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And burst it does, from the first chapter when she meets the charming and handsome Finn, who turns out to be Lord Finley Ackerly, a mysterious noble whom no one knows much about. Jessamin is not a native of Albion, the land where her hideous and boring father is from, and where she has traveled to continue her schooling. She is out of place, a dark skinned girl surrounded by pale complexions. She is brilliant, stubborn, and while easily scared and intimidated at times, she is willing to take risks to achieve her goals.
Finn is a mystery for much of the book. He is certainly dashing and charming, handsome and wealthy, with powerful magic, and powerful feelings for Jessamin.
W If you, like me, dismissed Illusions of Fate because If anything, Jessamin is the liability; the only one in this political game who possesses not a drop of magical blood at all. For a book so short, it was generally very well done. Albion is the oldest known name for Great Britain. I definitely recommend Illusions of Fate to all lovers of paranormal romance — especially to those who have loved books like The Selection and The Elite. Children's Fiction. If you want this story line but with hand drawn, hand painted animation with stunning attention to detail, wonderful voice actors, and a heartwarming love story, go watch Howl's and the rest of the Miyazaki films.
She is the queen of gossip and always has something funny and clever to say. She is underestimated by everyone, which somehow makes her even more likable. Also, Sir Bird, a magic familiar, is a nice animal addition to the cast of characters. He and Finn are not on the best of terms, which is endlessly entertaining.
I really loved Illusions of Fate. I picked it up because the cover is gorgeous, and I ended up wishing it were longer. The director is one of the best story tellers of all time and when I have children, they will be watching Studio Ghibli instead of Disney. I am, of course, talking about Howl's Moving Castle. It's my goal to present this review as a detailed analysis and not a rage filled rant but this honestly makes me so mad.
I can always understand if it is one thing that is similar or the main themes resemble each other but there was a lot in this book that was excessively close to Howl's. But first, let's start with a summary and move on from there. It's a cute idea and it is executed with an appropriate amount of fluff. Jessamin is likable enough and is clever.
She likes to make her own way in the world and stay on the fringes of the society that she loathes. She is dragged into the magical world by Finn and she doesn't really want to be there. Their love story is cute. Finn wants to protect her and Jessamin is not the type to be protected. Her mother was seduced by an Albion man and she doesn't want to suffer the same fate but gets reeled in by his charm.
Link to Interview. This isn't a cross. This isn't a creative new blend. It is taking ideas that have already been fleshed out and explored in not one, but two different mediums and passing them off as your own. Jessamin is an over simplified Sophie. Sophie is a strong young woman who works in her family's hat shop in honor of her father and to support her vapid social climbing mother. She recognizes herself as plain, especially when compared to her flamboyant relatives and is okay with that.
Jessamin works to support herself and her education but she is obviously beautiful and unique and exotic. She's always been pretty and always will be.
Sophie gets turned into an old lady and has to come up with a way to disguise herself. Jessamin gets stalked by a man because he thinks that she is desirable.
Sir Bird is a mix of Turnip Head and Hime. Sure, he protects her from the other birds but he has no personality of his own.
Where Hime is needy, Sir Bird just sits and watches. He can take care of himself and frequently gets forgotten.
Sir Bird is loyal like Turnip Head but, besides being a book, he isn't helpful. Finn as Howl. Once again, we see a watered down version of a fantastic character. Finn dyes his hair blonde, as does Howl, but he does it to make him look charming.
Howl does it because he is intensely and deeply vain and has the most spectacular meltdown in the world when Sophie messes up his hair potions. He is a huge diva. Finn immediately falls in love with Jessamin where Howl has to gradually learn to let someone else into his life and not try to push them away. Howl has to grow to be brave and take action where Finn is already in the process of trying to prevent a war and is all noble and sacrificial from the beginning. He doesn't grow and he doesn't learn.
There's the house that has doors into different worlds where you can travel space without leaving your living room. There's the bird motif even on the cover that is extremely similar to Howl's. This book seriously puts me into a massive rage. I want to throw my computer. I want to scream. I want to tell everybody in the world to not buy this book and just read or watch the original.
These characters have no depth in comparison to the wonderful world of Howl's. Yes, I adore the movie and I'm a bit of a fangirl when it comes down to it but this is ridiculous. This book is not a creative re-imagining of a story set in a different place and time where the characters are presented in new ways. This is not like taking Cinderella and setting it in modern Tokyo. This book is like taking Harry Potter, setting it in the USA and changing the names of the characters.