Relationships are ugly, dark—destructive. They aren’t fairy tales. No happily ever after neatly wrapped in a shiny bow or sparkling diamond with a heartfelt engagement. And in their end, love was nothing but a beautiful lie told to hide the ugly truth. This is reality’s illusion.
Reality’s Illusion
By stephiewalls
Loved the book it was great, the story was well written and the characters are interesting. Once I started I could not put the book down from start to finish you just could not get enough left you wanting more twists and turns hot and steamy with emotions that makes you want more.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a sweet, slow burn love story about second chances, and missed opportunities.
This was a great read. The story was very well written with great characters. The story drew me in and I had it finished in one sitting. I would highly recommend this read.
This book absolutely wrecked me. I’ve always been a fan of Stephie’s words, but this story left me speechless. Tragically beautiful.
This a story about grief and everything that surrounds it. With that being said this is no fluff and light read but dark and devastating. It’s just the harsh truth about life and the choices we make and the pain we endure.
Reality’s Illusion left me emotionally drained and with the mother of all book hangovers. This is not a “typical” book by Stephie Walls. The characters are troubled and life isn’t perfect. Sometimes the mind, body, and soul just can’t handle the life they were given. Sera, Bastian, and Nate found their way into my heart. It will be a long time before I forget this book or these characters.
This book…where do I begin? It gripped me from the very beginning and left me with a lot to think about. It’s raw and gritty and ugly, but it’s REAL. Stephie wrote an amazing story and this will be one that stays with me forever.
“This is not a love story, it’s a story about love.” ~ Stephie Walls
If you are looking for a sweet love story with a happy ending, Reality’s Illusion is not the book for you. Although, it is truly a story about love in many forms, the ending will cut straight to your soul. It is a haunting and passionate tale of one man’s struggle to to find meaning in his life after the death of his beloved wife.
Stephie Walls has skillfully written this epic contemporary tragedy with purpose and commitment to truth. Reality’s Illusion is a beautiful creation set in the world of high art. Every detail from the setting to the clothing the characters wear and the art they create is presented to engage the senses of the reader.
The book itself is a dark work of art. Its dark tones are lightened by the friendship, humor, and love displayed between the main character and his best friend. That one relationship is pure gold. It shines, blinding readers with its beauty even in the pitch black of the most intense moments of this haunting story.
Stephie Wall’s depiction of the tortured life of a brilliant artist is one I will not soon forget. It scrapes the deepest parts of my soul with its passion and pain. The exploration of love expressed in so many different forms is fascinating and riveting. Although Reality’s Illusion is quite different from what i have come to expect from this author, it is a good indicator that her career as a writer will be long-lived.
Some authors have the ability to make me read every single book written by them without even reading the blurb or other reviews. And this lady is one of them. Her books have been some of my favorite ones and being a greedy girl I want them all.
Stephie Walls is the author that I’m talking about. Her books have been my downfall, emotionally speaking, because she can make me cry my eyes out or laugh hard. Her words had taken my heart out, crushed it and settled it back together. She has one powerful writing.
Reality’s Illusion is her latest release and explores the lives of Sera and Bastian.
Sera is a sculptor. She loves to get lost in her art. She has endured a lot of pain by the hands of the one who should love her unconditionally.
Bastian is a painter, an artist. He’s in so much pain that no-one can help him. Losing someone you love can bring anyone to his knees. On social media, he found his peace, because when he sees a ghost…
I’m a mess right now. I’m sad, I’m mad, I’m furious. I don’t have words that can explain the way I’m feeling right now.
This book just…How can I talk about this? Because honestly, I’m at a loss of words.
Perfect plot, very well written, super engaging, super dark, super intense and it was a hard reading.
The way this author created these characters and the way she made them talk was so intense, that I felt it inside my bones.
I honestly feel like my heart was ripped from inside my chest, crushed and step on it and then put back inside again.
I don’t know how I’m able to think at the moment because my ideas are all fuzzy and my heart is so heavy inside my chest that I’m having trouble breathing at the moment.
Everyone knows that life is not always rainbows and unicorns.
We all know that life is hard, we have problems but we have to try to solve them, and when we can’t sometimes we just give up and pray for better days.
I had to stop a few times because I couldn’t read anymore. I was crying so hard that I couldn’t see the pages.
What I can say is that this book is not for the faint of heart. This book will gut you and will mend you at the same time.
This author has proven time and time again why she’s one of the best. She knows how to put her heart and soul inside each book and she knows how to make us read more and more.
Her books will crush us, will make us laugh, will make us cry but in the end, you will love every single word written by her.
Stephie… I don’t know if I’m mad at you or if I love you more.
You have created another masterpiece and the people who can’t understand you… Tough luck.
You had told me that this book was going to be heavy but dayum…
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Talk about an emotional rollercoaster ride!! I knew very little about this book when I decided to read it but I’ve read other books by the author and have never been disappointed and this one was no exception. It was tragic and dark and painful…..I couldn’t put it down.
Bastian has to come back to the living. It’s time. He’s grieved long enough when he sees his beloved’s doppelganger on Facebook and decides to friend request her. He really had no idea the journey he’d go on with Sera because of that one simple friend request.
And I didn’t know the journey they’d take me on. Thank God because if I had known beforehand, I probably would have declined to read this powerful, but heartbreaking look at love and loss. Just be sure to have a box or 10 of tissues while reading because you’re going to need them!
The author manages to tell a powerful story that leaves you at a loss for words. It’s a darker look at the harshness of reality as seen through an artist’s suffering. It weaves a tale without happy endings but instead tells a stark truth. There are trigger warnings but this one story you will continue to think about, long after you put down your kindle.
NO Spoilers
I can not stress enough how important it is to enter Bastian’s story a blank canvas
Let the events guide you
The love – the loss
The desperation – the hope
The friendships – the jealousy
Return when you are done
When you’ve had a chance to process the gift you were given
This journey is a steady one. A bit slow in the beginning as we are introduced to the different canvases, given glimpses of the various mediums and finally we bare witness to the creation
“Priceless piece of art”
“Your life”
Emotionally Breathtaking journey of love and loss
This was an unexpected story from Stephie Walls, it’s so different from what I’ve read before and while that’s not a bad thing, it certainly took me by surprise.
This book looks at relationships through a dark and gritty lens. It took Sabastian and Sera’s story and set it on its head.
The characters were complex. They had problems and fears. This isn’t a tale for the faint-hearted. It will strip you bare. I was compelled to keep reading even though there were moments where I wanted to just stop and hide. This is a thoroughly thought-provoking story that will linger in my mind for a long time.
This book is certainly not all hearts and flowers that some books are. This book is a raw, gritty ugly cry about the realities of love. This book is definitely one that is going to stay with me.
What to say after finishing this book. I love reading the words given to us by this author because her stories are real, the paths the characters take are real and very relatable, and sometimes that real is ugly and takes turns we weren’t prepared for and sometimes everything doesn’t end up the way we, as readers, would want. This book is everything for a reader, the heart and soul an author puts into writing these words comes across so vividly in the characters and their story being told. This is not an easy book but then again life is not always easy. Well done!
Reality’s Illusion
Stephie Walls
5 Stars
Wowza!! Phenomenal! It is very deep, raw, emotional, and very powerful story. A story that leave you totally speechless.
“…sculpting is an escape. It’s a place where people can’t reach me— they can’t touch my soul. I live in that world to escape reality. My reality is a self-induced h***.”
“Ironically, happiness was the true chimera—reality’s illusion— it was the one thing we all hoped for, but in fact, is impossible to achieve.”
It is very well written! One click.. you won’t regret it!
Relationships are ugly, dark—destructive.
They aren’t all fairy tales with a happily ever after…. Reality’s Illusion by Stephie Walls is one of those stories.
I can’t even begin to tell you the emotions that poured from my heart when I was reading Reality’s Illusion. This isn’t a story of rainbows and butterflies. It’s dark, raw, gritty, yet tragically beautiful. Stephie Walls captivated me with her words and storyline. A storyline that is tragic with tragic consequences. A story with complex and emotional characters. This story I know will stick with me for years to come.
I’m sitting here after reading the words THE END, and I’m trying to process what I just read. I have read almost all of Stephie Walls’ work and she does take you on a realistic journey with her characters lives. And Reality’s Illusion is no different. I once thought that I had read some of Walls’ best work, that is until this book came into my life. And this was definitely a different kind of story for Walls.
Reality’s Illusion has many different parts to it. There’s having love and then missing that love, and then finding life after the loss. It also brought you to see what others may hide can be their end.
Bastian’s character had me gotten from the start.tje The loss he felt that made him shut down was one that many can relate to. Nate was the life line that kept him semi-going, a true friend in all aspects. And then a little spark of life was ignited in Bastian when Sare was introduced. You can tell that Nate wanted his friend to start living again, and when Bastian started he stayed by his side.
Share was the voice of the Prologue and with her words you could feel the brokenness that was inside. I just knew that her story wasn’t going to be a fairy tale. And then seeing things from Bastian’s eyes I knew I was right.
“As much as her joy brought me light, her pain created darkness.”
You could tell that all Bastian wanted was to be the light in Sare’s life. This was especially so when he discovered little bits of her life. He just didn’t know how deep the damage ran. Even with him showing that he cared, he knew she needed to be the one to see the light.
“You can’t rewrite history, and you can’t write destiny. Her fate was sealed long before she ever meet you. You’re not the author of her story, nor the editor. You were simply a reader. She chose to end the book with no epilogue or cliffhanger. You have to accept that.”
When the end of this book came I saw why there was a little argument with it. But, truly I can see that the ending that was given was the one that the characters said was needed. I can see that Walls had to take herself to a place that was dark, but was human all the same. Not every story is a fairy tale. That’s not what real life is. Life can be dark and light, and all the shades in-between. And this is what Walls was able to capture in Bastian’s stroy. Will this be a story for everyone, no. But, it is one that I know will stay with me for awhile to come.
Wow! Brace yourself! Reality’s Illusion has left me almost speechless! Stephie Walls did a phenomenal job writing this story, it captured me from the beginning and didn’t let me go! It’s raw, gripping, heart crushing, painful, tragic, and a definite tissue warning story. I absolutely recommend you read it for yourself you won’t be disappointed.
Wow. This book is amazing. The writing is beautiful, the story heartbreaking, the subject matter triggering, but amazing all the same.
If I can give you one piece of advice, it’s go in blind. I didn’t read a blurb, review or anything before I went in, and I think that’s the best way.