Illusion by Jamie Hope #bookreview

ILLUSION

THE REVELATIONS SERIES

By Jamie A. Hope
When alluring teenager Salem Stone becomes a magnet for assaulting demons and suddenly develops superhuman abilities, family secrets are revealed that will not only endanger his life and the life of his childhood love—but the lives of everyone on earth.

Back Story:
Magnetic teenager Salem Stone dominates the football field, wrestling mat, and hearts of all of the girls at his school. But off the mat he is easy going, especially when it comes to his childhood love, Sarah.

Salem lives a charmed life until he is attacked by demons, leaving him with physical wounds. Salem struggles to keep the repeated assaults a secret, until he confides in his long time best friend Ben, who strangely dismisses the wounds with a logical explanation.

When Salem attempts to outrun the menacing demons, he develops superhuman abilities, leaving him with even more questions. Looking for an escape from the mental and physical torture, he becomes fixated on an irresistible new girl at school, Lily. As Salem focuses his attention on Lily, everything around him devolves into chaos, including his relationship with Sarah.

What he soon finds is the relentless pursuits by demons and his superhuman abilities are triggered by the same source—life threatening family secrets. Just when he thinks his family and friends are not who he thought they were, he discovers he’s not who he thought he was either—and that he is the most hunted teenager on the planet.
And he has just been found.

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My review:
I really liked the premise of this story. It had more of a religious theme than I realized but it didn’t take away from the story itself.

One of the best parts of the book is how well the characters are developed. The kids have great chemistry together but I did find the adults a little forced. Sarah and Salem are childhood sweethearts and their best friend Ben completes their little trio of friends. The three are close knit and not many outside people, except for Sarah’s best friend Brooke and the boys friend Nick occasionally, are allowed in. The normal teenage drama ensues – love triangles, new crushes and parental interference. The problem is, not many of them (the kids) are actually “normal”.

I liked how the author brought religion into the story, like how Hitler was influenced, the economy, but some of the references had me raising my eyebrows a bit. All in all it was a good YA story. I think 13+ will like it. It has romance in it, but nothing that is in your face.

I am curious to see where the author takes the story, it ended in a way that leads me to believe there will be a sequel.

3.5/4 stars from me. I’d give it a solid 4 but it does need a little cleaning up in the editing department but I did enjoy the plot.

About the author:

Jamie Hope grew up in the heart of the automotive industry. Because of her constant hijinks and inability to journey, she created her own world filled with constant adventure where everyone was in trouble except her. As a mother of two, Jamie continues to visit her fictional world where she can vacation from her parental responsibilities and continue her once-upon-a-time hijinks.

Jamie has a B.A. in Business Administration from Michigan State University. She is a contributor for American Thinker, a 2012 top rated online public policy website, a substitute teacher, and an instructor for the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps.

Jamie has been featured in her local news!

Teaching local elementary kids just isn’t quite enough for Jamie Hope. The 37-year old mother and substitute teacher from St. Johns just had her first novel “Illusion” published. It was released February 20 and is a young-adult sci-fi effort aimed at the kids she teaches. – WILX Ch 10

http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/Local-Substitute-Teacher-Pens-Sci-Fi-Novel-246991551.html

She was also featured on 99.1 WFMK, the biggest morning talk show radio program in the State of Michigan, with Michael Patrick Shiels : http://michigansbigshow.blogspot.com/2014/02/thursday-february-27-2014.html