I really didnt vibe with this book. I loved the premise and the blurb drew me in but I just couldn't get into the story and the writing style just wasn't for me.

Was this kind of a mind f***? Yes! Did I love it? Also, yes!
It took me a little bit to connect to the characters and wrap my head around the truly unique storyline, but once I did, I was hooked! In my opinion, the immersive world-building and one-of-a-kind magic system are what made this story so enthralling. The games/trials trope is not one of my favorites, but I was thoroughly impressed with the way the author incorporated them into the story without being boring or slowing the story down.
I am still not over the betrayals we had to endure to get to the end of the story but am eagerly awaiting book #2 to see how Mari gets the life she deserves!

Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for this arc opportunity!

Thanks to WW Crown and NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

WOW, what an explosive first installment in a brand new romantasy series. Sarah Ready is one of my all time favorite writers, I can never get enough to satisfy my cravings for her stories and her characters. Although this is very different from everything else she's written and is much more dense and immersive of an experience, it's a riveting series opener and I'm thoroughly enthralled by this world she's created. In Sarah Ready's contemporary romances I usually drive right in for a gluttonous binge, very often in one sitting and most often I can't put it down, even if it means I stay up all night to devour the latest offering. Reading My Dear Illusion was nothing like that, this story is one I took small bites of over weeks and let the atmosphere trickle into my bloodstream. I'm intrigued and smitten by these characters and can't wait for book 2! Thanks, as always, Sarah for sharing your talent with us.

Unfortunately this book just was not for me and I got 27% of the way through before I chose to DNF. The premise and plot of this book I thought would be right up my street but unfortunately I felt the world building the Author did was too much and did not add anything to the story making this book excessively long. Everything felt massively over explained and it really put me off.

This book really makes you think, there is so much happening and so many moving parts throughout.

Imagine a world where there is a secret race of conjurers who rule the world and influence everything. That is the world that you find yourself in, and a once in a century trial to find who will rule the world next is about to begin. Four conjurer families, one heir will take the crown for the next hundred years.

There is mystery, magic, high stakes battles, love, loss, tragedy, and triumph. I thoroughly enjoyed it all. With so many moving parts, I gave up on trying to figure things out about 2/3rds of the way through and just held on and enjoyed the wild ride. The dual point of view I found to be particularly interesting, one being Mari and the other being the wind. It was unique and provided a truly interesting perspective.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read. 4.5 /5 stars.
I LOVE Sarah: she's an autobuy author for me. She's SO great at capturing the emotion of love in interiority

But THIS is next level for her.

It's a complete departure from her usual contemporary romance style (even her more magical realism based series).
We find ourselves following Mari, a nine creature, as she attempts to steal a crown for her boss from the four families that essentially 'play god' over all people through illusios. She has a special gift of unweaving those illusions and, coupled with the bastard child of one of the families, her boss has promised her freedom if they conquer a quest.
This has EVERYTHING. Beautiful world building. A plethora of strange, unique, and voice-y characters. Lush, descriptive prose and playful banter. Magic and deadly games. And of course, in true Ready fashion, a bubbling just under the surface romance. There's also an alternative point of view: the wind, who 'sees' everything and is able to really describe things Mari can't...man THESE chapters are just stunning.
This does leave off on one heckuva plot twist at the end, and the last 6 chapters or so are going to flip the entire story on its head, but its exciting and leaves me ready for the sequel. It is really dense, her longest book easily, and the families and the world building are a LOT. It could use a family tree. But man...I could not put this down for even a second, and it really was just SO enjoyable.

Unfortunately, My Dear Illusion was a DNF at 34%. The story was extremely slow with zero developments. It was my style of writing and over 900 pages, I couldn't do. Sorry

✨Thanks to NetGalley and W.W.Crown for the ARC ✨

🇬🇧 ARC Review: “My Dear Illusion” by Sarah Ready – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

There are books that entertain you… and then there are books that transform you. “My Dear Illusion” does just that.
It isn’t just a story—it’s an experience. A storm that builds slowly, beautifully, until it sweeps you off your feet and leaves you breathless.

From the very first page, I was hooked by the vivid and haunting voice of Mari Locke (she’s telling a story to someone—but you’ll only find out who at the end). Mari is a thief bound to the will of the terrifying conjurer Jagger and thrown into a deadly game for stealing the Crown of Illusions. Her journey—from the desolate Hell Gate to the center of the Hundred Year Games—is riddled with illusions, betrayals, deadly traps, impossible choices, and aching humanity.

And at her side (sometimes stumbling) is Finn Alterra, the illegitimate son of one of the most powerful conjurers of the time. He volunteers to enter the Games in exchange for a rare drug, Solange, which allows him to destroy illusions—and to which he’s hopelessly addicted. Mari has to kill him at the end of the Games, but she feels an inexplicable pull toward the Solange-addict man and already knows she won’t be able to kill him at the end. She wants him to live—to return to the woman he claims to love, the same woman Mari envies so deeply.

Their chemistry is subtle but potent, developing with a slow, aching intensity that makes every word, every moment, matter.

The world Sarah Ready builds is one of the most imaginative I’ve encountered in a long time. Four ruling clans of conjurers, ancient magic, characters who feel utterly real in all their flaws and brilliance—this universe is expansive, unique, and completely immersive. The essence of this book lies in its depth: you feel like you're working for the story, like you’re earning every revelation. And that’s exactly what makes it great.

I adored the narrative choices, especially the use of the wind as an almost-omniscient observer—a little nosy, yes, but also tender and driven by a strong sense of justice. It adds a lyrical quality to the story that elevates every scene it touches.

The writing itself? Lush. Poetic. Sometimes almost too beautiful—there were moments when I had to pause just to absorb it. But it’s always worth it.

Yes, the book is long. Yes, I occasionally lost track of who was who (those clan names really blur together at first), and yes, some plot threads were left open (Last?? Cora??). But even when I was a little confused or overwhelmed, I NEVER wanted to stop reading. The pacing is impressively tight for such a sprawling epic, and every chapter adds meaning and weight.

I also completely fell for the side characters. Jacob—the soft boy hiding secrets and heartbreak—and Luvic, the wild, charming trickster, totally stole my heart.

And the ending? Not a twist—a Earthquake! Everything flips. Everything hurts.

The final chapters flip everything you thought you knew upside down. The truths established at the beginning collapse—and in their place, new revelations take root. Everything is painful, brilliant, and utterly unforgettable. I was stunned, moved, and immediately ready to reread from page one.

What I especially loved was how Sarah Ready explores the beauty of true friendship, the power of trust, and the raw vulnerability of giving your life into someone else's hands. She writes about LOVE—real, deep, soul-consuming love—in a way so moving that is uniquely hers.

And once again, she makes you believe that true love—unforgettable, indelible, immortal—is NOT an illusion.

No, this isn’t a standalone, and yes, as I mentioned, it ends on a note that will make you want to scream… but you know this isn’t the end, it’s the beginning of something huge.


For fans of:
❤️‍🔥 Epic, aching love
✨ Second Chances 
🌪 Complex magic systems
🖤 Emotional slow burns
🔮 Epic worldbuilding
 👁 Unreliable realities
🪢 Knots to untie
 🏹 High-stakes games
🤯 Plot twists that rewire your brain

I’ll be the first in line for Book #2.

Unfortunately, this one just didn’t work for me and ended up being a DNF around 15%. The writing style felt a bit too over-the-top, and the constant shifts in perspective made it hard to stay connected. I was really intrigued by the premise and love Sarah Ready’s past books, but this one was tough to get into. Hoping the next one lands better!

<i>Thank you W.W. Crown, Netgalley, and IPBA for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own!</i>

I really <b>really</b> wanted to love this book but unfortunately I just could not get into it. I love Sarah Ready so much as an author; her romance novels are some of my favorite books. However, this is her first dive into writing a fantasy and it’s completely different from her other books. Kudos to her for expanding her genres!! Personally, I couldn’t get interested in the story and the writing style just wasn’t cutting it for me. I ended up DNFing. I’m sure this is a lovely book but it just wasn’t for me personally. I’ll stick to her romance novels instead!

This was an ambitious take on romantasy. Confusing at times, but an epic pay off in the end once the world was built. Thank you NetGalley for this arc!

The main problem I have with this is that it was meant to be a romance, and yet because of the way it's told, I only started caring about the main couple in the third chapter from the end. All the weirdness was explained, and I got hit in the feels, but the fact stands that for a book this long (too long, honestly), I should ship the main characters for at least half of it. A small sliver of blame I'm choosing to put on the fact that the MMC is basically my ex-boyfriend through most of it (appearance, a junkie, called me Mari, had a problem explaining things with words), and there was a much more charismatic choice available (Luvic, my baby).

There are things I've enjoyed and things I haven't, so let's start with the positives:
- I liked the narrative devices - Marie talking to a mysterious 'you' and the wind - both of them were interesting while remaining nicely limited, not being omniscient, and both of them felt different from each other. I particularly enjoyed the fact that the wind had favourites, and we learned a lot about Jacob because of it (also my baby, my pretty soft boi);
- the vividness of each of the characters - each of them really felt different to me and that helped me a lot when it came to distinguishing them (I struggle with too many characters at once and there's a lot of people here), and quickly deciding who's most interesting to me;
- the general lore - I don't know how well-detailed it was and if it made sense when looked at under a microscope, because I'm not usually a sci-fi/fantasy reader and I have slim-to-none experience/interest in dissecting it, but I personally did like it - the whole conjurers as self-proclaimed protectors of Earth turned evil throughout millennia was fun to read about;
- pacing - for being this long, I begrudgingly have to admit that the pacing was done well.

And so, the negatives:
- the ending - I'm not going to explain in detail, but the main thing I didn't like was quite simple - nowhere before I reached it, before I picked up the ARC in general, was it stated that this book is a first in a series. I don't like reading series of books which are not standalones, because I'm immensely pissed off whenever I get to the end and everything is not solved, and I have to wait for the next book to solve things. It's not fun for me and I actively avoid it. So would I have known, I probably wouldn't have picked up a book which was almost a thousand pages long, since it doesn't have a definite ending;
- Cora - I don't know what purpose she actually really served, and she was an obstacle in my brain which made it impossible to ship Marie with Finn,
- no explanations on some minor plot things, but I'm not going into details there (mostly stuff connected to Luvic),
- the length of the book - honestly it could have been a little shorter - some descriptions I didn't need, some repetitions were happening too often, sometimes the language was too flowery and made me lose focus and forget what was happening in the scene; it was unfortunately a little tedious to get through.

I'm sure there's more to both the list of good and bad things, but I don't have to divulge everything.

Overall - Luvic, Jacob, and Darin were my favourites; the book was good, but long, and the romance could've been done better from the start, so I actually cared more. I will probably want to read the second book when it comes out, though this was a bit exhausting, so I'm not sure how fast I'm going to run to get it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This story swept me into a world where glamour and hidden truths collide. The heroine’s journey through a world of illusions and secrets feels raw and authentic. Her growth as she untangles deceit and embraces her own power had me rooting for her every step of the way. The romance builds with quiet intensity, each moment crackling with anticipation and emotion. The blend of theatrical magic and personal discovery is both enchanting and relatable.

This book was pretty good, I would definitely recommend

~This was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review………..

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this wound up being a DNF for me, which is rare. I found the character and world building overcomplicated and too extensive, especially with the length of the story. I feel that it had great potential, but could have used some editing to cut it back some to focus more on the story. Maybe one day I will give it another go.

I very rarely DNF books — I’ll push through almost anything. But I couldn’t get past the third chapter of this one. The prose is overwritten and repetitive, with metaphors and imagery stacked on top of each other until the meaning gets buried.

Descriptions like “the alkaline taste of battery acid and blood” or the wind “dragging a cold finger across my cheek” are constant and while I understand the tone it’s trying to strike, the effect ends up feeling more theatrical than immersive. It almost feels like the author does not trust the reader to understand what is being said so everything is over explained.

The atmosphere is there, but it’s drowning in its own language. And for a book this long, it could’ve easily lost 100 pages with more focused editing. A different editorial approach might have helped this story shine because underneath all the overwriting, I think this story really had potential.

Just not something I could stick around 800 pages of this for.

Sarah Ready is one of my favourite authors, and I love all of her books. I was excited to read something different from her. I did find the book quite intense with a huge amount to absorb early on. It is quite a long book and a lot of time goes into world building and scene setting. You definitely need to give it your full attention when reading. Quite a unique concept and story overall, and certainly a world away from her usual work.

Thank you NetGalley and Publishers for the opportunity. Unfortunately I had to DNF this at 9%. I loved Ready’s Ghosted series but this one isn’t for me.

I ultimately had to DNF this one. Initially, I thought it was going to be right up my alley, but unfortunately there was to much telling that it was hard for me to truly engage with the story and the characters.
The perspective of the narration is really bizarre and disorienting and I have a hard time understanding why it was written that way.
The title and cover are amazing though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! All thoughts are my own.

I'm DNFing this at 12% because I just can't handle the way the story is being told. I tried to give it some time to see if I could warm up to it and I just can't. I've definitely think this story could have been interesting if told in a different way.