Illusions (Pike novel) facts for kids
 |
|
| Author | Aprilynne Pike |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Mark Tucker |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Wings |
| Genre | Young adult, Fantasy, Romance |
| Publisher | HarperTeen (US) HarperCollins (UK) |
|
Publication date
|
May 3, 2011 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) e-Book Audiobook |
| Pages | 384 |
| ISBN | 0-06-166809-5 |
| Preceded by | Wings Spells |
| Followed by | Destined |
Illusions (also known as Wild) is the third book in the popular Wings series by Aprilynne Pike. This exciting fantasy novel continues the story of Laurel Sewell. Laurel is a special faerie who lives among humans. Her important job is to protect a secret gateway to the magical land of Avalon. This book follows the first two books in the series, Wings and Spells.
Contents
Exploring the Story of Illusions
New Faces and Old Friends
Laurel is starting her final year of high school. She is surprised to see Tamani again after eight months. Tamani is a faerie who guards Laurel. He pretends to be a new student named ‘Tam Collins’ from Scotland. Tamani has been training to live in the human world. He wants to stay close to Laurel because trolls have attacked her many times.
Another faerie guard, Aaron, joins Tamani. They explain that there are signs of trolls, but they haven't found any. This is very strange. Their special tracking magic also isn't working.
A few days later, Klea introduces Yuki, a Japanese exchange student. Laurel immediately knows Yuki is a faerie. Klea says Yuki's foster parents were killed by trolls. She also says Yuki is a ‘dryad’, a type of tree faerie. Tamani is suspicious. He thinks Klea wants Yuki to watch Laurel. They decide to talk to Jamison, a leader in Avalon.
Uncovering Secrets in Avalon
Laurel and Tamani travel to Avalon to meet Jamison. Tamani is worried because Shar, another faerie guard, isn't answering his phone. Tamani sees Shar as a brother. Shar was the one who trained him to be a guard. It turns out Shar is fine; he just doesn't like phones. Faeries often have trouble with touchscreens.
Laurel and Tamani meet Jamison in the Winter Palace. Laurel tells him about Klea and Yuki. Jamison agrees they need to find out what kind of faerie Yuki is. They go to the Academy, a faerie school. A faerie named Katya suggests using a special glowing liquid. Faeries glow when they drink it. Summer faeries glow much brighter and longer.
Shar returns from a trip to Japan. He ignores Laurel when she asks about his trip. Tamani explains that Shar’s mother is an Unseelie faerie. Unseelie faeries were sent away from Avalon.
Friendship and Suspicions
Laurel tries to become friends with Yuki at school, but it doesn't work well. So, Tamani decides to try. He walks Yuki home, and they get along. Tamani notices Yuki has only one dimple. Faeries usually have perfect symmetry.
Later, Tamani gives Laurel a ride to school. Laurel feels annoyed by David, her human friend. She talks to her mother, who says that loving someone is a choice you make every day. Laurel invites Tamani over to help with schoolwork. She realizes she usually tastes plants she works with. Tamani then kisses her. Laurel is confused because she gets information in her mind when he kisses her. Tamani admits he bit his tongue, so she tasted his faerie sap. The information was about making potions from faeries.
Troll Attacks and a School Dance
Tamani becomes good friends with Yuki. He starts wearing fingerless gloves to hide his pollen. Laurel is now blossoming, which means she is growing into her full faerie powers. Tamani and Aaron spot two trolls, the first in months. Tamani defeats one, but the other disappears. Tamani finds it strange that the trolls were unarmed and seemed surprised to see faeries.
David asks Laurel to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Yuki asks Tamani, and Chelsea asks Ryan. The six of them go together. Laurel hopes to become better friends with Yuki at the dance. Laurel and Chelsea also take Yuki out for smoothies. Chelsea tells Laurel that David isn't jealous of Tamani. Instead, Chelsea thinks Laurel is jealous of how everyone, especially Yuki, likes Tamani.
Before the dance, Tamani tells Laurel, David, and Chelsea about the trolls. He says they need to get some of Yuki’s hair or sap to test it. Chelsea asks Tamani about faerie stories, like Camelot. Tamani explains that Queen Guinevere was a faerie. She married King Arthur to create peace between humans and faeries. Lancelot was her fear-gleidhidh, which is like Tamani’s role as Laurel’s protector. David says Arthur and Guinevere might have had a better chance if Lancelot hadn't been there.
Laurel enjoys the dance, but feels uncomfortable when Tamani dances closely with Yuki. She tries to leave early with David, but Tamani stops her. On the way home, a troll is thrown in front of Tamani’s car. He crashes into it, killing the troll. Yuki and Ryan are hurt. Tamani fights off two more trolls. The trolls demand ‘the girl’. Laurel suddenly feels a terrible pain in her head and faints.
At Laurel’s house, Tamani tells Chelsea to take Ryan home and say they hit a deer. Klea arrives, called by Yuki. Tamani notices Yuki seems scared of Klea. After Klea leaves, David points out that Yuki’s cut sap can be used for Laurel’s glowing experiment. In the forest, Aaron and Tamani argue. Aaron is upset that Tamani let the trolls get away. Tamani insists his job is to protect Laurel, so he had to stay with her.
School Drama and Surprising Discoveries
At school, Chelsea tells Laurel that Ryan doesn’t remember much about the dance or the crash. She thinks someone gave him a memory potion. Tamani is angry about everything going wrong. He skips class with Yuki and they go to a park. He asks Yuki to tell him if Klea ever causes trouble. Yuki promises she will. Laurel asks Tamani about Ryan. Tamani says he didn't do it. He also says that if a faerie guard did, they broke the rules. Laurel tells him she doesn't think Yuki is a Summer faerie.
Tamani is talking with Yuki at school when David bumps into him. Tamani sees Laurel looking angry at David. Tamani confronts David and they start to fight. David punches Tamani. Laurel and Chelsea see the fight. Laurel stops them, yelling at both. She then breaks up with David. Upset, Laurel skips her classes and drives to a cabin near the faerie gate. Tamani follows her. She scolds him for fighting David and asks about Yuki. Tamani says that when he danced with Yuki, he pretended Yuki was Laurel. Laurel kisses him, and they go into the cabin. They spend the afternoon talking and kissing.
When Laurel gets home, she tells her mother about the fight. She calls Chelsea, who is shocked about the breakup. Laurel says she doesn't regret it. Chelsea asks if Laurel is dating Tamani. Laurel isn't sure. The next day, Laurel tells Tamani they aren't automatically together. Shar, pretending to be Tamani’s uncle, comes to the school because of the fight. Tamani gets suspended for three days. He has to be tutored by David, who is a straight-A student. During this time, Tamani explains to David that he and Laurel probably wouldn't last anyway. Faeries live much longer than humans. Also, as Laurel’s protector, Tamani has to follow her outside Avalon. David apologizes to Laurel, and they agree to be friends.
Hidden Magic and a Big Reveal
Tamani has been hunting trolls at night. Shar scolds him for not sleeping. They notice two trolls that disappear. Tamani walks towards a drop of blood, but something pushes him away. Shar throws him at it, but Tamani bounces off. Using salt, they uncover a hidden section of woods and a cabin. This area was hidden by a blue powder made by a very powerful Fall faerie. It's much more powerful than a young faerie like Yuki could make. Tamani collects some powder for Laurel to study. He is so tired that he faints when he gets to Laurel’s house.
Laurel invites Tamani to spend Thanksgiving at her house. Tamani gets along well with her parents. He asks Laurel when she will return to Avalon. Laurel admits she is torn. She likes both the Academy in Avalon and the idea of a human university. This is like how she cares for both David and Tamani. Tamani says he doesn't expect her to decide right away. She kisses him. Chelsea arrives and asks Tamani more questions. Laurel continues to try and identify the main ingredient in the blue powder, but she can't figure it out.
Tamani leaves to go to Yuki’s house. He hears her on the phone. She says she has been trying to do something and that ‘the old man’ can do it, but she can't yet. Yuki asks Tamani if she is his girlfriend, then kisses him.
The winter formal dance is coming. The six friends go together again, with David and Laurel as friends. Laurel realizes the main ingredient in the blue powder was a faerie blossom. But it couldn't have been Yuki’s. Tamani realizes that Klea must be a Fall faerie. She has been working with the trolls. At school, Laurel gets another painful headache. She sees Yuki watching her and wonders if Yuki is causing the pain. Chelsea tells Laurel she is breaking up with Ryan. She realized she was only happy with him because David was happy with Laurel. At the dance, Yuki tells Tamani that Klea didn't want her to come, but she insisted. Yuki adds that she is supposed to leave tomorrow and not come back.
Tamani’s phone rings. He steps away to answer it. Shar and the other faerie guards raided the hidden cabin. Tamani is annoyed they did it without him. Shar tells him the cabin was empty, except for two dead trolls. These were the two trolls Aaron and Tamani saw a month earlier. Tamani tries to hang up, but has to take off his glove to use the touchscreen. He tells Laurel and the others about the cabin. Laurel notices he has pollen on his hands. This means Yuki is a Winter faerie. And she has known all along that Laurel and Tamani are faeries.
Tamani tells Laurel to call Shar. Then he asks Yuki to come back to his home, since it’s her last night. She agrees. Shar and the guards, along with David and Chelsea, arrive before Tamani and Yuki. Tamani tricks Yuki into walking into a circle of salt. This is very dangerous magic. It traps her and her power. David ties her to a chair. Chelsea unties a knot at Yuki’s back, revealing a Winter blossom. Tamani silently hopes for help.
Meet the Characters
Laurel
Laurel is a Fall faerie. She was chosen to live in the human world when she was young. This was so she could inherit land that holds a gate to Avalon. She finds it hard to choose between her human life and her faerie life in Avalon. She also has strong feelings for both David and Tamani.
Tamani
Tamani is a Spring faerie. He is the guard in charge of protecting Laurel. They were friends when they were children. Laurel's memory was erased when she was sent to live with humans. Tamani has been in love with her ever since. He pretends to be a new student from Scotland to guard Laurel at school.
David
David is Laurel's human best friend. He later becomes her boyfriend. He was the first person Laurel told when she found out she was a faerie. When he gets into a fight with Tamani at school, Laurel breaks up with him. But they stay good friends.
Chelsea
Chelsea is one of Laurel's best friends. She found out Laurel was a faerie in the book Spells. This happened when trolls kidnapped her. Chelsea has a big crush on David.
Yuki
Yuki is a faerie who is looked after by Klea. At the end of the book, it is revealed that she is a Winter faerie. Winter faeries are the most powerful kind. She knew all along that Laurel and Tamani were also faeries. She has a crush on Tamani.
Klea
Klea is a faerie woman. She pretended to be a human who hunted magical creatures. But she is actually working with the trolls. Yuki is helping her with her plans.
Shar
Shar is another Spring faerie. He is the guard in charge of protecting the gate to Avalon. He pretends to be Tamani's uncle when Tamani is undercover at school. Shar's main loyalty is to his companion, Ariana, and his young faerie, Lenore.
