BORN OF ILLUSION by Teri Brown, 2013

The book introduces Anna Van Housen, a young woman living in Jazz Age New York, who may be the illegitimate daughter of the greatest magician who ever lived—Harry Houdini. Anna certainly has his talent. She is an expert illusionist. What no one knows is Anna actually has supernatural gifts. Then a young man discovers Anna’s abilities and introduces her to members of a secret society, who are eager to study her powers and help her learn the truth about herself. (Amazon)

Reviewed by Francesca Matern: college student by day, bookworm by night

I loved this! The summary intrigued me because I am so fascinated by magicians but the book isn't just about magicians. Anna is a wonderful character who is independent and is very intelligent. She has a complicated relationship with her mother because although she loves her, her mother can be quite selfish. And I actually kind of liked that. It made the book stand out more because as much as I love good mother daughter relationships, this made it more interesting. Anna is also a good character because she realizes when she had made a mistake and owns up to it and she isn't whiny.

There is also a great romance with Cole who is a sweet, quiet and loyal guy. Anna also makes a friend who was really funny to me. She was kinda naive but at the same time she was smart and I love her uncle because he is part of the mafia. There is a mystery in the book which makes it even better! If you get a chance to read this book you won't regret it. It will have a sequel so if you love it you can look forward to that.

Market: Young Adult
Language: Mild and they aren't horrible swear words
Sensuality: The worst is kissing
Violence: Mild. Anna gets beaten up in the book a couple of times but nothing horribly gory
Mature themes: illegitimacy is talked about, seances, kidnapping, mafia is talked about, lying