I’m actually really glad this was a short read, because I had a mess up with my reviews. Last Friday I finished a book, in time for me to write and schedule it on Monday when I had time. Only to then realise it’s an ARC, and the review was planned to go up mid December. Meaning there was no book to review this week.

Then lo and behold, this book turned up on my doorstep, my weekend plans were unexpectedly cancelled, and the planets aligned to let me read this book over the weekend.

So let’s talk about Illusion!

Title: Illusion

Author: Nadette Rae Rodgers

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Series Status: The 1st in the Illusion trilogy

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy/Supernatural

Number of Pages:  249

(Found on back cover and Goodreads)

Everybody dreams, everyone has nightmares…but no one dreams quite like Addison Smith. Addison has always had unusual dreams. However, the crazy factor has risen to a whole new level. Still, she doesn’t realize just how unique she is. But one day, Addison wakes up covered in bruises with blood on her pillow, and she realizes that maybe her dreams aren’t so normal after all. Someone or something is causing all of this, but she doesn’t know who and she doesn’t know why. Suddenly the guy of her dreams (literally) becomes the new kid at school and turns her world upside down. Before she knows it, the line between reality and her dream world blurs. What is real? What is just an illusion?

*Thank you Nadette for sending me a copy of your book in exchange for an honest review

This was such a lovely little book to read over the weekend!

Which makes it sound like a fluffy sort of story…which it isn’t. Great start, Ashleigh.

There’s a sense of mystery and confusing clouding this story, which might leave you thinking “how can confusion be a good thing?” but trust me, for this story, it is. Because this is a story about a girl whose dreams come true – which again, sounds like a fluffy sort of fairytale story, but no. Because her dreams are nightmares, and she wakes up injured each time. The line between dream and reality start fogging over, and it’s difficult to know what’s real. That’s where the confusion kicks in.

Even though you are sometimes left puzzling over what happened, it’s exactly how the main character – Addison – felt. So not only were you reading about her experiences, you were feeling them too. Also, I must admit I had fun trying to guess when dreams were happening in those times where it wasn’t so clear.

This book had a weird sense of being longer than it was, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was fast paced, but a lot of smaller details about Addison’s life were mentioned – but I’ll go into this more in a second. Towards the end however, the pace picked up so much, and the last chunk of pages just sped by for me.

I do slightly wish there were more explanations. I’ve definitely been left with a few questions, most of which will probably be answered in the next book but could’ve been in this one. The thing is, a lot of this book is just Addison making the best of the situation – which is great and all, but it means that everyone tells her to just trust them. And not a lot of her questions are answered. It’d drive me mad if someone kept saying that to me rather than give answers.

The only other thing that was a sort of tipping point for me was the relationship. I liked it, though it was a bit odd to me. It moved way too quickly, and while I get that their situation was different to say the least, it was still a bit weird to me.

Anyway, time to explain what I mean about smaller details. The thing I really appreciated about this book is that Addison – a teenager – actually sounded like a teenager. There’s so many books out there that are based from the main point of a teenager, and yet they sound either highly intellectual for no good reason or just don’t have normal teenager lives. I mean, the last one’s understandable since reading about the average teenager’s life would be pretty boring. BUT Addison has the voice of a teenager, the worries of a teenager, and the life of a teenager (you know, besides the crazy dream-becoming-reality thing). She has homework to finish, friends to catch up with. And all this just makes Addison all the more relatable.

So, this was definitely an intriguing read for me. Despite the relationship being a bit insta-lovey (but for good reason), I loved the entire concept of the story. It’s the sort of book that’s left me wanting more, and I’m definitely interested in seeing where the second book leads.

Rated 4/5 stars

Amazon

Share your thoughts!

Have you read this book? What did you think?

If you haven’t, do you plan to?

Let me know in the comments!

Until next time…

Come and visit me!

Snapchat: frolic_fiction