Illusions by Madeline Reynolds

Illusions

by Madeline Reynolds

In 1898 London, a magician has just performed the greatest illusion the world has ever seen. Intent on stealing the secrets of this illusion, another magician sends his apprentice, Saverio, to befriend his rival's apprentice, Thomas. Get close. Learn the trick. Get out.

But Sav is not a card to be played. He has a plan of his own: abscond with every secret for himself, so he can finally step out of his master's shadow and become the world's most famous magician.

Then Sav discovers the truth-that Thomas secretly performs real magic and is responsible for his master's "illusions." This trick cannot be stolen or duplicated. And worse, Sav finds himself falling hard for Thomas, the one person who can never discover his true purpose.

Their forbidden romance sets off a domino effect of dangerous consequences that will leave their love and their lives hanging in the balance.

Reviewed by layawaydragon on

5 of 5 stars

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I received this book for free from YA Bound Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Welcome back lovelies! You're going to love today's feature Illusions by Madeline J. Reynolds. It's a historical m/m romance with a touch of literal magic. My 5 star review is below along with a tour wide giveaway for TWO copies of Illusions!

ABOUT ILLUSIONS



ABOUT ILLUSIONS'S AUTHOR



IMHO: ILLUSIONS




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.




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.

 

ILLUSIONS GIVEAWAY


Two print copies – US only
a Rafflecopter giveaway

ILLUSIONS BLOG TOUR






 This review was originally posted on The Layaway Dragon

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 1 October, 2018: Finished reading
  • 1 October, 2018: Reviewed