Illusionarium - Heather Dixon

Illusionarium - Heather Dixon ★★★★ 4.0

I'm giving this book 4 stars. Here's why:

• I absolutely LOVE the idea of illusionists.
• Very cool worlds. You know, in a creepy awful way.
• Jonathan's personality
• Twists
• Captivatingly creepy

Heather Dixon wrote Entwined, which was the first book I read (other than the books I had to read for my Children's Literature class) after my 8 year reading slump. And I liked it, but I actually didn't love it all that much. Still, I could easily see Heather Dixon's amazing ability to create stunning imagery and beautiful writing. Because of this, coupled with the fact that Illusionarium would, of course, focus heavily on ILLUSIONS, I picked it up as soon as I could.

And I definitely don't regret it.

Now, this isn't the best book I've ever read. Not by a longshot. But it was way better than expected and I liked it a lot more than Entwined. It's an entirely different story. These two books are NOTHING alike as far as I could tell. So Illusionarium wasn't quite as stunning or beautiful, but it drew me in quickly & deeply.

From the first chapter, I was hooked. And then it got weirder. And weirder. And SO MUCH WEIRDER. And creepy and awful and great and imaginative. I really, really enjoyed this book. First, I just think illusions are always a really cool subject in movies and in books. This was definitely cool. The things they could create were incredible and I couldn't stop reading when the illusionists were at work.

I also liked the main character a lot. His name is Jonathan, and he's not your typical hunky, manly man YA male protagonist or love interest. Nope. He's a normal guy. But smart and talented. And he's so snarky. I laughed out loud at a few parts just because of things he said - and that almost never happens when I read books.

The twists in this book might be predictable to some. However... some twists are completely unexpected. And... again, weird.

Sometimes I would be reading the book whilst trying to look away and stifle my urge to gag.

BUT I STILL READ IT. Because it was like a train wreck. Awful but almost mesmerizing.

I'm giving it four stars rather than five for two main reasons:

1. After a while, I just wanted it to wrap up already. But then the ending seemed too abrupt and slightly unexplained.

2. The world(s) were cool, but maybe not quite as developed as I would have liked. It had a lot of potential, but it maybe didn't reach that full potential in that aspect.

Final thoughts: Guys, you should read this book. Not everyone loves it. And the thing is, I understand the negative reviews. This book is not the type for lots of people. But if you love illusions, twists, snarky & realistic main characters, and a dash of the ultra-creepy, give it a shot!