City of Illusion by Victoria Ying

Summary from Goodreads:

It's been a peaceful three months since Hannah Morgan and Ever Barnes saved their beloved Oskars, and activated the powers of their city's Megantic. Ever now lives with the Morgan family and the two children watch over and learn more about Oskar (the Megantic) every day.

But their conflict-free days come to an abrupt end when Mr. Morgan is captured while on a family trip to nearby Alexios, and the kids get into a spat with a group of street magicians who con Hannah out of her pocket money. Chifa and Tanan were never planning to make friends while performing their tricks, but when Hannah and Ever learn of their connection to Vash, they realize there's much more at stake than a few coins.

If Hannah and Ever want to find out what Vash is hiding and save both Oskars and Alexios before time runs out, they'll have to learn to trust Chifa and Tanan, and most importantly, find a way to work together.

Review:

This was a fun sequel to City of Secrets. But, you definitely need to read the first book for this one to make sense. It didn’t amaze me like book 1 did, but it was still a book I finished in one sitting, and I can see kids loving it and finishing it up just as quickly.

What makes this book (and its predecessor) stand out is the artwork. The art is just stunning. After a couple pages you forget you are reading a book. It’s like you are watching an exceptionally well done anime.  The art did not lose any of its magic here. It still has the same magical effect.

I didn’t learn to love the new kids/characters as much as the originals. But, maybe I wasn’t supposed to. I guess it’s hard to love characters originally working with the bad guy…I feel like this book in large part exists as a way to give the reader more info about the world/cities it all takes place in. We learn more about the machines/robots. We learn about the mythology behind everything. And we learn more about Hannah’s and Ever’s parents’ involvement in things. But, as I’m learning with all kids adventure graphic novels, not enough is learned! I want more.

I loved all the scenes that took place on the farm. It was fun to watch the city kids experience a more rural lifestyle (even though they were visiting another city). And it was interesting getting the same princess/mythology story in so many different ways (through the artwork, the ballet, and the people). It’s clear that the author has a lot of this story mapped out. And I cannot wait to see where everything goes. All in all, I give this one an 8/10.