In an era where romantasy inevitably ends up being compared to the ever popular SJM, "Illusion of Stars" stands out with its own unique voice, and what a magical voice it is with its mysterious, misty island vibes. I could feel the sand crunch under my feet, hear the cries of birds, and smell the smoky fire defy the pattering rain.

I usually side eye books that overdo similes and metaphors (what are you trying to hide hm?!) but the writing here is earnest and descriptions made sense with the story. I also appreciated:

-Romance that doesn't smother the plot.
-There is a plot!
-Characters with distinctive personalities (hooray).
-Tropes but executed in ways that are not cringey or overdone.
-Interesting magic system.

Really looking forward to book two!

(arc from netgalley 🤍)

2.25?

this story kept me entertained enough to keep going but have to mention that it does start off quite a bit slow for me.

pros are that the writing style wasn’t bad and i appreciated that the fmc was quite likeable so i didn’t mind being in her head. the mmc was also very interesting and i liked the way the etl romance was setup!

cons are that i wish we had gotten more with the worldbuilding, and i found that there were quite bit of filler scenes here and there as well as some minor spelling mistakes. and my biggest pet peeve of all as a fantasy reader is modern slang… which is unfortunately present in this book :(

overall i think this had potential and was atleast fast and easy to read!

I desperately wanted to like this, but unfortunately it wasn’t for me… 😕

However, I believe this might be one of those “It’s not you, it’s me” moments.
This story is heavily inspired by Scandinavian naming, history and culture. For me, as a Scandinavian, this made everything feel just a little bit less magical. Seeing names that reminded me of my uncle, neighbour, or former teacher made it harder for me to immerse myself in the story.

The writing style was another blocker for me related to this book. The language used often felt quite juvenile and sometimes even cringy, especially in dialogues between characters.
The descriptions and overuse of similes often left me confused rather than engaged. This combination made it challenging for me to connect with the characters and become fully absorbed in the narrative.

Despite these issues, I do believe the plot has such potential. We follow Isabel, an apprentice physician and general hard worker at the royal castle in the newly independent Sanok Islands, located between several powerful nations. One day, she gets the opportunity to spy on one of these neighbouring countries, The Volds, through Erik (second-in-command and somewhat reminiscent of Draco Malfoy) and his men. As she spies and gets to know the enemy, she realises that everything is maybe not as it seems.

Whilst it took me a while to get into this with the slower pacing, I did find it intriguing towards the end. I did find the general vibe, magic system and setting of the book to be both unique and fascinating.

The underlying message that Sarah is trying to convey- You are not nobody, you matter - is so important and something I would’ve loved hearing in my teens, which I think might be the right demographic for this novel overall.
For me personally I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sarah's personal story at the end of the book, as I found it inspiring.
I am grateful to Sarah & Netgalley for the opportunity to have read Sarah's debut novel this early on. I am rooting for you for any future releases!🩵

3.5 stars - fade to black fantasy romance.

Isabel, a physicians apprentice, is sent undercover as a spy when a neighbouring island, looks to use her island as a starting point to wage war on another neighbouring island. Isabel sets to woo the generals son Erik to find out more information on their mysterious weapon but is Erik really as bad as he seems.

Only after finishing the book I realised this is marketed as an adult fantasy and not a YA fantasy. Given the characters ages of 17/18 and the lack of spice I was quite shocked by this and I think it would be better catergorised as a YA.

I loved the windswept island setting of the story and the banter between Isabel and Erik. Isabel is such a fun character but a really bad spy! I loved her revenge on Erik’s men. I also liked the character of broody Erik but felt like he wasn’t written as in depth as Isabel. Possibly due to the story being told from Isabel’s point of view but I think this contributed to the lack of emotion I felt between them and I couldn’t fully root for their romance. Described as steamy slow burn - definitely slow just not enough steam or tension.

I thought the plot was interesting but I found that it got away from itself and tried to include too many side plots. I still don’t think we found out what the mysterious weapon was from the start of the story as it was stated the secondary “weapon” was not it.

Overall I did like the story but felt like it could have been more. Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of the ebook to review.

Isabel is a physician’s apprentice who becomes a spy for country to keep an eye on the Volgaard army that has entered her town. She is tasked to woo the general’s son, Erik. Along the way she must realize what side she’s on and who is the real enemy.

I appreciated the magic in this book. It was original and something I hadn’t read before. Some parts of it did leave me asking questions but I assume the next book will answer that.

This book was a fade-to-black romance but some of it was still a little too spicy and unnecessary for me. I do not plan on reading the second book because of that.

3.75⭐️ rounding up to 4. If you like enemies to lovers, quests, and great banter you will enjoy this book!

This book follows Isy who is an apprentice physician who has been tasked to spy on an enemies camp. I thought the magic system in this was very interesting and hope to see more of it in the next book. I will say the pacing for me was pretty slow. It was a lot of traveling and the action happened mostly towards the end, so I had trouble connecting to the story which is why I gave it 3.75 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I was lucky enough to receive this advanced reader copy and it had me GRIPPED. One of my favorite part of novels is the inner monologue and this fmc had THE BEST. I loved her, i loved the mmc, the plot was phenomenal and the plot twists made my head spin 🙃

I love love love Erik and i’m so excited to see where we go next in book 2 (i can wait i can wait i can wait…)

i am such a romantasy girlie and if you are as well — pick this beauty up on 7/17/24 ♥️

Illusion of stars is a lovely fade-to-black enemies to lovers romantasy following the path of Isabel as she grieves the death of her friend and navigates from physicians assistant to spy in enemy camps.
We journey alongside her as she grows into herself, and learns to trust her instincts rather than what she’s been taught to trust. As she navigates her relationship with the ‘enemy’ Erik and his crew.

It’s a super easy to read fantasy, submersed in a beautiful magic system and easy to follow world building. I read a lot of fantasy and some can take a minute to start to settle without confusion, not so here. It’s complex enough to feel rounded without being so complex that you lose focus to try to remember what is what.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and finished it in a day. I’m already looking forward to the next instalment to find out how Erik plans to fix that cliffhanger!


Thank you to NetGalley, Shadow Forge Publishing and Sarah Marie Page for sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun read. I’m not typically an enemies to lovers fan, but I am for this book. I love a good slow burn and the banter. I’m a sucker for a good romantasy, this book delivered just that. It built up the connection between the two and I couldn’t be happier.

thank you to shadow forge publishing for the ARC!

i think romantasy just isn't my genre, but for those who like it this book is one of the better ones i've read. as someone whose primary emotion is imposter syndrome, i enjoyed the exploration of feeling mediocre and the author's personal note at the end of the story. unfortunately though, the book ended up feeling very surface-level to me - the worldbuilding and characters were quite shallow, and erik and isabel didn't have much chemistry or relationship development. some of the writing quirks
such.
as.
this.
annoyed me a bit as well.

as the other reviews so far show, this could definitely be someone else's favorite new read! sadly, it just wasn't mine.

Enemies to lovers will always win in my book, but unfortunately they may not in this one.

Isabel is a bad ass healthcare worker just trying to keep people alive and healthy when literally everything gets in the way of that. And then there is the Vold Erik who may or may not be the one getting in the way of things, while also trying to keep his men alive and the banter BANTING.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book, and the slow burn romance was perfect to my tastes, there was a ton of action and I felt like over all it had a good pace, a good plot, and a decent enough cliffhanger that I will stick around for the second book just as soon and the Author can bless us with one lol 4/5⭐️

Thank you Sarah Marie Page for your delicious enemies to lovers story, I enjoyed it!!

Big Thank you as well to Shadow Forge Publishing and NetGalley for my ebook copy of “Illusion of Stars”.

I received this advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Intrigued by the titel - was not disapointed! Intersting worldbuilding! Brillant magic system, Action-packed romantasy!
Banter, truopes and great characters! Such a lovely red!

I like the nordic inspired worldsetting and names of the characters (even if Pehr in danish only is known as Per :) ). I was hooked from the beginning!
I was very emontional, in a good way, but also sad. And the way the book focused on grief! Ph my heart, thank you!

Det female maincharater was everyting! And for once I liked that she was'nt miss too perferct. Very enjoyable!
And yes I do need to point out the realationship between Isy and Erik, cause I mean, that is what you want in a romantasy, without the romance being forced!


Also Sarah m. Page helped me find other people reading the book! Thanks for that :D

I have made a post on goodreads and on IG (one_fairy_tale_at_the_time)

If I could give you as many stars as were in the illusion, I would. This book has my heart.

From the very first chapter there was mystery and intrigue, I was hooked and couldn’t pause for a moment. (I think I missed dinner to read this actually!!)
The characters are beautifully written, complex and intriguing.
The world building is immaculate and I felt like I was travelling with the group.
This book had everything and more: royals, great friends, betrayal, magic, slow-burn, enemies to lovers, strong female leads and so much more.

This is the first book I’ve read in a long time where I’ve been unable to guess the twists and turns or how it ends. I have been on the edge of my seat all day, taking joy in every moment.


Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a digital copy.

Miss Page- thank you sincerely for allowing me to explore your world and ideas, your work is incredible. I also greatly appreciated the trigger warning list, despite the fact that they may be seen as ‘mild’, this was really considerate and made me more eager to read! I will be buying a copy to stand proud in my home library, as well as any future works you may write!

I read this book under the category of NA but I think it’s definitely more of a YA story. I believe that’s why I didn’t initially connect with it, because YA isn’t a category I normally read. That being said, I did find the story interesting and I think if I were younger, I would have really loved it.

The story follows an apprentice physician who is tasked with spying on a neighboring country’s army under the guise of guiding them on a tour of her island. The physician is supposed to seduce the general of the army and figure out what they are planning, but of course it isn’t that easy.

The characters are very young-18 and 20ish and they do very much act their age. The story has a ‘first real experience of love’ type of romance, with all the fumbling awkwardness that goes along with two people being inexperienced. The interactions between the two main characters isn’t filled with chemistry, but they did have a connection and it was sweet to watch it slowly unfold. The main characters both suffer a lot and have trauma to work through, and their interactions and flirting-while awkward—helps them both open up and heal.

There are plenty of fun side characters that are written really well, and the magic system is also pretty interesting, though the book is the first in a series and it leaves a lot to be explained. And just be warned, it does end on a huge cliffhanger!

I will say that there were a few things that broke immersion for me:

One was the fact that the characters would often use language or phrases that felt way too modern for the setting. I didn’t expect it to be extremely historically accurate, especially since this is a fantasy book, but it was an aspect that took me out of the story. I also wasn’t really sure what time period or country the fantasy world was supposed to be based on, but I don’t think that’s going to bother most people. Lastly, the main character is supposed to be a physician apprentice but she just knows a few things about herbs and poisons. I suppose that since this book feels more YA, that could be overlooked, but I would have enjoyed her being a bit more believably knowledgeable in medicine. Again, this could also just be because I was struggling to figure out what time period to fit this into, but I work in the medical field and I would have loved a bit more research or at least some well thought out fantasy medical lore.

I also want to say that while this book is a romance as well as a fantasy adventure, there is no on page spice. It’s fade to black and there is only a bit of kissing and mild touching as foreplay.

I want to say thank you to the publisher and author for allowing me to read an early copy of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Shadow Forge Publishing for the ARC

What did I just read? It was amazing! Not only was it a fabulous start to a new romantasy duology, but it was truly immersive. I got so invested in the story and the characters and loved every moment of it. The characters were amazing and the slow burn? Damn, so good. The ending however? Killed me. I need the sequel yesterday

Enemies to lovers ✔️
Slow burn ✔️
Forced proximity ✔️
Banter 🤌🏼

What an emotional ride this book was!! World building was top notch and i fell in love with all the characters. Can't believe I need to wait for a sequel!!
Isy is sent to spy on enemy troops to find out what weapon they are hiding in order to take over her small island. She goes with the General, Erik, who dislikes and distrusts her.. at first. Queue the slow burn and wait for the cliffhanger at the end!

Sarah tells an amazing story and I would highly recommend reading this book!!

This book through me for some loops and I never saw it coming! It was such a joy to read, I couldn't put it down.

Thank you to Shadow Forge Publishing and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

This was definitely a book that got better as it got its footing. I wasn't hooked initially, but once Erik was in the picture then it only went uphill from there. It's definitely a slow burn romance - I loved how Erik knew exactly how she felt and wasn't shy about teasing her. He was a confident man who knew what he was about, which made him all the more attractive.

I kept imagining everyone in this to look very Norse-esque, as the names of countries, magic and people were all very Norse sounding. Despite this, the fanart I saw on the authors page didn't exactly match up - but probably more my problem!

I liked Isabel, though she did have some moments where you just wanted to face palm. She was capable, and a great healer, but her trying to flirt with Erik was hilarious. She also really isn't a good spy, but that's not her strong suit so who can blame her?

The supporting characters were great, and I loved them all. Isabel's friends weren't that great, in my opinion, whereas the Vold's were fantastically fleshed out. I loved Bo and Kaspar, and even Tyr. They were all pretty protective of Isabel by the end.

I really enjoyed this by the end, and I hate the fact I have to wait to find out what happens next! Isable and Erik have such fantastic chemistry with each other, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's next!

Really enjoyed this novel. The writing and setting are beautiful. Loved the illusion magic. The characters are well written, looking forward to book 2.

Title: Illusion of Stars by Sarah Marie Page

Release date: July, 16th, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Stars

"Illusion of Stars" by Sarah Marie Page is a mesmerising and action-packed romantasy that transports readers to a mystical, windswept island where secrets abound, magic weaves through the air, and love defies the odds. Set in a realm that echoes the rugged beauty of the Faroe Islands, infused with enchantment, this debut novel kicks off a duology that's poised to captivate and thrill in equal parts.

Isabel, a skilled royal physician, sees her world shattered when her closest friend is found murdered on the shore, propelling her into a dangerous quest. Uncovering a plot by the neighbouring kingdom of Volgaard, she learns of a weapon with the power to reshape the balance of power. Driven by vengeance, she embarks on a daring mission to infiltrate Volgaard, aiming to seduce Erik Lothgarson, the general's son adept in illusion magic, and seize the weapon that could topple an empire.

This novel is a stunning fusion of intrigue, romance, and adventure. The setting is painted with vivid strokes, drawing readers into a realm where reality and illusion dance perilously close. Page's innovative magic system, woven around the threads of illusion magic and enigmatic magic boxes, imbues the story with a sense of mystery and awe.

At the core of "Illusion of Stars" are its dynamic characters, whose depth and intricacies propel the narrative. The slow-burn romance between Isabel and Erik is a captivating dance of tension and attraction, their journey from adversaries to lovers unfolding with moments of raw vulnerability, witty banter, and poignant heartache, making their connection feel authentic and deeply moving.

The ensemble of supporting characters, including the formidable Queen Signey, enriches the tapestry of the story, their camaraderie and quips offering respite from the mounting tension. The universal themes of feeling invisible, inadequate, or inconsequential strike a chord, making the characters' battles relatable and their victories all the more triumphant.

As the plot races towards its zenith, the suspense reaches a fever pitch, culminating in a cliffhanger that leaves readers yearning for the next chapter. "Illusion of Stars" is a testament to Page's skill in crafting rich worlds, developing complex characters, and weaving compelling narratives.

It's a must-read for enthusiasts of romantasy, offering a heady mix of action, romance, and magic that will leave readers spellbound and eagerly awaiting the sequel, I am for sure!

Thank you to The Publisher Shadow Forge Publishing ,The Author Sarah Marie Page & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.