Illusions of Fire

Unlike most of her classmates, Laila Bansal doesn’t roll out of bed and head to school. Instead, she wakes up early and trains in hand-to-hand combat with her adopted aunts who, when not tending to their thriving vineyard, are immortal Rakshasi demons sworn to protect Laila. Laila was born into a mythological bloodline—one infused with magic and entrusted with Lord Krishna’s secrets of the universe. By all appearances, though, Laila leads a peaceful, protected life. Then Ahvi, the new boy in town, arrives and immediately seeks out Laila. He happens to be a descendant of a demi-god. Both his and Laila’s origin stories (found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Hindu epic poem about the great war between demi-gods, witches, and demons) come crashing to the forefront. Magical powers are activated, dark forces converge, and it looks like Laila’s quiet town in upstate New York might be the setting of the next epic battle. Author Nisha Sharma deftly weaves together romance, magic, and mythology in this contemporary young adult urban fantasy novel.