Originally posted at Hooked on Books 
 In the spirit of Dorian Gray, Illuminate by Aimee Agresti is an enchanting and mysterious look into the battle between good and evil in oneself. 
 This book was a lot of fun to read. I found that there was a lot of mystery and intrigue. Although some facts were obvious (Outfit = bad, Haven = good), many other things were more ambiguous and allowed for more than a few surprises along the way. I also loved the action in this book. Some actual butt-kicking takes place and I loved it! What can I say I'm an action movie fan - I like to see the good guys stickin it to the bad guys. 
 As I mentioned at the beginning of my review this book is very much in the spirit of Dorian Gray. I'm a huge Oscar Wilde fan so this was another big plus for me. Haven has a special ability to expose what's in a person's soul (particularly when she takes a photo of them). This skill is unbeknownst to her at first and she takes a series of portraits of the Outfit. What happens to the pictures is quite gruesome and if you've read Dorian Gray the similarities won't be lost on you. 
 Weighing in at 531 pages this is one hefty book. I know a few people have thought it is too long but I was grateful for the amount of detail put into it. Because of its length we get to see more of Haven's training, we get to see more of the inner workings of the Outfit and we get to see more Lance. Seriously, I love this boy. He's sweet, smart, likes to read. At one point he's compared to Clark Kent. Definitely a winner in my books. 
 I had a lot of fun getting lost in this book so if you're a fan of YA paranormal and/or fantasy books I definitely recommend you check this one out.