Review: Elusion by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on March 10, 2014 | 11 Comments


Review: Elusion by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl KlamElusion by Cheryl Klam, Claudia Gabel
Published by Katherine Tegen (3.18.2014)
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: eARC, 400 pages
Source: Edelweiss
Buy on Amazon


3 Stars

Soon, Elusion® will change the world and life as we know it.

A new technology called Elusion is sweeping the country. An app, visor and wristband will virtually transport you to an exotic destination where adventure can be pursued without the complications—or consequences—of real life.

Regan is an Elusion insider. Or at least she used to be. Her father invented the program, and her best friend, Patrick, heir to the tech giant Orexis, is about to release it nationwide. But ever since her father’s unexpected death, Regan can’t bear to Escape, especially since waking up from the dream means crashing back to her grim reality.

Still, when there are rumors of trouble in Elusion—accusations that it’s addictive and dangerous— Regan is determined to defend it. But the critics of Elusion come from surprising sources, including Josh, the handsome skeptic with his own personal stakes. As Regan investigates the claims, she discovers a disturbing web of secrets. She will soon have to choose between love and loyalty…a decision that will affect the lives of millions.

My thoughts

While this one didn’t necessarily wow me, I did really love the concept! That was by far my favorite part. I could picture everything clearly, and I thought the world building was spot on. It was so easy to imagine the world in Elusion. This would make a great movie!

I think the characters were the downfall for me in this book. I never really cared much about what was happening to them, and they didn’t feel very realistic. They didn’t inspire any empathy. Regan was just there, and I didn’t care about Josh at all. I felt their relationship developed much too fast. I didn’t care about Regan and Patrick’s relationship because it had already been established. In fact, I pretty much felt nothing throughout the entire book. If it weren’t for the amazing cinematic world, I probably wouldn’t have liked this book much at all.

I did think that the mystery aspect was cool, though! I liked that there was  little bit of a puzzle to solve with the book and the numbers. It kept me interested even when the story was dragging a bit. All the secrecy behind Elusion and the company was intriguing. I also really liked that the science of Elusion was explained, and it all sounded very convincing, and I was fascinated by it. It sounded like something that could actually happen! The snippets of the future world we got really helped to portray why Elusion was necessary – the overpopulation, the Standard 7 cycle (you work 7 am to 7 pm, 7 days a week), and the poor air quality (they had to wear something called an O2 shield). It was very easy to understand why people would practically want to live in Elusion instead of facing reality.

But the ending – WTH? This isn’t listed as a series, but it pretty much stopped in the middle of the story. Nothing was resolved, and there was even a little bit of a cliffhanger in there! I’m curious to see how that ending is going to be solved, so I hope there is a second book!

Overall Assessment

Plot: 4/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Characters: 1/5
World-building: 4.5/5
Pace: 3.5/5
Feels: 1/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 3/5

Jessi (Geo)

Posted in: Book Reviews | Tags: , , ,

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11 responses to “Review: Elusion by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam

  1. Woah to the ending there…that’s weird. Maybe it’s a hopeful series?? I haven’t heard terribly good things about Elusion so far, which really sucks, because I seriously love that cover. It’s the kind of cover that would look awesome on the shelf. Pity the insides don’t match up. :(

  2. Yeah, I haven’t heard wonderful things about this book either, but the premise sounds very original and interesting. It’s too bad about the lack of feels and connection to the characters though. AND abrupt endings are the worst. Idk if I’ll read this or not . . .

  3. I completely agree with you about the ending. Overall I thought the pacing was very strange. We’re given like NO answers, then we finally get to the end and get some. It took forever to even get there, then we still didn’t get the whole package.

  4. I have heard mixed reviews for this one, and I do still want to give it a shot, but I have a feeling I will wait to borrow this from a friend or the library. It certainly doesn’t feel like it will be a favorite that I will want to reread. I can’t stand books where I don’t feel anything for the characters. Even if I hate them, I just want to FEEL something.

  5. With an ending like that, it better be a series! I’ll be reading this one soon and if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s open non-ending ends. I’m very interested in the world-building though, but the characters might become a problem..

  6. I’d seen so many mixed reviews for this one, I was considering removing it from my wishlist. Knowing that it ends so abruptly, I’ll definitely be holding off on doing anything with it, until a sequel is confirmed! Haha

  7. A cliff hanger?! Man! Now I am wondering if I should wait to read this one….
    The cover is GREAT! Thanks for your review, I always love seeing your overall assessment as well!

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