This book was such an exciting read! I absolutely loved it and I can't wait to read more from this author. The plot was fast paced and was never boring. The characters were interesting and unique which made the story really enjoyable for me. Great read!

Super swoony romance! I really enjoyed this book and I thought the world buildibg was really well written!
It was a fade to black story and someone who usually lives spice I appeciated it and felt like it flowed really well with the rest of the book.

Deffo recommend!

Sarah Marie Page delivers a breathtaking fantasy romance with an electrifying enemies-to-lovers twist. The story of Isabel and Erik is a masterclass in slow-burn romance and simmering tension. The writing is exquisite, seamlessly blending snarky banter with heart-pounding action. The characters are captivating and well-developed, each with their own intriguing layers. The world-building is rich and immersive, making every page a delight. Overall, an unputdownable read. I can’t wait enough for the finale.

Illusion of Stars is a Fantasy Romance book and the debut novel from Sarah Marie Page and OMG I’m obsessed with the world this author created and all the characters, I already can’t wait for book 2!

All Isabel dreams about is becoming the royal physician, but when her friend is murdered and the suspects are the general from enemy country and his handsome son, Erik, Isabela is tasked with seducing Erik and getting information out of him. But it proves to be more difficult than she expected, especially when instead of flirting she keeps bantering with the irritating general’s son and the more time she spends with him and his friends the more she realizes everything she heard about them might have been wrong and her growing feelings for Erik complicate everything even more.

I can’t believe it’s this author debut book, it’s so well written with fascinating world building and interesting and perfectly paced plot, I was hooked since the first page and read the whole book in one sitting. I loved Isabel as the main character, she was a bit annoying in the beginning but grew a lot in this book and I can’t wait to see what will happen to her next. Erik was an amazing MMC, I loved how vulnerable he was with Isabel at times and his and Isabel’s slow burn enemies to lovers romance was everything, their attraction was off the charts and I loved all their scenes, the banter, their conversation, the cute scenes all were incredible and I just loved these 2 together and can’t wait to see them again especially after THAT ending, I’m still not well and need the next book ASAP.

Illusion of Stars is a really great fantasy romance book and an amazing debut with everything I love in this genre, I loved it and definitely recommend it to everyone. The next book can’t come soon enough!

This story follows the confessions of the royal physician in training, Isabel as she contends with a mad king, enemy soldiers and much more. if you like Romantasy books, with slow-burn romances and intrigue this book is for you.

I love that it includes a detailed trigger list although it’s placed at the back of the book, It also lists the sexual content within the book and what pages those are placed I really appreciated this, my copy has a link to the map but I do believe in the published copy the map will be on the page, on that note the map looks so good.

The writing initially seems a bit simple, but once you get reading you hardly notice, the characters come across as a bit flat and one-dimensional at the start, and some of the dialogue felt awkward and I was not too fond of some of the characters, however as the story progressed the character and dialogue felt a bit more natural as the pace picked up.

The story takes a while to get going and doesn’t really get good until about the 50% mark. However, after this point, it was delightful, intriguing and funny. despite its slow start, it was an absolute winner by the end.

The book had me captivated from the start. The banter was soooooo good. The twists were wild and very unexpected. When things started to get going they got going and didn’t stop. The FMC’s journey through her feelings of worthiness and trauma was written beautifully. Watching her go from I’m not good enough to no I am going to fight was great. The magic in this book is unique and I think there is still more we haven’t learned. There is still a lot to be revealed and this book sets up the possibility for an amazing series. Loved this book and can’t wait to see what’s to come.

This was a fantastic Romantasy that I couldn't put down!

Isabel is a royal physician who’s got her hands full with keeping the queen alive and dealing with a mad king. Things take a dark turn when her best friend is murdered, sending her on a mission for revenge.

Isabel has to infiltrate the enemy kingdom to get close to Erik Lothgarson. She also has to steal a weapon. She has a tough time ahead of her!

I truly loved the world that was created. It took me a bit to fully understand it all, but once I did, I was hooked.

The slow-burn romance between Isabel and Erik is intense and full of chemistry. I was definitely a fan of them!

And that cliffhanger ending – wow! It left me on the edge of my seat!

I think the cover is absolutely gorgeous and really captures the magical feel of the story.

This is a must-read for fans of slow-burn romance and epic fantasy.

Thank you NetGalley and Shadow Forge Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would. Will I remember it until the day I die? Probably not. Will I continue to series and recommend it to friends who like the genre? Oh yes.

❤️ Relatable, awkward FMC
❤️ Banter and pranks
❤️ Mystery and court intrigue
❤️ Trauma rep
❤️ Cliffhanger ending
❌ Too many ramblings from the FMC
❌ Inconsistent pacing
❌ Some cringey dialogues

Trigger warnings: violence, blood and gore, murder and death, grief, parental infidelity and abandonment, self-harm.

Plot:
Isabel is the royal physician of a tiny island caught between warring kingdoms. She spends her days trying to keep the queen from dying and the mad king from acting out. When her best friend is brutally murdered, she starts looking for answers and uncovering terrifying secrets. Seeking vengeance, she will be tasked with infiltrating the enemy and wooing an attractive army general in order to find and steal a powerful weapon that could turn the tides.

There were many things I loved about this book, like the simple yet captivating worldbuilding and magic system, the humour, the trauma and healing rep, the sweet romance, the tension. I had mixed feeling at first, due to the slow start, but by the end I was totally captivated. It was perhaps a little too YA for me. (The book is marketed as a new adult fantasy, but it’s really more YA in my opinion.) The bittersweet cliffhanger ending was great and made me want to read more.

Note: a bonus open-door spicy scene and a bonus scene from Erik’s POV are available.

Characters:
Probably one of this book’s strong suits. Isabel was such a fun and smart, relatable, wonderfully awkward FMC. It was nice not to follow *just another* stabby and needlessly confrontational warrior princess. Instead, we get a healer-turned-spy with no fighting skills who turns out to be the worst spy ever. Erik, the MMC, was intriguing, unpredictable, and swoony. Such a flirt! I loved it. The side characters were also awesome.

Writing:
Overall, I enjoyed Page’s smooth and sharp writing style. However, a few things got on my nerves. I enjoyed Isabel’s ramblings at first, and thought it made her character relatable. But at some point, it was just… too much. Perhaps these were fixed in the final version, but there were a few confusing, under-edited sentences that made me go “wait, what?” I also feel like some cringey dialogues should have been reworked a little.

The writing was so confusing to me. However, the lover’s boxes and the Vald magic was very unique, I enjoyed that. Also how Erik and Isabel are different from your usual main characters. But overall, the writing was not good for me, like I said it was confusing a lot of times. The good scenes were mostly when there was dialogue present.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I was excited to get my hands on this book after reading all the great reviews.

I really liked Isy and she felt very real to me. Her journey throughout the book is great.

I loved the bonding that happened throughout the book- I see you & you matter 😭

I enjoyed seeing all the pieces come together near the end of the book and will be on the lookout for the sequel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This didn't quite do it for me, which is a shame as I did enjoy the overall plot (although didn't realise I was setting myself up for another at least duology! Oops!)

I think I kept being taken out of the story by Isy's internal monologue, which occasionally felt too modern for the setting. I did find her a sympathetic character though and it was nice to have an FMC that didn't instantly go in with stabbing things as conflict resolution.

I would recommend it though if you're a fan of romantasy as it was a good read.

My first ARC read and I was so excited! Enemies to lovers, slow burn, magical elements, this looked 100% my thing. This book comes out on the 16th July, so you can pre-order it now 😍🙌

👍🏼 Things I Loved:

~ The ending! Omg I was not expecting this story to end there and now I need to know what happens! What a cliffhanger!
~ The baseline story is actually rather good. I love an apprentice accelerated-success story, especially in a fantasy novel. There’s so many ways it can go.
~ The characters are engaging and likeable. There are no ‘meh’ characters really, which can make a story drag sometimes.

👎🏼 Things I Didn’t Like:

~ The writing was okay and got better throughout the book, but I felt the whole first half of the book could have been rewritten with better descriptive language, scene-setting, and perhaps a bit more character-building. It felt rushed and basic.
~ Whilst playful, some of the writing was a bit childish. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but there was sexual tension that was dealt with like they were 16 year olds rather than grown adults, it was a bit odd at times!
~ Whether on purpose or not, there were a lot of references to water/mist/rain/condensation that the lack of anything else showed.

Overall Thoughts:
It’s a good story and I liked a lot of elements to it, and I feel that way the story has been left is an excellent setup to the sequel which I will look forward to reading in the future.

Really enjoyed this novel and I’m grateful to the author that I was able to read it before its official debut. I’m excited to see what the next book In this series brings. I enjoyed the tropes and I’m hoping for a bigger delve into the main characters! I also loved the dual POV and am hoping for some more POVs as the series goes on. The characters had great growth for an introductory novel and I can’t wait to see where they go from here.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!!!

I really wanted to like this book, I did. It had all of the elements I usually love: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, slow burn, and dramione coded!! Unfortunately, it fell short for me.

One of the main issues I had was the pacing. The book was really slow to start off, although it did pick up in the last like 49%. There wasn’t much world building at the beginning, it felt a bit like it was thrown in at random points so I feel like I never really understood the politics or the magic system. Flash forward to end, and suddenly everything was moving too quickly. It felt like the author didn’t know where she was going with the ending until she got to the ending, and as a result it all felt disconnected.

I also didn’t super love the writing style. It felt a bit clunky, especially with the dialogue. As a result, I was really struggling to envision the story playing out and the characters interacting in my head.

Finally, the development of the romantic relationship felt unnatural to me. This was supposed to be a slow burn enemies to lovers. However, it lacked the tension building that is critical to a good slow burn, and the transition from enemies to lovers was too sudden for me.

All that said, I did like both the fmc and mmc. I think the author did a good job with the character development of the fmc, as well as the character development of many of the side characters. I thought the conflict was interesting, and the magic system was unique!! This story definitely has promise, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

I hope Isy can see all 5 stars.. (lol)

I want to start off by saying thank you to Sarah for seeing me, and for seeing all of us.

I finished this book in 2 days and if you would have asked me at the beginning if that would have been the case, I’m not sure I would’ve said yes.

I wasn’t sure what to make of this at first. From the notes I wrote in the beginning, I had a lot of questions about things and at some points felt like I was thrown into this world, and was holding on for dear life through the twists and turns. but as I continued to white-knuckle it, find my bearings and dare to venture forth, everything started to illuminate around me.

Around page 150 is when I began getting lost, I was enchanted by the tension between Isy and Erik and was glued to my screen. I was reading at night before I went to bed, in the morning when I woke up, in the shower, during breaks at work, I couldn’t stop. I was fully immersed.

At page 265 I wrote: “the story has been so engaging that I haven’t remembered to write down my thoughts” I loved the banter between Erik and Isy and their dynamic. It was hard seeing such self loathing characters but there’s so much beauty in finding love amongst the scars.

The way Erik “sees” Isy despite her anxiety, her fears and worries, panic attacks, self harm and mental health battles is beautiful and the way Isy loves Erik the same way. The aspect of mental health in this book is really refreshing to see. It’s also not in your face.. it’s more subtle things here and there that are weaved into the story like the pressure point for panic attacks etc. it was so tastefully done and resonated wholly with me.

I really admire when authors take it upon themselves to include themes that are important for the betterment of humanity like mental health and self love and show readers that it’s okay to struggle and to go through hard things and that it doesn’t make you any less valuable or beautiful, in fact it makes you stronger and provides depth of character.

As someone who struggles with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) The idea that we all have two choices when it comes to the unknown and that which scares us; either to cower and succumb to the “quiet life” or to reach within ourselves to show our potential and make a difference, was something I’ve struggled with for years, and to see this FMC’s mastery of this ability play out was truly inspiring and a reminder that there is strength in not just me but in all of us, no matter how “small”.

Overall, I am so glad this was my first ARC review and I am so enriched by and excited for this book. The beautifully written and carefully thought out details, the emotional depth of the characters and the twists and turns kept me highly engaged, intrigued, and delighted throughout this book. I very much hope I'll be asked to review other books in this series again in the future as it was my honest pleasure and delight! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Shadow Forge Publishing for allowing me the honor of reviewing this masterpiece! I can't wait for the full release and for books to come! <3

I read Illusion of Stars in one day, and it was so much fun. I enjoyed the characters, the plot, the enemies to lovers greatness. I loved the fairytale within the story weaving things together and watching the prophecy come true. I loved the FMC who admits her faults and challenges her personal limits without being an overnight expert at everything. I loved the magic.
To Sarah Marie Page: Thank you, ma'am, may I please have another 😂
Massive thanks as well to NetGalley and Shadow Forge Publishing for this ARC!

Illusion of Stars by Sarah Marie Page is a romantasy novel and the story of Isabel and Erik.
 
I liked the cover and blurb and was so excited to read this story inspired by Scandinavian mythology and I’m always down for a good enemies-to-lovers fantasy, but something was just missing for me. In a lot of ways this was a very basic fantasy novel, and the world building was rather minimal, and I couldn’t really picture the places.
 
It’s mainly character driven, and our protagonist Isabel is an apprentice physician and she works very hard. Her kingdom is crumbling with a sick king, a dying queen, and an absent prince, but there’s nothing much she can do about it. She was a fun character and I loved seeing the interaction with her friend Katrina and she totally didn’t deserve what happened to her. One day she discovers something and therefore wants to save her home and infiltrates the neighboring enemy kingdom. Isabel had a lot of willpower and strength, but at the same time she was very unqualified for the spying job and that made the book very immature and juvenile and that was also reflected in the writing style.
 
Erik is the heir and illusion-magic wielding son of the neighboring kingdom, and he is the one Isabel needs to get close to. This book is marketed as an enemies-to-lovers story and that doesn’t really come across much. In addition, the story barely has any angst, and the steam is mainly fade-to-black which made the romance way too slow and the feelings didn’t fully come across for me.
 
Overall, if you’re looking for a slow burn and not steamy ya fantasy, this might be for you. 3 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

4 ☆

this book is marketed as enemies-to-lovers, and whilst that is true on a broader level, the enemies side of things, between the two main characters, didn’t really hit the spot for me. i love their relationship and the back and forth between them, but the ‘dislike’ probably lasted a few pages, if that, so if you’re a huge enemies-to-lovers fan, just be aware of that going into this book

this book is about isabel, a physician, wanting to become the royal physician. she is from a little town and thinks of herself as a nobody, so she’s trying to prove herself. as the story unfolds, there’s a murder and instead of proving herself, she wants to make the death of someone she loved, to matter, so she sets out to befriend the enemy to try and learn their secrets and report back. erik, a kings son, who has never felt worthy is whole life, is the person she needs to befriend. she acts as a guide for him and his men, and her quest for vengeance begins.


『 tropes 』
• enemies-to-lovers
• slow burn
• magic system
• murder
• world building

『 plot 』
i enjoyed the plot, it was fun to read and was very fast paced and an easy world building to understand. there were times where it felt rushed, but for me, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. i loved the magic aspect in this story, and the mystery surrounding the lovers box. it was interesting to see how it affected people differently and what they had to sacrifice. i loved that we only ever got a glimpse of erik and isabel’s pasts, it always kept me wanting to read on to find out more and try and figure them out.

『 characters 』
i enjoyed the characters, mostly. i do feel some of them lacked depth, like they were just filler characters and didn’t really bring anything to the story. erik, isabel and signey kept me in this book. i loved the relationship formed between erik and isabel. i liked that isabel could get erik to open up and softened with her. signey was an enigma, i both hated and loved her and i can’t wait to read more about her in the second book. i did like bo and kasper, but i feel like they needed more depth. katrina was ok, i loved her in the beginning, her friendship with isabel was sweet and they had each others backs, but towards the end i feel like that friendship wasn’t important? which didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

『 overall 』
i enjoyed it, it had me hooked from the first page, and had me wanting to know everything.. i’m glad there is going to be a second book and i look forward to seeing where the author takes these characters and how the story develops.

Such an amazing book. I was hooked from the first page, emersed in a beautiful, fantastical world. The characters were so wonderfully written and their chemistry was excellent. The plot was incredible, thrilling the entire time. I absolutely loved this book and would recommend it to all fantasy readers. Cannot rave enough about how good this book was.

I definitely enjoyed but didn’t love this book. It is very definitely YA and hit a little young for my liking. There is quite minimal spice which is how I prefer my books. I think some of the modern language in a more primitive world threw me out a little at times.
Isabel is quite frankly a dreadful spy and it was quite difficult to fully buy into her attempts although this is somewhat part of the story. I did like Erik and the other Volgaard and the evolution of the relationship between them and Isabel. Some of the tricks she played on them were pretty funny.
I will definitely read the second in the duology when it is released thanks to the major cliffhanger ending!