Review: Broken Illusions - Ellie James

Broken Illusions by Ellie James, published by Quercus on 3rd January 2013

Goodreads synopsis:
It’s Mardi Gras, but for 16 year-old psychic Trinity Monsour this is no time for celebration. Another girl is missing. Haunted by visions she doesn’t understand—of an empty street lined by crumbling old buildings, a terrified voice warning her to be careful, and a body lying motionless in the grass—Trinity embarks upon a dark odyssey she could never have imagined. She'll stop at nothing to better understand her abilities, convinced that doing so is the only way she can make sure the terrifying images she sees never actually happen.

But it seems everyone wants to stop her. Her aunt is worried Trinity might discover secrets best left in the past. Her best friend, Victoria, is afraid Trinity is slipping away, her boyfriend, Chase, fears she’s taking too many chances, and the lead detective will barely let her out of his sight. Only one person stands by her side, and in doing so, he slips deeper and deeper into her heart—and her dreams—blurring the lines of reality and illusion.

When the dust settles, one of them will be dead.

Review:
'Broken Illusions' is the second book in Ellie James's series about teenage psychic Trinity Monsour.  Trinity is still trying to come to terms with the events which unfolded in 'Shattered Dreams' when another girl goes missing from New Orleans.

Trinity has visions and dreams of the past and the future.  A lot of the story focuses on the way she tries to make sense of the flashes and the things she sees, not only to save an innocent girl but also to save herself.  She is determined to find out more about her own abilities, but threatens her relationship with Chase in the process.  Hovering on the sidelines is the elusive Dylan who I can't wait to find out more about.  There are some definite sparks between him and Trinity whenever they are together.

The plot is quite complex and I'll admit that in the middle of the book I nearly got lost a couple of times and had to go back and re-read a couple of chapters.  You really need to read this one without any distractions around you.  I still enjoyed trying to solve the mystery at the heart of the story though as well as puzzling out what was happening at the same time as Trinity.      

This was a real thrill ride of a story.  And the ending...wow!  I never saw it coming and still can't believe what happened.  I think Ellie James is incredibly brave to make the decision she did which totally threw me.  It was unexpected and surprising and completely shocking.  It will be interesting to see how this affects Trinity in the future, as it is quite a pivotal moment in the series.     

Next in the series is 'Fragile Darkness', which I'm very excited about, as I'm sure there's a lot more fireworks still to come.