The worldbuilding was fantastic. It definitely gave off The Night Circus and Caraval vibes and I loved the spectacle of that. Margie Fuston creates a lush, breathtaking, fantastical world where magic is alive and it is impossible to distinguish between illusion and reality. When I seen said book described as Caraval meets Buffy I was over the moon. Buffy is something I have loved for a long, long time now and I also have fallen in love with Stephanie Garbers Caraval series since reading it as well. Cruel Illusions is a magical, fast paced standalone fantasy that features vampires, magicians and an excellent cast of characters. From the get go we meet our protagonist, Ava, an orphan who wants revenge against the vampire who killed her mother. I really loved Ava and thought she was an extremely strong and well developed character. Here we have Ava, who had been moved about foster home to foster home (with her brother Parker) since the death of their parents, who were stage Magicians. Parker seems to have found his place in their newest home but Ava isn't sure where, or if, she fits in there too. Their magic is really good, but Ava knows it’s not REAL magic because REAL magic doesn’t exist. It’s a publicly known fact in this universe that vampires exist, but magic? That just wouldn’t make sense.

Cruel Illusions by Margie Fuston | Waterstones

Between these competitions is where character growth is. Where we get the twists and betrayals. Where the love triangle grows, and I’m sure it’s a serviceable love triangle. My love-hating teenage self would have hated it with the all the power of a thousand suns, and my older self, that can like romances, appreciated that it had thematic relevance while also hating it with the passion of a thousand suns. She takes out a pair of dark-wash jeans, loose and baggy. I only wear them that way or tight and stretchy enough to feel like skin—both work for running in a pinch. She glances at my face and takes my silence as confirmation that they’re okay. Ever since a vampire murdered her mother, Ava has been determined to get revenge. This all-encompassing drive has given her the fuel she needed to survive foster home after foster home. No.” She looks at the door, probably wishing she hadn’t come in here at all. “No. I just thought that starting college in the fall would be easier on you with some new clothes.” I must say though, I feel like the troupe could have been more fully fleshed out. It seemed like they only wanted Ava so that their family wouldn't be split up and I would have loved to have seen more moral conflict of them actually liking her over just needing her and using her. Also, I felt like we were led to like Xander less from the start, so it wasn't hard to predict where it was going.

Table of Contents

Cycle of Revenge: The first vampire Numerius killed Lucius' sister after he first became a vampire. Lucius responded to this by killing Numerius' sister. The two have now spent centuries as archfoes trying to hurt each other more and more. It's escalated to the point that their organizations (Lucius' Society of Magicians and Numerius's vampires) are now in constant conflict with each other. I consider curling up in my annoyingly lavender bed and distracting myself by watching Criss Angel pull a quarter from his bleeding arm for the millionth time: a personal favorite. But I crave the familiarity of the night air on my skin—one of the only constant things in my life. It always calms me down.

Cruel Illusions | Margie Fuston | 9781399711364 | NetGalley Cruel Illusions | Margie Fuston | 9781399711364 | NetGalley

Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Roman is a vampire, but doesn't prey on humans like others of his kind. He only takes blood that he buys from willing hosts and also hunts both vampires who hurt people and other magicians who are using their powers to abuse others. Taken in as their apprentice, and beguiled by the young man Xander, she agrees to join them at the competition of magicians that year and hopefully earn a chance to become an immortal, another young man with his own apprentice tries to warn her off the idea, but she disregards his warning, knowing that by following this troupe, she’ll have a chance to learn more about her mother and get revenge against the vampires who killed her. Ava?” My name in her mouth is always a question that she doesn’t know how to ask and I can’t answer.

Review

The side characters weren’t for me at all. Usually my favourite characters are side characters, but here?? I don’t think I had a favourite character. Aristelle?? Why 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 I care about her again?? Taken in as their apprentice, and beguiled by the young man Xander, she agrees to join them at the competition of magicians that year and hopes to earn the chance to become part of the trope to learn more about her mother and take revenge on the vampires who killed her. Also someone slits Ethan’s throat so that his BLOOD gets all over Ava and she gets an Epic Power Up. It’s super gnarly.