Monday, March 17, 2014

Review: Elusion


Summary
Soon, Elusion® will change the world and life as we know it.

A new technology called Elusion is sweeping the country. An app, visor and wristband will virtually transport you to an exotic destination where adventure can be pursued without the complications—or consequences—of real life.

Regan is an Elusion insider. Or at least she used to be. Her father invented the program, and her best friend, Patrick, heir to the tech giant Orexis, is about to release it nationwide. But ever since her father’s unexpected death, Regan can’t bear to Escape, especially since waking up from the dream means crashing back to her grim reality.

Still, when there are rumors of trouble in Elusion—accusations that it’s addictive and dangerous— Regan is determined to defend it. But the critics of Elusion come from surprising sources, including Josh, the handsome skeptic with his own personal stakes. As Regan investigates the claims, she discovers a disturbing web of secrets. She will soon have to choose between love and loyalty…a decision that will affect the lives of millions.

Suspense, thrills, and romance fuel this near-future story about the seductive nature of a perfect virtual world, and how far one girl will go to uncover the truth behind the illusions.



Rating & Review

Oh, Elusion. How fitting that I finished this book today when it is going to be live and on shelves tomorrow for it's big unveiling! SUCH mixed feelings about my rating for Elusion. I don't believe I've ever wavered so much when giving a book a score! Starting out, it was a solid 2.5 or 3 star book but the way that the last 1/4 of the book went, I had to boost it up to a 4 star. 

So here's why I wavered ... the beginning of this book is ... hmm ... I don't want you to think that Elusion isn't good so I'm trying to think of the best way to say this ... wait, I've got it. The beginning of this book is like a stubborn, bull-headed kid who is dragging their feet and refuses to run. You know that this kid has some energy and momentum behind them but they just won't pick up their feet and show you what they've got! It's frustrating (bordering on annoying) but there's nothing that you can do to make this kid pick up the pace. You can't rush it, you just have to wait for it to happen. That's what the beginning was ... I didn't think that it was boring ... just very slow. Very, very slow. To the point where my husband made a comment about how it never takes me this long to read a book. My husband makes it a habit to never bring up what I'm reading or he knows that he's going to "get" to hear all about what I'm reading, going to read or want to read, what characters I love, authors I can't live without and so on and so forth. The speed of my reading must have been very weird for him to take a chance and say something knowing what might be in store for him if he did. 

But (and it's a big ol' booty) ... it picks up. When it picks up, it's not this flash-paper type of situation, it's a slow, smoldering burn that quickly builds up into this raging fire that you just can't escape. So ... okay ... I think I'm all out of weird descriptions (you're welcome) and I'll get on with this dog and pony show. 

Okay ... the meat of the story ... I don't really have any problems with the story except that I wish that there was more background on the society's lifestyle in this book. Why is the Earth trashed? Why is there this smelly rain, why the nasty clouds ... what happened?!? I think that I got distracted with those questions when the characters would do things like put on their oxygen masks. The story really didn't feel like it was totally unbelievable, so maybe the authors thought that they wouldn't bog the novel down with those types of descriptions but I think just one or two paragraphs with some reasoning would be appreciated.

The characters were pretty well written. I did think that a couple of them could do with a little more depth ... I would have loved to hear more about Regan and her best friend's relationship. At times in the beginning I found their friendship to be a little disjointed ... I didn't see as much friend-love between as I had hoped to ... they just didn't seem that close, to be honest. And then Josh ... I would have enjoyed finding out more about him and his past ... the surface of his story was skimmed but it felt almost unfinished. 

Oh. Geez. I almost forgot. There is a lot of computer speak in this. A. Lot. Alotalot. I did skip paragraphs. And skim paragraphs. I think that this info was needed for the most part but it was just boring. 

Now, all of that being said ... this was a pretty good book - one that I'll probably read again. Especially in the ending. Damn, that ending was pretty good. Not what I expected AT ALL. That last page just threw me for a big loop and left me sitting there wondering why I didn't blow through the book to begin with. Elusion isn't listed as the beginning of a series ... but it has to be with how the book ended. So go pick this up as soon as possible so that you can wait for the next one with me!




Find Elusion here:


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