Review of Illuminate by Sarah Addison-Fox

I can’t leave an official, starred review of this book because I helped in its publication, but I LOVED this story and wanted to share about it. It’s gritty, it’s imaginative, its symbolic (so so so symbolic), its sexy, its exciting…it has everything a good fantasy romance should have.

I specifically appreciated how the author contrasted light and dark, good and evil, love and lust in this book. The symbolism is breathtakingly beautiful and really resonated, without seeming preachy at any point. The story world sucked me right in, from the first chapter, and the characters were very well done too. I even loved the minor characters.

There are moments in this story that will grip you with sadness, that are times when you’ll shake your head and laugh, there are times when you’ll lean closer and read faster because you absolutely must know what happens next, there are times when you’ll swoon over the romance…

This is a must read, both in Christian and secular circles.

So read it.

Content: I rate this story PG-13 for one slightly un-nice name calling, romance and battle sequences. There is some sexual content in this story (no on-screen sex, just heavy smooching): the kissy-kissy it is handled tastefully and serves an important function in the moral of the story.