wasn’t as completely fleshed out as I would have liked (e.g. the rules of magic were slightly confusing, the politics of Alban weren’t completely clear, etc.), the worldbuilding was probably the most enjoyable aspect of Illusions of Fate because it can elicit a discussion about colonialism. Unfortunately, the plot’s main focus was on the insta-love romance, which I could have cared less about. 

I also thought that the characters weren’t completely developed. Finn, for example, was one of those characters that you know you’re supposed to swoon over, but I couldn’t muster up much emotion for him because I still felt like I barely knew him by the end of the novel. I did like Jessamin a bit better due to her attempts at trying to be an independent woman. However, her efforts at being indifferent to Finn didn’t last very long, and her tendency to focus on his collarbones was downright annoying!  

Illusions of Fate will be released by HarperTeen on September 14, 2014. 

Comments About the Cover: It’s so pretty! I really like the scene painted on the cup and how the crows look like they’re becoming real by flying off the cup. 

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (HarperCollins) for free via Edelweiss.

5 comments:

  1. Oh, no! I'm a huge Kiersten White fan. There's something about her writing that just always works for me, and her last few books were just excellent in that regard. I'll be reading this soon, but now I'm afraid I'll end up disappointed.

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  2. So sorry you didn't enjoy this one! :( I had fun reading Paranormalcy by this author, and Chaos of Stars was interesting, so I was excited for this. Insta-love? Ugh. Not looking forward to that.

    Aimee @ Deadly Darlings

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  3. She has a bit of a collarbone fetish? Interesting ;-) Sorry this one didn't really wow you Z, but I'm glad at least the world-building was enjoyable so you had something to hold your interest when the insta-love drove you crazy.

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  4. I loved White's Paranormalcy series, but I feel like her books have been going downhill. Too bad her new one is following the trend. :(

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  5. How disappointing :( It feels like Kiersten White exploded on the scene with Paranormalcy and then hasn't hit the mark since.

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