I really enjoyed this one! Not my usual go to but very well done! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this title.

Cruel Illusions is a fantasy standalone written by Margie Fuston, in which we follow Ava as she joins a magical secret society in order to learn how to kill vampires so she can avenge her mother's death.

Now, this was advertised as perfect for the fans of Caraval and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I have to say, as a fan of Caraval and of all the vampire shows and movies that were released in the 2010's (The Vampire Diaries, Vampire Academy…), I really loved this book. It was truly magical and I almost enjoyed every second of it.

But let's start with what I loved: the plot, the setting, the magic system, the worldbuilding. I felt transported back into Caraval, which is a good thing but can also be a bad thing (I'll explain why in a minute). The characters are loveable in their own way and not too annoying. The writing style was really easy to read and understand, and the story felt slow-paced at the beginning and fast-paced towards the end.
Onto the reasons why this book is not a 5-star read for me: if you know me, you know that I love Caraval. And at some point, the two books bear too many resemblances (for example, roses is a symbol that appears a lot in Caraval, and it also appears a lot in Cruel Illusions, plus the fact that the plots are similar). Some plot twists were also too predictable in my opinion.

Additional info:
X YA Fantasy standalone
X Perfect if you like love triangles, magic, and vampires
X First person and single POV

I thoroughly enjoyed the premise for the books and the buffy/caraval vibes it gave off. I thought the magic system was very interesting and the competition felt tense the whole way through, with some surprises along the way to keep me on my toes

I was super excited for this book as it’s been compared to Caraval (which is one of my all-time favourite series), so I was thrilled to receive a copy to review. Although it had similarities to Caraval, it was also unique and amazing in its own right. It’s the perfect book for the spooky season, so I’m looking forward to reading it again at that time of year. It had so many components that I love in books - vampire hunting, magic tricks and a competition.

The writing was super engaging and kept me absorbed in the story. The characters were all lifelike, and I connected with them, meaning I cared about what happened to them. It could be a little predictable, but I still loved the ending.

Thank you to netgalley, the author and publisher, for a chance to read and review this book.

Carnaval meets Buffy? Sign me up.

This was the perfect standalone book for when you're in a spooky mood. The story is about Ava, a young woman who's mother was killed by vampires, though only she believes that. At seventeen, she's out for revenge, and she stumbles on a magic show that seems a little too real.

The world is an interesting blended atmosphere between secret magic society, deadly magic competition and vampires hunting. A very fun YA read.

If you enjoy magic and have a thing for Vampires then this book is definitely for you.

Ava finds herself sucked into the world of magicians vs vampires. Taken away from her ordinary life and plunged into an unsuspectingly deadly competition where only one can win.

Its Caraval meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The author is clearly a fan of Buffy because there are little nods to it throughout this book.

The competition where the magicians have to compete against one another is very Hunger Games style. It’s intense and you never know what’s going to happen next when magic is involved.

Alongside all the magic, Ava is going through her own personal journey; finding out who she is and where she belongs, oh and of course she gets herself into a love triangle.

Overall it’s an exciting and magical read that I enjoyed getting sucked into.

There's a lot to love in this book as the world building is original and I loved the style of writing. I wasn't a fan of Ava who grated on my nerve but was enjoying the story when I met my bigget pet peeves: a love triangle.
i hate love triangle and I stopped enjoying the story.
Not my cup of tea
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I love the cover of Cruel illusion and the blurb did sound so interesting and made me curious. Margie Fuston has a good writing style. Everything is easy to read and detailed. The book started off really well and I was really curious about what was going to happen next. But the more I read, the more I lost interest. It dragged on, I started skipping chapters because not much really happened. The characters also remained rather pale and I couldn’t really put myself in their shoes.

I put the book aside for a while in the hope that I would try it again and that it would get better. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case and after about 150 pages I did not finished the book. The book had potential, but its just didn’t grab me

Caraval meets Buffy made me run to read this one. I love a long story but I did feel this one was longer than necessary. The middle got a bit messy and I did have a moment of why am I being told this story. I rated it 3 stars because I enjoyed it enough to finish it, I just think it was a case of I didn’t believe in the magic system. Overall well written with good character developments I just wanted more from the magic.

I received a free copy from Netgalley all opinions are my own.
Sad DNF at 48-49%

I was really excited for this book. But I disliked the characters.
Ava the main lead annoyed me so much, I just couldn't take her at all. She was so indecisive, one moment she's all "I want to kill all vampires" the moment she has the opportunity she always freezes up, or second guesses her decisions.
The other troupe members, kind of meh. Though Diantha and Reina were cute.

The love triangle, absolutely horrible. I really didn't like any of the choices.
The scenes with each of the male leads made me want to barf🤮

I really tried to get through this book, but I found it boring.
Usually I try not to DNF ARC's, but I'm trying to not force myself to read books I dislike.

I liked the plot, but I really didn't like the execution.

If I had to rate this book then it would probably be 2,5 stars. Because the book isn't bad per se. I just didn't like it. And would prefer to read something that actually pulls me in.

Massive nods to Buffy, like MASSIVE, almost gratuitously so. Lucky for me, I'm a gratuitous Buffy fan. Plots turns a little on the predictable side for the savvy reader. That being said I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the writer got me on side with all the core characters so I was heavily invested within the first 100 pages. Would happily place this as a comfort read as it stands alone well!

Oh .my goodness. This was such a good read - the best blend of magic and vampires, competition and found family, romance and friendship. Definitely would recommend this to readers who like darker YA.

It took me a little while to get into this but then it ramped up so fast. Interesting twist on vampire theory, loved the geeky magician / illusion stuff. Was surprised how dark it got (in a good way). Plenty of massive shocks and twists,. Ending a touch rushed but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for this honest review.

This book took me a good long while to read, both because it was king and because I found it incredibly hard to pick up. Whilst I enjoyed parts of this, there were just too many things I didn’t. The protagonist was frustratingly indecisive (coming from someone indecisive) and incredibly annoying. The book felt incredibly repetitive and dragged out. Oh also, there’s a love triangle. On a positive note, the magic system, whilst complicated, was very interesting.

This review will be up on my Instagram, @Kratist0, sometime between now and early next year.

Buffy meets Caraval?? Yes please!! Omg this book was everything that I wanted and more. I never thought a book compared to Caraval would ever meet the hype but this was definitely did! I absolutely cannot wait to read more from this author!

Cruel illusions by Margie Fuston

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to netgalley, hodder & stoughton and Margie Fuston for the opportunity to read this book

I loved the first chapter. The way it seems like a contemporary coming of age stories and then right at the end it brings the fantasy supernatural element in. The magic system here is complex but explained well wnough that I could understand it and I thought it was a really cool system.

The midway twist did throw me off a little bit but as the story went on I really enjoyed that aspect. The book had a lot of twists but each one felt like it made sense eventually and none were super predictable.

The final sequence here is amazing and while I believe it is a standalone there is an opening for another book. Personally I think it works really well by itself and I'm happy for it to be a standalone.

The characters here are well built and I felt like I understood the motivations for the majority of them. Our main character is brilliant and definitely someone you can route for. The romance aspect was a nice addition and I spent most of the book a little torn as to where I wanted that to go.

Overall I'd give the book a 4.5 (rounded down to 4) because it didn't quite get the emotion out of me to put it at a 5. I look forward to reading any of the authors future work and I'd definitely reread this.

I really enjoyed this YA fantasy and found it quite unique and intriguing, I loved the magical element throughout. I will definitely be looking out for more from this author

Cruel Illusions follows a teenager called Ava who along with her brother are tired of going to foster homes, after losing their mother.

In this world, Vampires exist and have made themselves known, so when Ava finds a chance to figure out what happened to her mother and the strange bite mark on her neck, she sees a way out of the care system.

Joining a troupe of magicians, she enters a competition where she must prove herself. I found Ava to be an interesting character, albeit not as flawed as I hoped. She is desperate to prove herself and falls in love too easily with Xander, the leader of the troupe. But I did enjoy her relationship with Roman much more.

I liked the magic system and the writing was simple to follow! I would say this is more geared towards the YA audience. I thought it was Adult, so my expectations were different to what I got, but if you like YA and the common love triangle tropes, you’ll enjoy this one!

I hate to say this, but this book just wasn't for me. I really struggled to get into the story and bond with the characters in anyway & I ended up DNF'ing at around 25%.

This was a solid 3.5 star for me. The first half dragged too much for my tastes, and the second half was too fast. I feel like it ended well for a standalone, and we don't get enough standalones these days. I did really enjoy the writing style though