Review: Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: September 9th, 2014
Purchase: Amazon

 Downton Abbey meets Cassandra Clare in this lush, romantic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White.

“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.

Kiersten White captured readers’ hearts with her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy and its effortless mix of magic and real-world teenage humor. She returns to that winning combination of wit, charm, and enchantment in Illusions of Fate, a sparkling and romantic new novel perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, The Madman’s Daughter, and Libba Bray.

My thoughts:
I have had a love/hate relationship with this book.  When I first picked it up I honestly didn't like it which really depressed me because I love Kiersten White.  It was just like what the description said in regards to the Downtown Abby feel and it just wasn't working for me.  It didn't flow at all in my opinion so I decided to put it down and return to it later since I refuse to give up on a Kiersten White book.

In doing this and making myself return to a book I thought I would end up giving a one to really opened my eyes to the timing of things.  If I had read this through at that moment I would have hated it.  By my putting it down my mood had time to change and when I picked it back up I ended up really liking it.  I didn't read it all in one sitting though and yes when I went back to it the next day after liking it I had to put it down again, but I learned that timing is everything.  I needed to be in the mood to visit this world and if I wasn't things just didn't click.  So I took my time with this one. I wanted to like it that much and yes I know sometimes this will not work, but in this case it did.  I ended up liking this one, not loving it but I can appreciate the world and characters that were brought to life.

I think the main reason why this book didn't grab me is because the world building wasn't that strong.  I got lost among the strange country names and I couldn't quite remember what was going on that Jessa was trying to stop from happening because it wasn't all that clear.  I know there was a war but I couldn't honestly tell you the ins and outs of it.  This could be due to the way I had to read this, but I don't think so.  I think Ms.White focused more on her characters than the actual plot of the story and I wish she would have thrown in more world.

The characters were great though I can't deny that.  I really liked Jessa and her group of friends.  I found myself really immersed in the magic of it all and I loved Finn.  The only thing that lacked was the depth of the characters though. I feel like we barely got to see who everybody truly was.  Eleanor had so many great secrets and I would have loved to have seen more of her and even the villain I wanted more from.  I guess I am saying I wanted the book to be longer.  That might have helped, this book doesn't even pass 300 so I think if we were given another say 100 pages things might have felt more complete.

I'm going with a 3 on this one because I did like it, but I didn't love it as much as her previous books.  This was different than what's on the shelf now a days so that is a definite bonus and Ms.Whites writing is always amazing.  I really enjoyed her descriptions and I have a feeling I would have fallen in love with this world if I would have been given more.

3.5 snowflakes