Illusionarium: A YA Fantasy Adventure of Parallel Worlds, Illusions, and Humor

You should know, I have been waiting for this book for years. It was worth the wait. The story begins with the king visiting Jonathan’s father, one of the most distinguished scientists in the kingdom. The queen has been striken with a plague simply called “Venen”. It only effects women, and once they catch it, they have only five days to live. The king brings with him a newly discovered chemical called “fantillium”, which was previously thought to be useless. But once breathed in, the chemical can create shared hallucinations, or, if an Illusionist is present, complex and breath-taking illusions. Jonathan is an illusionist, and a very powerful one. But he gets kidnapped by someone he thought was his father’s mentor, and brought into another world, known simply as Nod’ol. There he is told that if he illusions well, he will be given the cure for Venen, and be able to heal his mother and sister, who have caught the plague as well. Naturally, it’s not that simple. Heather Dixon stood up to my expectations and surpassed them. Like with her previous book, Entwined, the world building was fantastic, all the characters were unique and interesting. There were a couple of big twists in the plot that keep you on your toes, but aren’t big enough to loose you. And her monsters…oh, her monsters. I found the idea of Rivens both fascinating and terrifying, something to both gawk at and draw away from. I won’t tell you any more, or risk giving a spoiler away…but let’s just say I finally get why she was pinning all those weird, creepy pictures onto her Pinterest board. But anyways, back to the book. Illusionarium is a Steampunk novel, one of the first I’ve read, and I find the genre fascinating. The way she wrote this world made it seem like it’s far in the future, with advanced technology, but at the same time it’s back in Victorian times. Really interesting. This is also the first book I’ve read where I actually enjoyed the footnotes. They were funny and sweet, and they added an extra depth to the narrator and to the book as well. All in all, this was a fantastic book, and was well worth the three year wait.

Let me start off by saying that I liked this book. I wanted to rate it 3.5 stars, but as this isn't an option, I rounded up to a solid 4. I may have read it too fast, because I was just that dang excited about Heather Dixon releasing another novel, and I know I'll reread it again in the future! I'll be honest: Jonathan is a difficult character to root for. I've had a few days to really think about why this is, and it boils down to what makes Dixon's stories so dang charming: interaction. Her characters shine brightest when engaging with other characters; it is the relationships between her characters that anchors her stories. For a good portion of Illusionarium, Jonathan is not around those meaningful connections, and he doesn't have the desire nor the opportunity to establish new ones. His focus is on home, a place in which we readers don't spend any meaningful time, and on the task at a hand. This was especially problematic because we're given almost no time before his call to adventure; we don't know his goals, we don't know his sister, we aren't given adequate time establishing a connection with his father and mother. We have no idea what his life was like before everything got all topsy-turvy. (This is actually a trend I've seen happen in many a YA/Teen adventure book, especially featuring male leads. We just aren't given any time to establish those meaningful relationships.) One reviewer said something about feeling detached from the story, and I agree. (I actually have a theory: I bet there is a draft somewhere that has the Goudens present for a good 25+ pages more than what we get in the final version, and it was cut to quicken the pace of the story or something. Normally, I'm all for the less-is-more approach, but) I wish we had at least two chapters dedicated to a-day-with-the-Goudens, for Johnny-boy's sake. (I also wish Jonathan and Lockwood had more time dedicated to building up their friendship. What can I say? I like it when characters have besties.) Because of my issues connecting to Jonathan in the beginning, I was never really emotionally invested in his goal. Normally, that's enough to ruin a book for me, but let me tell you something about Heather Dixon. Heather has a way with words. She could write a story about a lukewarm cup of tea if she wanted, and she'd somehow convince us that the sugar cubes are worth falling for and that the silverware drawer is a place we all wish we could visit one day. Her writing is delightful that way. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book, but I knew Dixon would work her magic. And she did! The settings came to life with her descriptions, and despite Jonathan's POV, the side characters were memorable, even with there being so many of them coming and going through the story. Illusionarium picked up considerably once Anna was introduced. Her relationship with Jonathan finally helped us to establish a connection with the protagonist. Her relationship to Lockwood, too, not only gave us new insight into his character -- it pushed Jonathan to establish a second meaningful connection on his adventure. (Another reviewer mentioned Lockwood seeming like two different people as the story progressed and I can see why; I believe it's because Anna joining the party introduced us to a side of Lockwood we couldn't see through Jonathan's eyes alone.) The story never had a dull moment, either. It was action and adventure all the way through! There is so much life and fun and imagery in the way she tells a story and it leaves a strong impression. As I read, I couldn't help but daydream about Studio Ghibli making an animated film for it, and I'd sometimes reread scenes and try to picture what it'd look like animated by the same folks behind Howl's Moving Castle. I could get technical. I could say what made me drop this or that star from my rating. The book could have definitely used one or two big pushes and, dang, I wish I could be on that beta reading team! (Heather, if you're reading this, think about signing me up!) But when I thought about rounding either down to 3 stars or up to 4, the major deciding factor for me was my enjoyment level. When it came to how the book made me feel, I knew it deserved a four star rating from me. For a magical few days I was with Jonathan as he discovered his inner compass. I was intrigued and delighted by Lockwood, who is totally deserving of some dedicated fanart time. (note to self.) I would stay up an extra fifteen minutes to read just-one-more chapter, then another forty-five thinking about morality and other worlds and the consequences of not facing one's truths. These things are what makes a good story good. If you liked Entwined, don't let the negative reviews scare you; the book is hard to chew at first, but I found it to be an enjoyable read. I'm already eager to read Dixon's next book, whatever it may be, wherever it may take me. Until then, I'll have to reread Entwined and Illusionarium!

I felt disconnected from Illusionarium the whole time I was reading it because the action starts so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to get to know the characters and care about them. The story starts right off with a deadly disease. It actually didn’t add that much conflict because I hardly knew the characters so I didn’t care yet that they were all dying. I did think it was interesting that the disease only killed women. Still, for a disease destined to kill all women within the week I should have cared more. One delightful thing about the writing that I really enjoyed were the footnotes. I like the idea of having footnotes in a fictional novel. It was funny since it fit the main character’s personality who was a scientist. Most of the footnotes were poking fun at himself. I kind of felt like they were the 1800’s version of hashtags. The setting is a strange, steampunk world in a parallel universe of London that is similar to ours but not exactly the same. The names are familiar but slightly changed. The Tower of London is still there but England is called Arthurise. I enjoyed the steampunk feel which was a fun mix of fantasy and science. An illusion is like a drug hallucination that an Illusionist can control for other people. The best people at creating fantasical illusions were the smartest scientists. I thought that was creative. The main character jokes that certain things in math, like the square root of -1, is not applicable in real life, but he uses it in an illusion which I found funny. It was one of those moments where you are convinced that something you learn will never be of use and then you have to eat your words when it turns out it is useful.

I have really enjoyed this author's books. I am a horror fan, but possibly enjoyed this a tiny bit less than the other two because it was darker and not so sweet. This is not really a con though, because I was still very impressed and surprised that this book hasn't made more impact. The reviewer who described this as a cross between 'The Night Circus' and the 'The Hunger Games' is pretty accurate but it has some unique twists all of its own. The horror element is very original and there are some amazing descriptions. All in all, I would say this is a must read that has been overlooked. In fact, only the author's first book, Entwined, seems to have made the bestseller lists, though her other two books are just as brilliant in their own way.

Pour cette nouvelle lecture, je retourne du côté anglophone avec un petit livre en Vo paru il y a quelques années déjà et que j'ai découvert grâce à une booktubeuse. De suite, c'est la couverture qui m'a charmée, elle est esthétique et toute brillante et argentée. Ensuite, le résumé m'a beaucoup plu et je me suis donc laissé tenter. Et je n'ai pas de mot pour décrire vraiment ce que j'ai ressenti. On suit Jonathan futur étudiant en médecine. Il est l'apprenti de son père, médecin reconnu dans la ville de Fata Morgana. Une ville situé non loin d'Arthurise, ancienne Londres. un jour le roi lui-même débarque en ville. les nouvelles ne sont pas réjouissantes, la Reine est malade, elle a la Venen. une maladie qui vous tue en 6 jours et n'a pas d'antidote connu à ce jour. malheureusement, elle n'est pas la seule et la maladie se propage à la majorité des femmes de la ville. Tout d'abord ce qui m'a plu, c'est l'univers construit par l'auteure avec les vaisseaux volants que ce soit dans Fata Morgana ou Nod'ol. Ce côté steampunk m'a ravie. ensuite le côté monde parallèle avec une forme de magie basée sur les illusions, le faux qui semble vrai. Et j'ai apprécié qu'il y ait un revers à la médaille de pouvoir utiliser ce genre de magie, plus on l'utilise plus il altère le physique. Autre point positif, les personnages. Jonathan a beau être un étudiant en médecine, il se défend plutôt bien même s'il se prend parfois des coups. sa sœur est amusante, Lookwood est très agaçant mais on apprend un peu plus à le connaître au fil de l'histoire. Mon seul bémol est que l'on voit très très peu Alice, c'est dommage. Concernant l'histoire, je l'ai adoré du début à la fin. j'ai accroché à l'univers dès les premières pages. C'est rythmé, les héros ne sont pas des idiots et restent focalisé sur leur objectif, sauver la population du monde de Jonathan en rapportant l'antidote. Pour conclure, j'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre. C'est mon premier de l'auteure et je ne regrette absolument pas d'avoir tenté ma chance avec celui-ci. En plus, c'est un anglais assez commun, ça se lit tout seul.

Better than expected!