Review: Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown
373 Pages
Release Date:
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Genre: Historical Fiction/Paranormal/Magic
Level: YA
Rating: 4.5 STARS

Goodreads Summary:
Anna Van Housen helps her medium mother Margeurite do stage shows and seances in 1920s New York. Possibly Houdini's daughter, she can sense feelings and see the future. Frightening visions show her mother in peril. New downstairs neighbor Cole introduces her to a society that studies people with gifts like hers. Sorting truth from illusion yields her destiny.

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown was quite an enjoyable read! I absolutely adored the setting and how perfectly described the 20's were. With the flappers, 20's fashion, and hype it was like you were in that moment experiencing the 20's fun! The dialect also reflected the 20's era and it was so entertaining to read especially the magic shows and illusions done in the book.

While this wasn't really paranormal, the magic and illusions used portrayed the way things actually were during that time. What Born of Illusion didn't go into detail with was the back story of how Sensitives came to be and how their magic worked. I would like to think of this book as more of an intro book that doesn't nosedive right into the series with the main plot of it all. It established all the characters and kinda works its way through with Anna questioning a lot of things in her life. I do hope that Born of Deception goes more into the details of the Society for Psychical Research and get answer on how and why Sensitives can do what they can do.

Anna was an awesome character! She's nice, smart, caring, passionate, and brilliant with entertaining others with her magic tricks. She's also a pretty good sleuth too. I loved the way we see how the relationships around her break and form. She is however a bit clueless with guys and I want to say she's naive but she's kinda not. I guess she could have been too focused on one thing to notice other things.

Her mother in the beginning (and a bit now) was just flat out annoying and didn't seem much like a mother at all. I'm not saying she drastically changes by the end but you do end up having some things cleared away and have some sense of understanding between the two. I actually didn't mind her too much in the middle and end, she was in the peripheral region of the book and didn't get into Anna's way as much. Another character I want to touch up on is Mr. Darby! He has got to be my favorite character in the story. I love his relationship with Anna and their funny and witty conversations. He takes on the role of an uncle/fatehr figure in her life quite quickly and it's pretty awesome seeing their relationship.

Cole is literally the definition of tall, dark, and handsome in my opinion...well at least in the beginning. Just my type... I was pretty wary of his intentions considering how little we knew about him in the beginning and how dodgy he is when Anna asked him questions. It took us quite a bit more time than I thought to actually get information out of him. But he's such a cute character especially when he blushes or get nervous!! *pinches his cheeks* It's so out of character for him but something you just have to coo or squeal at!

I wouldn't say that there's alove triangle..because you know COLE. But there is another guy who takes an interest in Anna. Owen seemed more of a best friend type material anyways. I'm not sure why Anna continued to go out with him after he said something. What I didn't get about this book was that I wasn't sure where Anna and Owen stood or Anna and Cole. Whenever Anna went out with Owen I would always have to question whether it was meant to be a date or not. Their relationships are never outwardly said. By the end Cole's and Anna's relationship has developed more and they are definitely adorable together.

Born of Ilusion met my expectations and I look forward to reading more of Teri Brown's book and can't wait to see what she has in store for us! I highly recommend this book historical fiction, sci-fi, steampunk, and paranormal loving readers! Happy Readings!