Cruel Illusions
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
“The perfect sinisterly magical escape…full of longing, desperation, and betrayal.” —Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval trilogy and Once Upon a Broken Heart
Caraval meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this “beguiling” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) young adult fantasy about a girl who makes a deal with a magical secret society to enter a potentially deadly competition for the chance to avenge her mother’s death.
Ever since a vampire murdered her mother, Ava has been determined to get revenge. This all-encompassing drive has given her the fuel she needed to survive foster home after foster home.
But it’s been ten years since anyone’s seen a vampire, and Ava has lost hope that she’ll ever find one…until she stumbles across a hidden magic show where she witnesses impossible illusions. The magicians may not be the bloodsuckers she’s hunting, but Ava is convinced something supernatural is at play, so she sneaks backstage and catches them in acts they can’t explain.
But they’ve been waiting for her.
The magicians reveal they’re part of an ancient secret society with true magic, and Ava has the same power in her blood that they do. If she joins them, they promise to teach her the skills she needs to hunt vampires and avenge her mother. But there’s a catch: if she wants to keep the power they offer, she needs to prove she’s worthy of it. And to do so, she must put on the performance of her life in a sinister and dangerous competition where illusion and reality blur, and the stakes are deadly.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eighteen-year-old, white-cued Ava Perry and her younger brother Parker, California natives, are living in yet another foster home in this ethereal re-imagining of the vampire mythos. In the 10 years since their mother's murder, Ava has strived to protect Parker by keeping the details behind their magician mother's death a secret, namely that she was killed by a vampire and that Ava's been training as a vampire hunter ever since. When she discovers a group of magicians performing magic similar to her mother's—and learns that they are also hunting vampires—she decides to join their troupe. But to prove herself worthy of their resources, she must compete against other potential apprentices in a deadly tournament that puts her and Parker's lives at risk. In this beguiling examination of good, evil, and myriad in-between tones, Fuston (Vampires, Hearts & Other Dead Things) challenges a vengeful teenager's preconceived notions in uncomfortable ways and centers the importance of family—both chosen and otherwise—via a highly introspective narrative and well-developed queer and racially inclusive cast. Ages 14–up.
