Illusions of Evil (Illusions, #1)

by Lily White

[Jack]

This was good and gripping and quite amazing. But for some reason, I wasn't as wowed as I wanted to be. It wasn't a five star when I really wanted it to be. Perhaps it was because of the lack of characterization of Eve? The writing was really good, but maybe not as deep as I wanted it to be? Definitely a quick read.

Jacob is a priest with a dark past, but he is trying to atone for that by running a parish in small town. He awakes early one morning to find a girl collapsed in his parking lot, tattered and scratched up. He takes her into the church where he bathed her and tended her wounds. He didn't want anyone to know that she was here, because he didn't want her to leave.

When she wakes up she starts calling him by another name. Elijah. It turns out she is from a religious compound nearby which she escaped from. Problem is she keeps calling Jacob Elijah, which greatly confuses him.

We get a peek into Eve's life, how she came to live at the compound and that she was trained to be Elijahs wife, to serve a higher purpose for God. She was THE MOST subservient, submissive, brainwashed person in the whole entire world. She did whatever Elijah told her with no thought of her own. She listened to Jacob whenever he told her to do something. There was no doubt in her mind that she was doing the wrong thing.

Except maybe when we got to Eve’s point of view where she’s questioning everything. Her internal monologue and thoughts were really interesting. She almost seemed like a different person then when we’re reading Jacobs POV. I wanted more of this to come out when we saw her interact with Jacob. But we got a one dimensional character who only ever wanted to please Elijah, and didn’t question everything. Maybe we’ll see more of her character development in the next book, but I feel like she didn’t grow as a character at all.

Jacob and Elijah were fare more interesting characters to read about, and Jacob certainly grew (or regressed depending on how you look at it) throughout the novel, and you got a lot of background about him and Elijah. You see how Jacob came to become a priest, he messed up royally when he was younger and wanted to atone for that by becoming a priest. He follows that calling diligently until Eve comes into his life. He struggles with the allure of Eve, and wanting to be with her in a carnal way. But he can’t because he took a vow of celibacy when he became a priest.

The struggle Jacob feels real, and I really empathized with him which was because writing was really solid in this novel. I loved seeing the world through Jacob and Elijahs eyes. Especially the crazy cult leader that was Elijah. He was absolutely insane as the leader of a cult, but I didn’t quite buy it. How could everyone follow him so willingly. He didn’t seem to have the charisma necessary. But I think that will defiantly be seen in the second book.

The ending of this book was a bit of a cliffhanger. Somethings were left open ended, we know what happened to Jacob and Eve, but their stories are not finished. The book is apart of a duet after all. But in terms of cliffhangers this one didn’t anger me. It ended pretty well and I’m excited to read the final novel.

Overall an enjoyable read. Started off really well, but got a little crazy in the middle and towards the end, and could be a bit hard to follow at some point. But it was a refreshing read, especially since I had read a few other novels featuring priests and they fell flat. I think the added conflict of the religious cult adds a breath of fresh air to the story.