This book was a quick read full of multi-dimensional characters (well, most of them) that I really enjoyed. I liked the way the story unfolded and that the people around Essie weren’t easy to figure out. Oh, and the dialogue. If you follow my reviews, you know that the dialogue can make or break a book for me.

I lept back and swore. “How the hell did you catch up to me?”
The delighted expression in his eyes melted as his shoulders slumped. “Really? Any question in the world you can ask a demon and you ask how I caught up to you?”

“How long are you going to fight this? Because really, I may have an eternity, but your skin’s already starting to wrinkle and thin,” he lamented with an expressionless face.

I’m a big fan of smart-alecs.

Ms. Anders is a great story-teller and my only complaint is the abrupt way the book ended. I’m really looking forward to the sequel.

Content warning: This book does contain demons and some blood and guts. There are also a couple of sexual comments, although there is no actual sex. ( )

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Illumine

When Essallie’s boyfriend invites her to the opening night of his art display, she never expects to witness a murder. Fast forward five months and Essallie is still haunted by her boyfriend’s death. Everywhere she turns Kayden, the demon responsible, shows her grisly images of that night five months ago. To make things worse, Essallie’s starting to discover she might not be human. Essallie’s journey for the truth will involve angels, demons, and powers beyond anything she could have imagined.

Illumine was a rocky road. Essallie was not a likable character. At the start, she seemed to be forced into living among social acolytes. But as the story progresses, readers will learn she carries an attitude well worth being one. She’s quick to anger and does not think over situations. And despite not wanting to act like the popular crowd in New York, when she moves back to her hometown she steps right back into the party girl personality.

One of the main goals for Essallie as a character was to keep the origin of her abilities secret. Yet despite being told to keep her true nature hidden both she and various other characters begin to tell others. Not to mention a spectacular display of her powers right in her front yard. As I read the aforementioned scene I waited for the conflict to arise where a passer-by saw her powers. It would be the perfect moment to create drama and tension, yet it never happened. If the intention was to never keep her ability secret, the plot point shouldn’t have been brought up, to begin with.

What kept me reading was the conflict of interest between Kayden and Essallie. However, as the relationship between them switched from hostile to receptive my confusion grew. Readers will witness scene after scene of Kayden torturing and taunting Essallie. Trust should be gradual and difficult to grow between the characters, if at all. And without proper character development, the trust formed between Kayden and Essallie felt forced.

Illumine by Alivia Anders is a book for those who enjoy the theme of angels vs. demons. It’s fast moving and the writing style does more telling than showing. It’s also more of a novella sitting at 160 pages. The rest of the novel is previews of other books. Unfortunately, this is not a series I will be continuing to read. ( )

Illumine begins with a fateful decision to attend a party. Isn't that always the way? Essallie Hanley witnesses her boyfriend being murdered (quite viciously) by a demon, and her life changes forever. This book goes from humdrum, everyday life to violent death in matter of pages. If she hadn't attended that party, would all of this had happened? Who knows. All Essallie knows is that now she is in the middle of something huge, and it isn't going to be easy.

Let me start by saying that Essallie started out my least favorite character of the book. It's mainly Kayden's fault to be honest. Despite being an evil demon, he's quite debonair! However it was also because Essallie was so stubborn at times that she didn't want to listen to reason. Still, I read on. I'll be honest, she grew on me. By the time that I was midway through the book, both Essallie and Kayden stole the show for me. Their witty banter, their smoldering hidden feelings, all of it meshed beautifully and I was smitten. So just a heads up reader friends, if you don't like Essallie at the beginning, never fear! Her story is well worth your time.

What really drew me into Illumine I started to mention above. It is the quick pace that this story takes on. There is a great mix of action and build up, putting Essallie into all types of situations. I really enjoyed the breadcrumbs that Anders leaves for the reader throughout the book. As Essallie is struggling to figure out what she is, and what her purpose is, so is the reader. Uncovering her background was a lot of fun. My one gripe with the scenes in this book were that they were sometimes slightly choppy between one chapter and the next. I hope for a little smoother transition in the next book.

Honestly, I warred with myself for quite a while on what rating to give Illumine. In the end I decided on the rating above mainly because of the editing. It was tough. The story here is great, despite the chapter hops. The characters are wonderful and, I think, the strongest part of Illumine. As a package, this is a fantastic book! I see great things coming around the bend from Alivia Anders. There were so many mini cliffhangers at the end of this book! I cannot wait for more of Essallie and Kayden.
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I received this book in exchange for a honest review. ~WaAr~

I want to say what a WOW start! It was action from the start and will have you enthralled. I could not put the riveting, fast paced read down! I love love love that about a book! I love the characters. Essie and Kayden are awesome. I like that I was repulsed by him then I started to really like him toward the end! What a ending too! I'm dying to see what is going to happen to them! What will Kayden do? Can Essie stay alive?
I'm not going to give the story away to anyone! I think you should read this if you want an awesome breathe taking read! I give this a 5 star jumping up and down review!!
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AMAZING! A Must Read Series!

I was pleasantly surprised that I really got into this book pretty fast. Read all of this book 1 in one day (I have the 2 in 1 book, but want to separate my reviews) I was not expecting the gore and horror of the first part, gave me a bit of nightmares, but that was really the only really gruesome part. If this was a movie, I would not have been able to watch that part, lol, my imagination was bad enough. I will never get that scene out of my mind of what Kayden did, Yuck. I can’t ever see him as a hot guy, and possible love interest that some do, gross, I just remember the gory part, and what he really looks like. I do not trust him, (he is a demon after all) and really hope as book 2 goes on Essallie does NOT come to care for him, just yuck, is all I can say.

Essallie is not a normal girl, as she soon finds out, she is able to conjure blue fire, and she is not always in control over it. 5 months after the grousom event where the demon Kayden murdered her boyfriend who betrayed her, she has moved back to her home town with her half-brother Jayden, in Belfast, Maine from NY.
Not long after she gets there, Kayden shows up, saying he is there to help her. Essallie and Kayden are on the hunt to find out what she is, I will leave that a mystery for you to find out. She ends up trusting Kayden to an extent, too much in my opinion.

I felt at times like I was in a Harry Potter world, where she is shown the secret hidden world, that is hidden inside a bookstore, that you access with a secret passage, that part all felt very Harry Potter to me, but not in a bad way, it was all its own thing, just similar in ways, that she is kept in the dark, not knowing what she is, and everyone else seems to know something anyway. It was not as believable as HP, as she is not someone who is famous and well known, etc. I still liked it though; the world-building on it was great. Really well written I think. There were times I felt this first book to be rushed, but not really bad, but just a bit. I started the 2nd one, and it doesn’t have that feel.

This whole story really is original in a way, yes we have the supernaturals like many of this type, but the story itself is really good, and original, at least to me. Sometimes I got the feel that just about everyone she knew turned out to be a supernatural.

I really liked her brother Jayson, I feel he is a great brother, and hope he will play a bigger role in books to come.

I really liked Leo, and was blown away and so sad at one part near the end, won’t say what. I just liked him a lot.

And well, so far, I have a feeling I will really like Ari, we shall see as the story continues into book 2.

I do highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys paranormal books, not much for romance in this first book, but maybe in the next. There is adventure and excitement, and plenty of mystery.
5 out of 5 for me. A Great fun, fast read.

Check out my blog for more on this series, the book tour post has extras to read, and a giveaway. Michelle's Paranormal Vault of Books
http://concisebookreviewsbymichelle.blogspot.com ( )