Illusions (Laurel #3), by Aprilynne Pike

Illusions by Aprilynne Pike is the third in the Laurel series and you can read my review of the first one, Wings, here and you can read my review of the second one, Spells, here.  Laurel certainly has a lot going on in her life in Illusions.  She's left Avalon to try and return to her human life which she holds loyalty for considering she doesn't even remember her childhood in Avalon.  Her human life is the only real life she's ever known, so she is going to make sure nothing interferes with that.  Her boyfriend from the human world, David, has missed her a lot during her summer away in Avalon and it starts to show in his insecurities.  David is disappointed to find out that Laurel's time away is the least of his concerns, because Tamani shows up at school posing as a Scottish foreign exchange student by the name of Tam.  Tam is eager to resume his post as Laurel's guardian and going to school with her is his first idea.  Of course spending more time with Laurel doesn't hurt either.  This is the first book where the love triangle got me emotionally involved and I can finally say I'm Team Tamani now, so I really liked getting caught up in that.  It wasn't all romance this time around though, because with trolls still looming and even the introduction of a new (supposedly wild) faerie there is a lot to ponder and worry about.  What season is this new faerie?  Is she the most powerful winter kind?  Is she a threat to Laurel or Avalon?  I am still waiting to find out some of these answers myself.  I would recommend Illusions and the whole Laurel series to any fans of paranormal, new takes on faeries, YA romance, love triangles, stories about people leading double lives or supernatural action.

Favorite things:  the romantic journey that finally got me emotionally invested in the love triangle, Laurel and her self-exploration that finally leads her to consider new possibilities, Tamani and his personality in the human world which is more actually more charming, the different directions Laurel is being pulled both by her loves and her two potential futures, Laurel's continued improvement as a mixer and I forget what else I like, because stupid Blogspot deleted this post and my draft ended here...  so annoying.

Criticisms:  the cover was too similar to the Spells cover and I didn't like it as much, a lot of this book seemed to be primarily leading up to the next book instead of being a self-contained story,  the presence of the new faerie was distracting and never seemed to go anywhere and I liked David less and less as the story went on thanks to his insecure behavior.

Overall:  5 out of 5 stars!  I wasn't bothered enough by the negative things to like this book any less!  I love this whole series and I look forward to finding out what happens in the fourth book!