Name: Megan During's review of Illusionarium by Heather Dixon
Item: Illusionarium
Rating: 3
Author: Megan During

Heather Dixon

What if the world holds more dangers—and more wonders—than we have ever known? And what if there is more than one world? From Heather Dixon, author of the acclaimed Entwined, comes a brilliantly conceived adventure that sweeps us from the inner workings of our souls to the far reaches of our imaginations. Jonathan is perfectly ordinary. But then—as every good adventure begins—the king swoops into port, and Jonathan and his father are enlisted to find the cure to a deadly plague. Jonathan discovers that he's a prodigy at working with a new chemical called fantillium, which creates shared hallucinations—or illusions. And just like that, Jonathan is knocked off his path. Through richly developed parallel worlds, vivid action, a healthy dose of humor, and gorgeous writing, Heather Dixon spins a story that calls to mind The Night Circus and Pixar movies, but is wholly its own.

Illusionarium

Callisone Dozier

Megan During

This book was ok. While the premise was different and unique, and she did a pretty good job describing each of the characters the world building was at times confusing and I found myself re-reading passages to try and understand what exactly was going on.

Mary Horton

Have I fully expressed how much I love this book? GOOD GRIEF, I LOVE IT SO MUCH. <3333 If at all possible, it was even better upon rereading it. SERIOUSLY. I think I love it even more than I did before.

First of all, the writing style. Oh my stars, Heather Dixon's writing blows. me. away. She has such a unique, quirky writing voice that sticks out to me every time I read her books. Just the way she describes things is really intriguing, and I looooove the footnotes at the bottom that add to the description/inner thoughts of the main character. (There's so much snark. I love snark.)

Then we have the characters. THE CHARACTERS, PEOPLE. What's so special about them, you ask? Why, they're only some of the greatest characters in existence, that's all. 

You have:

+ Jonathan (or Johnny, as Lockwood calls him XD), who is the main character and thus makes all the epic, snarky commentary. He's great.

+ Lockwood, the full-of-himself lieutenant who seems to make it his personal goal to kill Jonathan. XD As if he weren't deadly enough with a gun, he's also loaded with lethal wit. AND GOSH, I LOVE HIM. He makes me crack up basically the entire time I'm reading the book.

+ Anna, whom I actually really liked. She's so spunky and headstrong yet also soft around the edges. I don't like her as much as Jonathan and Lockwood (but how could I when they're so amazing?), but she's still a great character. 

Plus, the world building/plot is incredible in this book. I'm just sitting here shellshocked once again at the brilliance. I've NEVER read a book like Illusionarium, and I doubt I ever will. It's just so unique, honestly.

In short? This book is my happy place. It's definitely not for everyone (what with the odd/creepy things happening in it), but it's most certainly for me. I LOVE IT DEARLY. And I desperately need Heather Dixon to write more books. Please???

Chelsea Hunter

Illusionarium starts off a little slow, and didn't really get my full attention until roughly Chapter Five, when it definitely started to get more interesting. I loved the whole concept and creativity of the story.

The characters were also amazing. Johnathon wasn't my favorite character, but that was mostly due to the fact that I didn't really understand him at times. I loved Lockwood, even though you don't really get to see much of him, but I loved the snark and attitude he gave off, although I felt he could have been a lot less aggressive (but then that wouldn't be Lockwood). Anna was definitely my favorite character from this book because of her stubborn determination.

I highly recommend this book.

Renee Delcourt

I really loved Heather Dixon's other books and was so excited to read Illusionarium. I have unfortunately tried to push my self to read the book even though I really just wasn't getting into the story. This has such a great concept but I think it just wasn't a book for me in the end. That being said I think it was well written and extremely unique and this is sure to be a wonderful read for many other readers out there.

Callisone Dozier &
Illusionarium by Heather Dixon

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Callisone Dozier &Illusionarium by Heather Dixon

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Callisone Dozier &
Illusionarium by Heather Dixon