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.