This book was beautiful and felt like a magical, lyrical adventure. The story had a hold on me from the very first page.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Shadow Forge Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wish all publishers would disclose the spice level of their books in the blurbs like this one did.

Illusion of Stars by Sarah Marie Page is a fantasy novel with the perfect trope of enemies to lovers. As the royal physician of a tiny, windswept island, Isabel spends her days trying to keep the queen from dying and the mad king from streaking naked down the halls. But when her best friend is found murdered on the beaches, her world is ripped apart. Desperate for answers, she discovers a stash of letters that reveal a terrifying truth: the neighboring kingdom of Volgaard possesses a kingdom-shattering weapon and is poised to conquer everything in its path. Seeking vengeance, Isabel infiltrates the enemy. Her mission? Woo Erik Lothgarson, the general’s steamy, illusion-magic wielding son, and steal the dangerous weapon. She can bring Volgaard to its knees—if she isn’t caught. But as Isabel dances along the knife edge of deception, the lines between truth and fiction blur, and she must wrestle her quest for vengeance against her undeniable attraction to the enemy.

This book is just *chef's kiss* read it at your own risk though.

Classic enemies-to-lovers, but I really enjoyed the stakes of it all. The main character’s fresh grief being her main push, the way her and the love interest find a common ground in trauma and persevering despite it - definitely a fun, enjoyable read.

This was a good enemies to lovers romantasy.

I loved the intrigue in this, and whilst it became a bit predictable towards the end in terms of the plot, (not the romance), it was still really good and enjoyable.

Isabele is an emotionally damaged character that is really likeable and keeps going forward, despite her trauma and past scars. She finds a kindred spirit in her enemy and together they form a bond.

There is betrayal and fighting and friendships forged. I am looking forward to the next one.

Illusion of Stars by Sarah Marie Page is a captivating, heart-racing adventure that Dramione fans will absolutely adore! 🌌✨ Isabel, the royal physician on a tiny, windswept island, has her hands full with a dying queen and a mad king. But when her best friend is murdered, her world turns upside down. 💔

In her quest for justice, Isabel uncovers letters revealing that the neighboring kingdom of Volgaard has a weapon capable of destroying everything she holds dear. Determined and brave, she infiltrates the enemy, charming the handsome and mysterious Erik Lothgarson, who wields illusion magic. 🔥🪄

The chemistry between Isabel and Erik is electric! ⚡ As Isabel walks the tightrope of deception, the lines between her mission and her heart's desires blur, leading to a thrilling and emotional journey. 💞

This book is a rollercoaster of emotions, filled with intrigue, magic, and romance. I couldn't put it down and I bet you won't be able to either! ✨💕

A fun enemies-to-lovers read, with a decent dose of emotional damage. I was expecting to enjoy this read, as I love a good enemies-to-lovers, but I didn't expect to have it hit me in my soul the way it did. The female main character is loveable and relatable in her struggles of never feeling like enough and always striving to be something more. I connected with her and her story, felt her emotions, laughed at her sass, and cringed at her loveable awkwardness.
I enjoyed watching all the relationships between the characters grow and change throughout this book, and loved the unexpected found family vibes. The unexpected betrayals and plot twists keep me on my toes and left me wanting more. I cannot wait to see where this story goes, especially with it's cliffhanger ending.
Thank you Sarah Marie Page and NetGalley for the eARC!

Reviewed on: Goodreads, Amazon (review pending), and Storygraph
To be reviewed soon on: Instagram, and Tiktok

I really love enemies to lovers, it’s my all time favorite trope and I of curse also enjoyed reading this book about a spy. It was so interesting and I couldn’t stop reading.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

This was absolutely amazing!! Love love love 10 stars. I loved every single thing about this book. The characters, the plot, the writing, romance honestly can't fault it.I read it in one sitting!
10/10 would recommend!

I had high expectations for this book and they were delivered!! I found the pacing of the book really nice and it flowed so well that I flew through this book!! The PROSE?!? Beautiful.
So much happened and I wasn’t confused at all! A joy to read.

Illusion of Stars started off a bit slow for me, but once I got into it, I was hooked. As I finished the novel, I realized that the detailed beginning served a purpose. The novel is character-driven, and I enjoyed the banter and relationships. I am committed to reading book two and am curious about how many books are planned for this series.

Isy, a royal physician, is awkward and relatable. She puts her trust in others but also has her own schemes (not always executed smoothly).

There is romantic tension and an enemies-to-lovers trope, but this book is not spicy. It offers a tame and sweet romance for those who don't want or need explicit scenes.

I enjoyed the fantasy elements in this story and found the magic of creating illusions similar to the magic in the Grishaverse.

The author did a great job addressing the issue of self-harm and the journey of realizing one's self-worth.

Thank you, NetGalley and Shadow Forge Publishing, for sending this book for review consideration.

This book was given to me as an arc copy from NetGalley and Victory Editing.
I’d say like 2.5 stars for me personally.
While I liked the idea of the book, it just fell flat for me. I felt like the world building took up a lot of the book, there were times it was truly boring and then it was rushed at the end. The romance was also a fade to black which isn’t my cup of tea. I think this book would have been better suited for me when I was younger, this is more of a young adult fantasy than it is for adults. I don’t know if I’d read the second one

I loved the marketing surrounding this book and was very excited to give this a read as I heard it was a new NA fantasy romance! In the end, I think this ended up being a case of this book wasn’t exactly for me (I DNF’d at 73%), but it most definitely has an audience. Sarah Marie Page has a unique, flowery writing style which definitely lends itself to creating captivating descriptors of scenery and settings which was a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, this constant use of excessive descriptors kind of bogged down the story for me as I felt that there was a lot of describing and not a lot of doing/action that progressed the story forward. The first half of the story seemed very slow which made the pacing feel off and I wasn’t too engaged with the characters or plot. The main FMC had a LOT of internal dialogue which I enjoyed at first, but again it became a bit much for me to the point where the reader just became so inundated with the FMC’s thoughts that the momentum of the plot felt like it was dragging. Also for me, as the story was written through the FMC’s perspective, the constant use of internal dialogue made the writing feel like it was intended for younger audiences than expected. The romance which I was very excited about fell rather flat for me as well. That being said, I do like the lessons that the author puts forward and I did appreciate the depiction of panic attacks/representation of mental health.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for the ARC of Illusion of Stars in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**
▪︎Review has been published as of 7/31/2024.▪︎

4.5⭐️
1🌶

☆grief and anxiety rep
☆enemies-to-lovers...kinda
☆REALLY BAD flirting 🤭

Illusion of Stars follows Isabel (aka Isy) as she does her best to become the next royal physician when her world is turned upside down by two events: the loss of a friend, and the immediate arrival of an enemy. She is forced to act as a guide to the newcomers and swiftly finds herself becoming friends with the group she has been tasked to spy on.

Erik is a man easily spooked, as his mind is almost always elsewhere. Erik and Isabel *see* each other for everything that the two of them are, and catch feelings. There are a lot of great bonding moments, and talk of grief and anxiety. I saw myself in Isy, and it was nice to see a character I could actually relate to. I cannot wait to follow their story as I just want them to be happy 🥲

I devoured this. Absolutely loved this plot, this story! I fell in love with Isy and Erik are such wonderful characters and I loved the world we were immersed in.

I think the tense was a little confusing at the beginning, as we find out the story is being told by Isy via a letter after the fact. But it was a small stumbling block in an overall wonderful novel.

The growth of the characters was beautifully done. The simple magic system was refreshing after reading an excess of fae stories.

It's unbelievable that this is a debut. I cannot express how much I loved this, and I'm excited to see what the author does next!

Such a beautiful book! A book about two people who wanted to be loved and to be seen. Of course it has all the simmering slow burn with all the banter and found family. I loved how Isy made herself believe that she was spying on Erik and in the guise, they both actually started to get to know each other, and the silliest things she made Erik do 😂. Poor Isy tried her best to be a spy but my baby was a terrible liar AND a terrible spy. Soo terrible, that even Signey developed a soft spot for her
🥹🤍
Aaaaand ERIK! A general's son with blonde hair, stormy gray eyes and DIMPLES. *swoooon*
I can officially say that Isy isn't the only one who is attracted to Erik's incredibly impressive abdominal. iykyk 🤭

Overall the magic system, the characters, the story, the writing, everything was so beautifully written. And, I'm still sobbing thinking about the ending of this book.
Had me hooked from the jaw dropping first chapter to the heart dropping final chapter.
Sarah, sweetheart I hope you won't make my PUFFINS suffer too much and give them the ending they deserve
🥹🤍

This book was just what I needed.
It's was an absolutely fantastic read.

The characters and their banter were the highlight for me, I was hanging on their every word.
I loved Isabel and Erik so much. Their determination and dedication were very relatable.

The authors writing was so beautiful. She made it hard not to fall in love with the world and setting she built. You could feel the passion that was put into these pages. And there was a very strong message of self-discovery and overcoming your fears throughout.
Which gave it a heartwarming touch.

I would definitely recommend adding this to your tbr.

3.5⭐️

This book was very interesting from the beginning. It begins by following Isabel, a palace healer, as she attempts to navigate hiding the Kings illness from the Volds, enemies to the crown who imposed on their shores. Sent on a scouting trip by the Minister, Isabel must determine for herself if the rumors are true surrounding Eric, the son of the general.

I liked the premise of this book a lot! It hooked my attention from the get-go. I mean you speak enemies to lovers and fantasy in the same sentence and I’m sold. This book really had it all with early on-set heartbreak, mystery, love, you name it.

At times I didn’t love the dialogue as it seemed out of place for a high fantasy story. They spoke too much like modern day teens for my liking using modern slang. I would’ve appreciated more build up in the MCs relationship before they ended up together. There wasn’t much of a progression, but instead one day she hated him for infiltrating her kingdom and the next she loved him for who he was.

However, I did really enjoy the ending and would love to see how the story continues!

I loved Isabel’s story. She was this awkward, naive girl who just wanted to matter (I feel this in my soul), who ended up on a journey she didn’t want to be on. Only to find her own way. I love the different facets of the story; love, betrayal, sacrifice and more. It made a very entertaining read and I will definitely read the sequel!

This was a very fun read, one in which I couldn’t predict the twists and turns that it would take. It’s a romantasy with a side of courtly intrigue and mystery. It centres around Isabel, who is one of two apprentices to the royal physician in a small realm called The Sanok Isles. Their position off the coast of larger neighbouring empires has led them to be caught in the middle of several conflicts, and now they find themselves embroiled in yet another. Isabel, normally one to keep her head down, suffers a devastating loss, and in her pain decides to take a stand against her perceived enemy (visitors from the neighbouring isle of Volgaard). She agrees to spy on the Volg and see if she can gain information on a potentially all-powerful weapon. Deciding that the best way to try to glean this information is to cozy up to the Volg general’s attractive, illusion-magic wielding son, Erik, she starts spending a lot of time with him. In their forced proximity, the lines between hate and love begin to blur.

I really enjoyed the story as told from Isabel’s perspective. The journey that she takes is very relatable, as she struggles with feelings of inadequacy, of feeling like she isn’t brave enough, isn’t the best at everything. Isabel just wants to be seen, but she feels incredibly insignificant. Despite this, she still perseveres and accomplishes things based on pure determination and hard work. In a way, her past and the mechanisms that she developed for protecting herself from her childhood traumas and to propel herself forward directly translated into a great way to survive when her young adulthood took a tragic turn. This book is on the cusp between YA and NA for me (the main character is 18 and the love interest is 20). I think that for the maximum enjoyment, it’s best to go in expecting more on the YA side. The book contains some steam but low spice. It’s still so so good!

I like this book a lot. It had good characters and a plot that kept developing as you read so there were definitely moments I was surprised or felt emotional with the characters. Closed door spice and some trigger warnings in the self harm department and the importance of mental health and being seen and heard. Loved this aspect. The words “I see you” are so powerful in this book. I look forward to the next book for sure!