Review: ILLUSIONS OF FATE by Kiersten White

Title: Illusions of Fate
Author: Kiersten White (@kierstenwhite)
Published: September 9th, 2014
Series: N/A
Genre: YA fantasy
POV: 1st person
Pages: 288
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating: The Royal Library, Middle Shelf

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.

For such a short novel, there is so much happening in Illusions of Fate. White builds the setting, which has a bit of a historical vibe, wondrously. It is both familiar and other, and the magic system that is in place in this world is equally fascinating and well written. Jessamin is a dedicated scholar from the island of Melei, studying on Albion in hopes of gaining more knowledge. From the first chapter, she displays her sharp, endearing sense of humor and her good intentions. She's a fiercely determined girl, so when she finds herself wrapped up in a magical feud, Jessamin uses her natural strengths to figure out the best way to solve everyone's problems. Illusions of Fate is a wonderful story filled with action, excitement, humor, romance, and one seriously awesome bird. 

Highlights: Jessamin is a strictly normal girl living in a city with magic, and it's fantastic to read a story where the heroine must rely on herself and her intelligence to get out of messy situations. Plus, she's incredibly amusing, making her voice a fun one to read. Side characters are incredibly well done, from Eleanor (who is so much more than you'd initially expect) to Lord Downpike (who is incredibly creepy). The setting of Albion is vividly brought to life, as is Melei, despite the fact that Melei is a setting we never really get to visit within the story. White creates the perfect balance between dark, intense moments and light, amusing ones, which makes this a fantastic story overall.

Lowlights: I feel like the romance developed strangely - I can't really wrap my head around it. I wish the story had been a bit longer, it would have been nice to spend more time with Jessamin, Eleanor, Finn, and Sir Bird. Also, my favorite side character was murdered¹, so thanks for breaking my heart, Kiersten White. 

Rating: The Royal Library, Middle Shelf (4.3 out of 5). Illusions of Fate is fantastic, worth owning, and has earned a spot in the royal library. I enjoyed this story very much, despite a few small issues, and would absolutely recommend Illusions of Fate to other readers.

1 Why do author's keep killing the best side characters?! *cries*

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher for review consideration. 

This is no way affected my opinion of the novel. 

Out Sick: Be Back Soon

Hello everyone!

I'm currently feeling not-so-great, and I decided to take a few days off blogging. I'll hopefully be back very soon and will catch up on commenting then. 

As a side note, I have two giveaways for fabulous books in progress, so check them out!

THE LOST by Sarah Beth Durst (international)

ILLUSIONS OF FATE by Kiersten White (US only)

Giveaway & Interview: Kiersten White

Thanks to Rosanne at HarperCollins, I had the opportunity to ask Kiersten White some questions (and receive some very wonderfully amusing answers) about herself and her latest novel, ILLUSIONS OF FATE! 

QUICK! Describe ILLUSIONS OF FATE in 7 words or less!

Rectangular! Containing paper and ink! Book! Wait, no, I did this wrong, didn’t I. How about: Magic! Romance! Tea! Birds!

I kind of love both answers! Both are accurate....Do you have any favorite teaser lines from ILLUSIONS OF FATE that you can share?

“Clearly he does not know me if he thinks I am ever in a condition where arguing is not possible.”

What makes Jessamin unique from the main characters of your previous novels? What do you admire most about her?

I always like exploring what it means to be an outsider and how we find ourselves. With most of my main characters, their big arc is discovering themselves. Jessamin, however, knows exactly who she is--and values herself. The society around her tries to tell her what she is (lesser), but she fights against it. I love this about her. It would be very hard to hold onto that sense of self-worth when everything around you tells you not to. Fortunately, Jessamin is very stubborn.

What steps did you take to build the world and setting of ILLUSIONS OF FATE?

Since I was dealing with magic and fantasy, I wanted to layer it onto a very familiar world setting. I based Albion on late Victorian/Edwardian England, and Jessamin’s home on the Polynesian islands. I think it was Laini Taylor who said the more you ground your story in the familiar, the more liberties you can take with the fantastical, and I think that’s very true. Everything I needed was already in place: post-colonialism, a strict and archaic gentry system, and magic, because everyone knows England is just a bit magic already.

If you could spend 24 hours in any fictional world (book, film, TV), where would you go and which two people (real or not real) would you take with you?

Iceland, because everyone knows Iceland is too magical to be real. I would go with Stephanie Perkins and my husband, both of whom are too delightful to be real, and we would watch the Northern Lights, which are too beautiful to be real.

Do you ever leave any calling cards or Easter eggs (literary references or signature characteristics, such as reoccurring themes, symbols, names, style, etc.) in your books?

Oh, so many. As far as reoccurring themes, someday I will write a literary analysis of my books and tell you exactly the ideas I seem to fixate on (identity, the nature of mortality, responsibility to self versus responsibility to others are just a few). Eleanor’s last name, which I think is maybe never even mentioned in the book, is Wynne, after Diana Wynne Jones, author of Howl’s Moving Castle. And she lives on Fitzwilliam Lane, after a certain Fitzwilliam Darcy. Other than that, I like to think my work is subversively dark beneath the humor and magic. Much like myself.

What type of story are you working on next?

I’m working on an epic historical fiction series about Vlad the Impaler, a brutal Romanian prince whom I am turning into Lada the Impaler, a brutal Romanian princess, her brother, Radu the Handsome, and their contemporary, the brilliant young Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.

Thanks to Rosanne from HarperCollins and Kiersten for the interview!

ILLUSIONS OF FATE

ILLUSIONS OF FATE
Available Now

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.

GIVEAWAY

I received a finished copy of ILLUSIONS OF FATE from HarperCollins, and I want to pass it along to one of my readers! US only (sorry!), enter using the rafflecopter below. 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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