This book started so well. It had a really engaging hook. The author gets the reader really invested in Eliste, her uncle, and Dref. Then I got past the beginning and the middle dragged, and kept dragging. Nothing interesting is actually happening in the Shereen court because Eliste is not interested in it, even when the revolution is happening. When it switches perspective to the revolutionaries, I had a difficult time caring about their plight. It was at this point that I wondered why this book is written as a fantasy because it is not as if the plot needs magic. This could easily have been historical fiction and it would have made more sense. The world building is confusing if you have any context for the French revolution, but maybe I was overthinking it. I ended up skipping 100 pages and it turns out I didn't miss much, when the author finally gets around to reuniting Eliste with Dref. But at that point, I was disinterested in finishing the book. ( )

When I first read this novel, my knowledge of the French Revolution was scant. So, over the years, as I looked inot the French Revolution and The Terror, I have seen just how much Volsky drew from that history. ( )

Illusion is one of my favorite fantasy novels: I read it for the first time when I was fourteen, and I've read it countless times since then. Paula Volsky brings together elements from the American, Russian, and French revolutions, mixes it with a touch of magic, and lets it loose on her heroine, Eliste vo Derrivale. Eliste, a spoiled and naive member of the wealthy upper class, is forced to come to terms with the realities of her nation, its people, and the strengths and desires of her own heart. Poignant, romantic, and suspenseful, Illusion is that rare breed of stand-alone fantasy novel capable of spinning an epic story. ( )

I loved Volsky's The Grand Ellipse, so I had high hopes for this. Unfortunately it just dragged and didn't really get anywhere. I gave it 160 pages, but after 2 or 3 reading sessions that all ended in me wanted to start skimming in hopes of getting on with the story, I gave up. Her writing is beautiful, but in this case, everything just took twice as long as it should. The "French" names were also problematic because I couldn't pronounce most of them and there were way too many of them, so I immediately lost track of who was who.

I would give other books from her a chance, but this one I couldn't finish. ( )

Unfortunately I have to list this book as a DNF. The writing was fine but I just couldn't get myself to pick it up and read it. I expected something with some magic and fantasy: but this book is a retelling of the French Revolution with a couple of parlor tricks thrown in. I really dislike "feel bad' novels full of suffering and social injustice and that's pretty much all I have read so far. The actual non fiction books I have read about the French Revolution were more compelling and interesting than this.

Maybe someday after I have read a couple of inventive, magical flights of literary fantasy I will try it again. ( )