YA Buddy Readers' Corner ♥ discussion

Downton Abbey meets Cassandra Clare in this lush, romantic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White.

“I did my best to keep you from crossing paths with this world. And I shall do my best to protect you now that you have.”

Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.

Kiersten White captured readers’ hearts with her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy and its effortless mix of magic and real-world teenage humor. She returns to that winning combination of wit, charm, and enchantment in Illusions of Fate, a sparkling and romantic new novel perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, The Madman’s Daughter, and Libba Bray.

Yay! I'm excited to start this :) who else is doing this?

I forgot to do updates as I read! I read this one yesterday. :)

Awwww. Since no one responded I only read the first few chapters and stopped.

How was it? I really liked what I read :) I'm putting it aside though for now and I'm going to read it closer to the pub date.

It was a really good read! It's my favorite Kiersten White book so far (I've read six others). I loved the characters. Jessamin was pretty funny. :D

The cover represents the story so well. It's rich and magical.

Oh gosh, I looove the cover. I saw it on Edelweiss and was like ahh! So pretty. I haven't read anything by her (yet!) I do own Mind Games though, I've just not had time to read it. What other series does she have?

Her other series is the Paranormalcy series:


It features a mix of supernatural creatures and has a very funny heroine. All three books are pretty good!

She also co-wrote , but I'm pretty sure it's a standalone. I wasn't a huge fan of it, but it's half graphic novel and half novel. It was creative.

is another sandalone, but it's the one I haven't read yet. I love that cover, though.

Ooh the Chaos of Stars is on my wishlist! And I remember picking up Paranormalcy from the library one time, but never got to it. Wow I didn't realize she's written so many books, that's really cool. Is Illusions of Fate a stand alone or will it be a series?

I'm not sure...it feels like a standalone, but I wouldn't mind if there was a sequel just so I could have more of the characters and magic.

That's cool

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Restarting April 18th 2015.

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Chapter 2

(view spoiler)[This book seems to be set I historical times because the people talk strangely. I'm guessing an island ray is the equivalent of a country bumpkin but there's also some racial prejudice involved judging by her Alben history class (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 4- (view spoiler)[ I meant island rat - spell check on phone

I'm not quite liking this book so far. Finn seems to know something Jessamine doesn't (and what's with that name) (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 2 - (view spoiler)[ I have a feeling that Finn is somehow connected to Mr. Bird. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 6- (view spoiler)[ I wonder who would invite Jasmine to the party, and who is finn really? The birds involvement is still unclear to me at this point. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 8- (view spoiler)[ I'm starting to find this book quite interesting, and enjoyable. (hide spoiler)]

chapter 14- (view spoiler)[ Finns something between stalkerish and cute.
I also really like jessamine. (hide spoiler)]

chapter 19- (view spoiler)[ I'm starting to like finn quite a lot! (hide spoiler)]

chapter 23-(view spoiler)[ I'm liking this book a lot.
Lord Downpike is a really twisted character. (hide spoiler)]

chapter 25- (view spoiler)[ I'm really liking the relationship between Jessamine and Finn. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 27- (view spoiler)[ Lord downpike killed Mr. Bird!! (hide spoiler)]

chapter 31- (view spoiler)[ this is not good... (hide spoiler)]

@Selma
Are you enjoying this so far? I hope it gets better

Selma wrote: "Chapter 6- [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I'm confused by the birds too. Why are they following her? And who would send the dress to Jessamine and why? Something strange is going on (hide spoiler)]

Christina wrote: "@Selma
Are you enjoying this so far? I hope it gets better"
Yes, I'm enjoying it quite a lot! :)

Chapter 9- things are picking up! (view spoiler)[Who is that nasty man! Poor jessamine lost three fingers!?! There's the mention of Hallin again (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 33 - (view spoiler)[ OMG, Finn is dead, and Kelen is Lord Downpike. I hope there is something we don't know, and Finn isn't really dead. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 34 - (view spoiler)[ Kelen is so sick and twisted. And the part with her memories is just cruel, it's would be torture. I'm so relieved that she burned the book. (hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[ Thank the lords finn is back. Jessamine and him make a good couple, and they are cute together. I actually enjoyed this book quite a lot. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 16 - (view spoiler)[it's interesting how Finns shadow is stuck on Jessamin. It is sort of romantic but not in this situation! Lord downpike sounds horrible. I wonder if he would see through the lies in the letter. Eleanor is a nice ally (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 23 - it got interesting but then I'm still bored

(view spoiler)[Lord Downpike is everywhere and it's scary. I mean Jessamin just came to study and she gets this crazy stalker and is bound to Finn. I don't feel anything for Jessamin and Finn. (hide spoiler)]

End of chapter 27 - (view spoiler)[Poor Sir Bird sacrificed himself for Jessamin :(

Anything about the history of magic fascinates me but then i get back to being bored with Jessamin (hide spoiler)]

End: @Selma

What a twist (view spoiler)[Kelen seemed like such an insignificant character...until that happened. That was pretty mental of him to threaten to burn Melei down.

It was a good Finn survived. For me, I didn't really like the book. Majority of it bored me... (hide spoiler)]