Illusive Review: Ciere

**DON'T FORGET: The Dark Elements Series Re-Read is starting July 14th, hosted by me and Cody from Literary-ly Obsessed! This is in celebration of the upcoming release of Every Last Breath, so you don't want to miss it! Join us! More information HERE.**

Now for the review.

Years ago, a pandemic broke out.
A vaccine was found.
The world returned to normal.

But there were...side effects.
0.003% of the vaccinated developed something different:
Superpowers.

A choice was given to them:
1. Serve the country.
2. Imprisonment.

I have the powers of illusion.
And I refuse to go to jail or work for the government.
I am a thief.

My name is Ciere Giba.

Book: Illusive
Author: Emily Lloyd-Jones
Series: Illusive
Standing: Book 1
POV: 3rd person, present tense
Genre: YA paranormal, superheros 
Source: Physical copy
Pages: 416
Release: July 15th 2014
Publisher: Little Brown Books

Favourite line: "She can see how everything gulf go horribly wrong, but that rational part of her is tamped down, silenced by the beauty of the fall."

Rating: 4 stars

Blurb: (Goodreads)
The X-Men meets Ocean's Eleven in this edge-of-your-seat sci-fi adventure about a band of "super" criminals.

When the MK virus swept across the planet, a vaccine was created to stop the epidemic, but it came with some unexpected side effects. A small percentage of the population developed superhero-like powers. Seventeen-year-old Ciere Giba has the handy ability to change her appearance at will. She's what's known as an illusionist...She's also a thief.

After a robbery goes awry, Ciere must team up with a group of fellow super-powered criminals on another job that most would consider too reckless. The formula for the vaccine that gave them their abilities was supposedly destroyed years ago. But what if it wasn't?

The lines between good and bad, us and them, and freedom and entrapment are blurred as Ciere and the rest of her crew become embroiled in a deadly race against the government that could cost them their lives.

                          ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭

Paranormal? Nah. More like SUPERHEROS!

I loved this world. Not-so-secret powers that the public knows about? A government, bent on tracking down every last one of these powered people, either to force them to work for them or to throw them in jail? Using powers for high-staked jobs? Yes please!

This book stars Ciere. She's an immune, which is the name given to those who developed superpowers upon vaccination. Ciere has been on her own since a SWAT team came to find her, and after being taken in by another immune with an entire underground network of people, she beings her life as a crook. Well, crook isn't exactly the right term. She's mainly a crook-for-hire, who does a bit of personal stealing on the side.

This story tells of how the formula for the vaccination that gave people superpowers has recently been rediscovered. Ciere, with a band of other immunes, begin a race against two other federal government agencies to get their hands on it. All while trying to dodge mobsters.

The scenarios in this book are brilliantly imagined. When you have a combination of different powers all acting at once, it's a little hard to figure out what's going on, but the author was able to skillfully pull it off. There was tons of action, tons of suspense, and desperation. I mean, who doesn't love a good book where superheros continue to outsmart the government over and over again?

One of the things I really enjoyed about the characters was their sense of loyalty. None of the immune in Ciere's group are directly related, but their bonding is extremely close. They're all the closest that they have to family, and rather than the term "family," they use the term "crew." Kit is the leader and father figure, and looks out for everyone, though he does have his moments. Magnus, who had a fallout with Kit as friends a while ago, has a stable job in the normal world, able to get by without anyone suspecting that he's immune. But when push comes to shove, he's right back with the immune, helping protect everyone. Ciere doesn't want to do anything that will jeopardize her crew, and because of that keeps a few secrets to herself. And Daniel...well, he has a good heart. And it kills him to see...yeah. If you've read this book, you know what I'm talking about.

The POV of the book threw me off a little, as I've never really read anything like this. There's tons of books in 3rd person, but they're all generally in past tense. 3rd person, present tense? That's new to me. A little strange, but it didn't really take away from the overall book.

The sequel, Deceptive, comes out July 14th 2015 (which is in a few days!). Judging from the synopsis alone, I'm thinking it's going to be a pretty awesome read, so I'll definitely be checking it out!