Recently in October I had to watch "The Ilusionist" for school and this book reminded me of it so much but better since it has a more deep and moving love story.

"And though I may still have to hide from those who would intend me harm, I can at least stop hiding from one person in particular... Myself."

Illusions is about Thomas and Saverio, both apprentices of famous magicians but for different reasons. The story starts when Thomas' magician perfoms an impossible trick that makes Saverio's magician seem less expectacular, that's why Saverio has to find a way to discover the secret and Thomas seems the quickest way to get to the magician. Obviously, there is a romance between them but it also gets dark because it is set in the 1800s when it was badly seen for people to love other people of the same gender.

The first aspect to highlight about Illusions is the way it's written, instead of having chapters this book is divided by journal entrys which was amazing for me because it meant we got to see the true and deepest feelings from both of our main characters.

"O, the things I tolerate to portray the ultimate illusion: love."

Firstly, I loved Saverio's character. I think he was my favorite even though Thomas wasn't that far away either. What made Saverio unique was his depth, he felt so real and I was able to relate to him through most of the book. He had to deal with so many things, you know when you tell a lie and then you have to tell more lies to cover up for the first one? Well, that was Saverio's life for a long time in this book which was so sad because he's so much more than lies.

"But where would I go? What would I do? And who would I be in this new place?... I have thought on my earlier questions and have come up with my answers: Anywhere. Anything. And anyone."

Thomas, on the other hand, was such a cinnamon roll. So sweet and caring for everyone around him even though most of them didn't deserve it. I also loved the great development he had throughout the story. At the beginning he was so good that it made him weak but by the end he was more confident and empowered but without leaving his compassion behind.

Although the magic element was very interesting, I would have liked to know more about it. This story centers around the romance and then everything else is just a small addition. That's one of the reasons this book can't have a 5 stars from me and also because the ending was kind of predictable, I only got lost for a short period of time and then I knew how the ending was going to be again.

All in all, I would 100% recommend this book if you're looking for a m/m sweet and deep romance which you can't help but fall in love with them and their relationship as you see them grow. However, if you're looking for a romance/fantasy story this may not be for you since it so focused on the romance aspect.

This book has left me absolutely speechless; magic is at the centre of this story but the writing is 100x as magical. Although part of the plot was predictable there was enough suspense & surprises to make that irrelevant - the characters were impossible not to get emotional about & the plot was irresistible.

Everything about this book is bloody brilliant, need I say more?

⚠️ This book contains one scene that involves homophobic violence ⚠️

Set in London in the late 1800s, Illusions is told through two perspectives in various journal entries. We follow Thomas and Saverio, the apprentices of two rivaling stage magicians. Both work in the same business but are doing it for totally different reasons – one wants to get out of there and be a poet, while the other wants to be the new best magician. Soon their paths cross and Thomas falls hard for Saverio(literally their first encounter is when Thomas falls in front of Sav soooo ;) ), but m/m relationships weren’t something appreciated in those times.

Quite a lot of things were predictable and I had hoped for more backstory regarding the magical aspects; however I found the book enjoyable and heartwarming and would recommend for anyone who wants a m/m ya romance with magic.

They also pull quite the illusion in the end and at first I was not there for it at all, but in the end when all pieces were puzzled together I appreciated it.

This book was beautiful and heartbreaking. I loved the backstory even though I could have used a little bit more "magic" scenes. the romance between Thomas and Sav was definitely at the forefront. I think I was expecting more of a Night Circus feel to it, so I was pleasantly surprised.

Content Warning: Abuse, Homophobia, Hate Crime, Depression, Public Execution

Told in alternating journal entries & poems by Thomas in between
Immediately engaging and swept me away, very easy to imagine and slip into
Could NOT stop reading. Pacing and flow is perfect.
Did have to flip back to check out the dates as I was reading because I kept losing the time frame & dates, but that’s a personal problem
Journal entries were AMAZING. I love what was included and what was missing, leaving some to the imagination and between the lines. Voices and styles are very distinct for each narrator.
I love their getting to know each other and following romance. Thomas is an adorable cinnamon roll poet while Saverio is dashing, and mischievous. Saverio kinda reminds me of Flynn from Tangled, TBH. I can totally see him doing “the smolder”
There’s no real explanation or world building in regards to the magic, it’s about their relationships and the now. I’m cool with that personally. But don’t go in expecting a ton of witchiness or spells or details.
Did not see that twist coming. Honestly thought it was going another way.
CRIED at the end. While in public on the bus. Embarrassing but so damn good.


five-stars

Perfect for fans of Timekeeper by Tara Sim with less focus on the magical/paranormal aspects and The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice & Virtue by Mackenzie Lee, with a little bit of magic.

Since I read this through an eBook version, it will be interesting to see if this is another alternate formatted book. Illusions is told through two perspectives, each through written letters, pictures, and other forms to convey their stories. I think a physical copy of this book would be highly beneficial to the reader.

I was also surprised, since I rarely remember the synopses, that this was a LGBT romance between two male characters stuck in a forbidden situation. Set in historical London, we follow the two main characters as they battle being apprentices for separate illusionists.

Flowing through their day-to-day, grunting tasks, they feel as if their loneliness is about to overpower them, that is, until they meet each other. And from there, the forbidden connection between them is constantly pulling each other ever closer.

I really enjoyed this book. There is a lot of magic and trickery that turns into these spectacular events. I liked how the historical setting really brought this story to life and created a circus vibe without it actually being a circus.

There was a lot of soul and passion in the writing as well. The back and worth of the journal entries eventually brought everything together into a fun, quick read.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed the content and just immersing myself in their creative world. I think that if you love reading romantic twists and spectacular performances, this is your book!

This book is written in a series of journal entries, correspondence and newspaper clippings.
For some, it is an unusual style to get used to reading. Neville Wighton the Great is an aging magician who hasn't had the success he wanted until he discovers a secret. Thomas Pendelton, his apprentice assistant, is the key to Neville's legacy. Thomas is a sensitive sort of person.
Saverio Moretti, apprentice to another magician, is determined to figure out why Neville has suddenly become so magical. His approach to this secret is to get closer to Thomas. He never planned to actually have feelings for Thomas. Saverio considers himself more of a tough person.

I had hoped the magician aspect of the book would have been more prominent but this is really a character study. The beginning of the book is a bit slow and steady but as we get to care about the apprentices the pace and emotional involvement picks up.

Thank you to netgalley for giving me an e-ARC for an honest review.

"O, the things I tolerate to portray the ultimate illusion: love."

Thomas is a gentle soul who wants nothing more than to write poetry, but he is stuck as a magician apprentice to Neville Whiton the Great because he hides a secret: he possesses real magic.
Saverio is a magicians apprentice to the rival of Neville and has set out to find out how Neville does and unbelievable trick, but not for his master's profit, Saverio has a plan of his own and he's will to do anything for it!
Set in 1898 London, both Thomas and Saverio keep journals of their lives and through them we follow the story of their greatest illusions. This is a story of love, betrayal and of course magic!

✅Historical Fiction, LGBT Romance with a mix of magic
✅Charecter driven plot with wonderfully detailed dialogue
✅Madeline J Reynolds writting style is amazing!
✅Story is told through two point of views from our main protagonists through diary entries and was beautifully done.

❌The story swapped to 3rd person right at the end and i was a bit confused but once I realised what had happened it didnt matter.

I can't express how much i loved this book! Reynolds writting style is amazing. She has become an instant buy author for me. It took me maybe 3 chapters to get into the rhythm of the diary entries but after that i was hooked. I was expecting the story to be about 2 men who were rivals and tried to outdo each others magic tricks. What i got was an amazing love story that was so beautiful and emotional, a coming out story, a devestating betrayal and the grandest illusion. Though the story follows both young men's journals and it tells the events in past tense (and yes, it is overly detailed for a journal entry but this is fiction not real life) this never takes anything from the story, in fact I think it made it more gripping! I dont want to spoil the story for anyone because i will be recommending this book to EVERYONE so i wont say any more, but this is one of my favorite books ive read this year and i cant wait to see what Reynolds writes next!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

This ARC was provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
---
Another one that pulled me in with its blurb. Although I do believe that many will predict the twist that is to come, it is important to note that it isn't the focus of the story, as it is revealed very early on. In fact, I would say the story focuses on the relationship of the characters rather than an actual dynamic storyline. If this was not the author's intention then this could be a negative point.

To start with, I was very excited to see how the story would proceed with a narrative written in the form of diary entries of the two main characters, interspersed with newspaper articles. The experience, unfortunately, fell flat. The action became very muted in this way, although the character interactions and relationships were highlighted better. However, I do feel that even if the story was not written in the form of diary entries and instead followed a normal narrative style, the action would not have been any better emphasised, as there was little of it. The beginning of this novel was good, however, the pace seemed to slow and stay that way for the remainder of the story.

As for the romance, I did not feel like it was portrayed in any new or exciting way except until the very end of the story and in one scene that was about halfway through. I do like the author's writing style, it's quite simple and not overly flowery.

Overall, the story had a promising premise but was poorly executed. Nothing particularly stood out in this. It wasn't very entertaining but neither was it a bad read.

Overall rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

I came to this book expecting an exciting story about the lives of magicians entertaining people in the late 1800s. As someone who loves stories about old show business, I just KNEW that I was going to love this one. What I got was so much more than what I could have ever dreamed of.

When I started reading the novel, I was reading chapters flipping back and forth between Thomas and Sav's diary entries. They hadn't met yet, and I wasn't sure when they were going to meet. All I knew was that they were both magicians apprentices and that the magicians the boys worked for were competing against each other. Then, they cross paths. Thomas starts wanting to talk to the mysterious stranger who keeps coming to his shows, and Sav needs to know how Thomas and Neville pull off their disappearing trick. Sav never plans to fall for Thomas, and Thomas definitely doesn't plan on falling for him. But they do, and Sav has to decide whether to abandon his master and stay with his magic boy, or to reveal Thomas' secrets and ruin his life.

I haven't read any LGBT Victorian romance novels, so I didn't know what to expect once I saw how romantic that this was getting. It was interesting to see their relationship dynamic, and how almost freeing it was for them. Without the internet, they were able to keep more under the radar of the local homophobic citizens. They could just stay in their flat or go on dates at night, and barely anybody would be out to see them. It seemed like a normal YA romance novel, except I thought that Thomas and Sav had more chemistry than most YA couples usually do.

Thomas has magic, but I felt that his magic could have been explored a bit more. The book never explains why Thomas has magic, how he found out that he had magic, and how he was able to use/control his powers. The story was still long without this bit of filler, but I would have liked to know a little bit more about how his powers specifically worked.

Sav also has a "rags-to-riches" backstory that is mentioned a few times in the novel, but is again never explored in depth. Since the book was set up in diary format, I think that there were opportunities for Sav to reflect on his past more.

Even though the book didn't discuss the characters' backstories as much, the characters' current personalities were developed in amazing ways. Thomas was a shy apprentice, but he got stronger as he fell harder for Sav and continued to help Neville in his performances. The outcome of the performances reflected his emotional state. When he was upset, the performance didn't go well. When he was happily in love, the performances went perfectly. Same with Sav. He started the story being strong, stoic and refusing to open up to Thomas. He had to learn how to break out of his shell, opening up to and trusting Thomas.

There was just so much depth to this book. I have never read a book about show business or magic shows just like this one. I would literally recommend it to anyone who is interested in historical fiction, or YA LGBTQ+ romance.

I received an advance copy of this book, and this is my voluntary review.

Interesting book with dual perspective like journal entries type book. I love the concept and the ending gave me great closure.

This was an enjoyable story. Two magicians who are competing to be the best. Constantly trying to best each other and trying to work out the secrets to the others tricks. Great characters too but I didn't enjoy the style of the book. I felt distracted by the diary entries, letters and newspaper articles.
In the end, this felt like a chore to read.

When I was trying to plan out my fall reading schedule at the end of the summer, I swore off ARCs for a while. I wanted to finish Throne of Glass and read The Dark Artifices before the new books came out and I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle anything else. But when I saw the description of Illusions, I just couldn’t pass it up. An historical fiction LGBTQ+ romance about magicians?? SIGN ME UP. And I’m so happy I did because this was amazing!

I admit that I had a hard time getting into the format of it in the beginning. This is written with alternating journal entries between the two main characters Thomas and Saverio, which I wasn’t in love with at the start. I found myself wishing it was a first person narrative because I think that would have brought me into the story and setting more. But as I kept reading, I was captivated by these two characters and their world and it ended up not mattering.

The premise of this was so good! I never read any books with magicians and I loved it!! With the time period and magician’s secrets I got some real Prestige vibes from this, which is a compliment because I freaking LOVE that movie. And the romance!! GAH! I loved it so much??? I was so nervous and wary of Saverio in the beginning because I just wanted to protect my small cinnamon roll Thomas. But when Saverio starts falling for him too it was so sweet! I really liked watching their relationship grow as they got closer. In the end, I even got a little misty eyed.

↬ FINAL WORD
I loved this book! It’s a great romance and I really liked reading about magicians, something you never see these days. Definitely two thumbs up!!

This book took me awhile to get into probably because it is told through (primarily) journal entries and that delivers the story in a different way. You focus more on the characters, their feelings and daily events more so than the setting or interactions with other characters. But once I got into the groove of the POV format, the story was easy to read.

It was amazing to watch these two transform before my eyes as the story progressed. The Thomas and Saverio we get at the start of the novel definitely aren't the same boys we end the story with. I just loved the personal growth we see in these characters. I think the journal entries provided that touch of intimacy into these characters' emotions and inner thoughts that really adds to the characters' many layers.

I, personally, would have enjoyed a more amped up rivalry between the two master magicians; with more sabotage. Instead, the focus remains on the two apprentices creating a very character driven story that is still very enjoyable to read because there is some great character growth (in addition to the very sweet romance).

These two were simply adorable together! I always enjoy romances that don't start out with the nicest intentions, yet twist into something real and strong. When the plot isn't focusing on them as individuals, I like how it concentrated on how they navigate their relationship given the various circumstances (their rivalry, the nature of their relationship in society, etc.). I also appreciated how it took the time to tackle them realistically; nothing ever felt rushed in that sense.

Despite a slower start, this is a great read for fans of character driven historical YA reads!

Illusions had a very compelling narrative told in a very interesting journal and letter format. It is unconventional yet it suits the nature of this magical story quite well.

Illusions by Madeline Reynolds

“And here I was thinking I wouldn’t have any fun in London”

My favorite line from the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book though it was a bit surprising. It was almost as if you’d climbed up into your grandparent’s attic and finding a collection of diaries, letters, news clippings etc. I don’t want to give away too much, but I will say there is interesting and unusual premise to the novel. There is romance which is beautifully written and so very heart touching that I find myself tearing up at times. And the magic! What a fantastic element! I think more than anything, this is a love story set in a backdrop of magic.

It is definitely a fantasy fiction. And wondrous at that. The only critique I might add is that the way it is written- I found very interesting, but towards the end some third person comes in and takes over the narrative. That was confusing to me. But overall it wasn’t
Such that it deterred me from falling in love with this story. I feel it is concluded in a way that leaves an opening for a second book, which I would definitely read.

There are some triggers such as sexual and abuse that would make me want to warn younger readers or others who may not be able to read such things
That being said, I still give this book 5/5 and would highly recommend it.

This book was given to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This review or portions thereof, will be posted on Amazon and Goodreads, as well as Litsy, IG, B&N, Pinterest, Facebook, and my own blog. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide all links at this time, as I am using my phone.

This book was given to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This review or portions thereof, will be posted on Amazon and Goodreads, as well as Litsy, IG, B&N, Pinterest, Facebook, and my own blog. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide all links at this time, as I am using my phone.

*ARC received from NetGalley in return for an honest review*

This was a text that took a little while to build up steam, but kept me traveling with it due to my love of the characters. I highly enjoyed the slow build of the relationship with the hints of magic. While the magic could have been a bigger factor of the book it was still there hovering around the romance. The only factor that really drew me out of the book was the third person ending. After so long of reading their first person diary entries it was odd to suddenly have an ending that was in the third person. This was so disconcerting that I wasn't able to enjoy the ending as much as I would have liked to. If that too would have been in a diary entry this book would have won my heart. Instead, it was just an enjoyable text that I would suggest others to read, but only after warning them about how oddly written the ending is.

This was a pretty interesting premise. I wish there'd been a little more difference in the voices because to me it was a little difficult sometimes to remember whose POV it was supposed to be. I also wish there'd been a little explanation as to WHY Thomas had magic, when no one else seemed to. If magic exists in this world, why does no one have it? If Thomas is the only person in the world with magic, then why was Sav so quick to pick up on it? I don't need a whole treatise on how magic works in this world, but I felt like there needed to be at least a little something. Despite my quibbles, I did enjoy this book. The story was interesting and I'd recommend it to other readers.

Although it was a seemingly slow start, it was a really intriguing read the entire time. Written from both boys POV, but in a journaling style!! This also made it very personal, and vivid!! The world building was impressive, however I would have liked to hear more about some of the other, lesser characters. Otherwise a vivid, lush, romantic, magical tale of power and the cost that comes with it!! A perfect LGBTQ read also!!! Loved that about this story!!

Saverio and Thomas have more in common they could have thought. Both the apprentice of a high tempered, ill-mannered magician. Only Thomas holds a bigger secret, as does his mentor. Thomas has real power, not just an illusion and when his mentor finds out he holds Thomas there longer so he can build his fame from Thomas' power. Only when performing the act, Saverio and his mentor Paolo are watching in the audience. Once seeing the act, Paolo decides among Saverio as well, they will find the truth behind the illusion!! Determined Saverio follows, or rather stalks, Thomas daily. Only to find Thomas' llusion is not that at all, but rather very real. He also never expected to fall for Thomas.

take two magician's apprentices, in victorian london, and have one performing in a magic show with an inexplicable illusion and the other out to figure out how it's done, and you have the barebones of this story. illusions is told from the perspective of the two apprentices, thomas and saverio, through their journal entries and correspondence.

we learn that thomas is hiding a huge secret, he is the explanation for the magician's tricks. he possesses a real power, magic to transform and alter people's perception of the world around them. the how and whys of his magic are irrelevant to the novel, he simply possesses it and we accept it. it manifests physically and visually.

when thomas and saverio quite literally run into each other in manchester square, sav notes the interest in thomas's eyes. interest that he has no problem exploiting for his own gain. but the more time he spends with the younger, innocent man, the more he finds him appealing. thomas might be green, but something about sav makes him daring. and this strength allows saverio to let go of some of his walls and fall headlong in love with thomas.

there are obstacles to be overcome. the magician thomas is apprenticed to has a hold over him that seems impossible to esccape from. there's also the issue of saverio's lies. and thomas' parents' selling out of their only child. but the way this story finds a way for thomas and saverio is so beautiful. i couldn't put this down. when it ended i was just swooning.

**illusions will publish on november 6, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (entangled teen) in exchange for my honest review.