I had seen the cover of Cruel Illusions as an online reader copy ages back. I saved the link but never got around to reading it, and then the link expired. No big deal, I’d get to it eventually, and recently I requested it via an interlibrary loan. Well, I almost wish I hadn’t. The cover lied. To a point. It would have (at the end) the roses and the main character dressed like that, but that romanticism was pushed all until the end (except there is magic throughout that is romanticized but if anyone was paying attention you’d see the red flags all over), then it was some vampire cult which had it. Wait, okay, let me start over. The scene is not from the vampires, it is from the magicians, but they are no better really than the vampires. Oh wait, I should have said SPOILER.
The whole good vs bad is pushed to the edge without breaking, though you see serious stretch marks. The “good boy and bad boy” are not who they seem, if we pay attention we’d catch the clues of SURPRISE guess who daddy is, and guess who is a vampire, and guess who killed your parents and …. (you get the idea), and OMG can the main character be any more annoying? (If yes, I DON’T want to know). I am sorry Margie Fuston, but your novel did not work well for me.
There was potential, but several clichés ruined it. I’m not sure how I feel about two pieces of the ending, but perhaps the “She Who Lived” mentality was needed. As a teen, I would have mostly enjoyed it as long as the description of the blood and violence was omitted. I mean, it is nothing compared to what we see today, but it was borderline gratuitous. I wanted to love it, but only liked it.
