A review by nytephoenyx
Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones

adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

It’s been nearly four years since I read an Emily Lloyd-Jones book and I didn’t realize how much I missed her style.  I feel like more people know about Lloyd-Jones after The Bone Houses (or at least – Instagram would make me think so), but her previous books are really good too.  I read The Hearts We Sold in 2017 and surprised myself by loving it.  Her debut, Illusive, has been on my TBR ever since. Just as good, though less unique of a story.

Illusive comes at the right time – it’s a “powered individual” story.  Superhero-adjacent, but not superheroes.  Whenever supernatural powers come into play, there’s always a trigger.  In Illusive, it’s a side-effect from a vaccine mass-produced with limited oversight due to the crippling effects of an ongoing world-wide pandemic.  So +10pts. to Lloyd-Jones for predicting COVID back in 2014, and also… I’m waiting for the power of illusion to kick in from my Moderna vaccine yes please.  Because of the timing when I read this book, the setting feels very relevant and vaguely dystopian and I really enjoyed it.  Even without COVD – this type of superpower story is up my alley.  I’m always intrigued by the scientifically-caused superpowers (it’s one of the reasons I like Captain America: The First Avengerso much).  So yes, while we’ve had a heaping mountain of superpower stories in the last few years, they never kicked off in literature, and Illusive is pretty good.  And frankly?  It feels more realistic than most other superhero original stories.

The characters I could take or leave.  They’re interesting in the moment, but not particularly memorable.  If anything, I want to know more about Magnus and Kit, who were supporting characters but clearly have an interesting history but as I understand it, there’s no further backstory available on them.  There were a lot of moments in Illusive that feel like setup for something more and there is a sequel.  I have faith in Lloyd-Jones that a lot of these moments and interactions are setups, because I’ve seen her weave complicated plots before.

Her writing is also immersive.  There’s not a lot of flowery language, and the flashbacks are extremely limited.  I’d sit down just to read a quick chapter or two, and get wrapped up in the story and steady pacing and end up reading a hundred pages or more.  It’s wildly satisfying to sit down and devour a book instead of pushing myself through.

All in all, I’m positively intrigued by the world and the story and will certainly be back for Deceptive.  I appreciate the realistic spin on a superpower story and the way Lloyd-Jones always manages to weave in serious themes in a respectful way.  Illusive further cemented her as an insta-buy author for me.
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