Cruel Illusions
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Description
Caraval meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this “beguiling” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) young adult fantasy about a girl who makes a deal with a magical secret society to enter a potentially deadly competition for the chance to avenge her mother’s death.
Ever since a vampire murdered her mother, Ava has been determined to get revenge. This all-encompassing drive has given her the fuel she needed to survive foster home after foster home.
But it’s been ten years since anyone’s seen a vampire, and Ava has lost hope that she’ll ever find one…until she stumbles across a hidden magic show where she witnesses impossible illusions. The magicians may not be the bloodsuckers she’s hunting, but Ava is convinced something supernatural is at play, so she sneaks backstage and catches them in acts they can’t explain.
But they’ve been waiting for her.
The magicians reveal they’re part of an ancient secret society with true magic, and Ava has the same power in her blood that they do. If she joins them, they promise to teach her the skills she needs to hunt vampires and avenge her mother. But there’s a catch: if she wants to keep the power they offer, she needs to prove she’s worthy of it. And to do so, she must put on the performance of her life in a sinister and dangerous competition where illusion and reality blur, and the stakes are deadly.
Book Information
Posts
Obwohl mir die Protagonistin emotional etwas zu sprunghaft war, mochte ich sie ganz gerne und auch die anderen Charaktere waren (wenn auch nicht immer ganz nahbar) interessant dargestellt. Die Handlung bzw. das Magiesystem war absolut faszinierend und fesselnd. Das Buch konnte mich sehr unterhalten - somit ist es definitiv eine Leseempfehlung :)
Magisch
Magie oder Illusion? Was ist echt und was ist es nicht? Dieses Buch steckt einfach voller Zauber und Geheimnisse. Die Idee hat mich daher ziemlich begeistert. Ich war fasziniert von der Geschichte und immer ziemlich gespannt, wie es weitergeht. Ava war als Protagonistin sehr nahbar und echt. Ich habe sie sehr gut verstanden. Die anderen Charaktere blieben leider etwas blasser. Auch sie fand ich zwar toll, hätte aber gern noch mehr über einige erfahren. Die Lovestory war anfangs sehr vielversprechend und hat mich auch ziemlich überrascht, aber leider war irgendwann da etwas die Spannung raus und es plätscherte dahin. Trotzdem fand ich die beiden richtig gut zusammen. Besonders ER war einfach unheimlich toll und hat für ein paar Herzklopfmomente gesorgt. Insgesamt war das Buch wirklich schön und ist auch sehr zu empfehlen, ein Highlight ist es für mich aber nicht geworden.
I need to stop reading YA books.
What I liked: - the cover - Roman (don’t ask me how he did it) - Ava‘s complicated feelings regarding family and what home means to her What I didn’t like: - Xander. Nope, sorry. - that most of the big reveals were either glossed over or used to push her beyond magical limits/into the arms of a new love interest - the magic system - “I‘m not like other girls“
I love the cover of Cruel illusion and the blurb did sound so interesting and made me curious. Margie Fuston has a good writing style. Everything is easy to read and detailed. The book started off really well and I was really curious about what was going to happen next. But the more I read, the more I lost interest. It dragged on, I started skipping chapters because not much really happened. The characters also remained rather pale and I couldn’t really put myself in their shoes. I put the book aside for a while in the hope that I would try it again and that it would get better. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case and after about 150 pages I did not finished the book. The book had potential, but its just didn’t grab me
Description
Caraval meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this “beguiling” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) young adult fantasy about a girl who makes a deal with a magical secret society to enter a potentially deadly competition for the chance to avenge her mother’s death.
Ever since a vampire murdered her mother, Ava has been determined to get revenge. This all-encompassing drive has given her the fuel she needed to survive foster home after foster home.
But it’s been ten years since anyone’s seen a vampire, and Ava has lost hope that she’ll ever find one…until she stumbles across a hidden magic show where she witnesses impossible illusions. The magicians may not be the bloodsuckers she’s hunting, but Ava is convinced something supernatural is at play, so she sneaks backstage and catches them in acts they can’t explain.
But they’ve been waiting for her.
The magicians reveal they’re part of an ancient secret society with true magic, and Ava has the same power in her blood that they do. If she joins them, they promise to teach her the skills she needs to hunt vampires and avenge her mother. But there’s a catch: if she wants to keep the power they offer, she needs to prove she’s worthy of it. And to do so, she must put on the performance of her life in a sinister and dangerous competition where illusion and reality blur, and the stakes are deadly.
Book Information
Posts
Obwohl mir die Protagonistin emotional etwas zu sprunghaft war, mochte ich sie ganz gerne und auch die anderen Charaktere waren (wenn auch nicht immer ganz nahbar) interessant dargestellt. Die Handlung bzw. das Magiesystem war absolut faszinierend und fesselnd. Das Buch konnte mich sehr unterhalten - somit ist es definitiv eine Leseempfehlung :)
Magisch
Magie oder Illusion? Was ist echt und was ist es nicht? Dieses Buch steckt einfach voller Zauber und Geheimnisse. Die Idee hat mich daher ziemlich begeistert. Ich war fasziniert von der Geschichte und immer ziemlich gespannt, wie es weitergeht. Ava war als Protagonistin sehr nahbar und echt. Ich habe sie sehr gut verstanden. Die anderen Charaktere blieben leider etwas blasser. Auch sie fand ich zwar toll, hätte aber gern noch mehr über einige erfahren. Die Lovestory war anfangs sehr vielversprechend und hat mich auch ziemlich überrascht, aber leider war irgendwann da etwas die Spannung raus und es plätscherte dahin. Trotzdem fand ich die beiden richtig gut zusammen. Besonders ER war einfach unheimlich toll und hat für ein paar Herzklopfmomente gesorgt. Insgesamt war das Buch wirklich schön und ist auch sehr zu empfehlen, ein Highlight ist es für mich aber nicht geworden.
I need to stop reading YA books.
What I liked: - the cover - Roman (don’t ask me how he did it) - Ava‘s complicated feelings regarding family and what home means to her What I didn’t like: - Xander. Nope, sorry. - that most of the big reveals were either glossed over or used to push her beyond magical limits/into the arms of a new love interest - the magic system - “I‘m not like other girls“
I love the cover of Cruel illusion and the blurb did sound so interesting and made me curious. Margie Fuston has a good writing style. Everything is easy to read and detailed. The book started off really well and I was really curious about what was going to happen next. But the more I read, the more I lost interest. It dragged on, I started skipping chapters because not much really happened. The characters also remained rather pale and I couldn’t really put myself in their shoes. I put the book aside for a while in the hope that I would try it again and that it would get better. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case and after about 150 pages I did not finished the book. The book had potential, but its just didn’t grab me