Why Quinn’s Beginning Is Meant to Be Confusing

One of the most common comments I get about Delusions & Desires is:
“The beginning was confusing.”

And honestly?
Yes.
It was meant to be.
Let me explain — not as a defensive author, but as the mechanic behind the machine.

The Story Starts in Quinn’s Head — Not Her World

Quinn begins the series clinically diagnosed with a second personality who believes in magic.
She has spent her entire life being told:

• you’re wrong

• your senses lie

• your memories can’t be trusted

So when the book opens, you aren’t just watching Quinn’s instability — you’re inside it.
The world feels fractured, sharp-edged, uncertain, because that’s how she experiences it.
To tell her story cleanly and neatly from the start would be a lie.
Her mind isn’t clean.
Her world isn’t neat.

This is psychological POV, not traditional fantasy exposition.

I Don’t Explain Everything at the Beginning… On Purpose

Mechanically, here’s what I wanted:

• No info-dumps

• No tidy worldbuilding primer

• No narrator stepping in to reassure you that you’re safe and everything will make sense soon

Because Quinn doesn’t have that.
She doesn’t know what’s real.
She doesn’t know what’s happening to her.
And she certainly doesn’t have a guidebook to whatever nightmare-magical-future she wakes up in.

You and Quinn learn together.
Or more accurately — she learns, and you try to keep up.

Confusion is Part of Her Character Arc

At the start of the book, Quinn’s internal reality is unstable.
Her external reality is unstable.
Her diagnosis, her memories, her magic — all of it is layered and contradictory.

So when readers say the opening feels disorienting, I want to say:
“Yes. That’s the point.”
You’re not confused because the story is broken.
You’re confused because Quinn is broken.
And the story doesn’t hide that behind polished exposition.

The Magic Isn’t Explained Because Quinn Wouldn’t Explain It

If Quinn doesn’t understand magic, she can’t explain it to you.
If she questions her reality, the prose reflects that.
If she doubts herself, you should feel it too.

It’s immersion through instability — a psychological technique, not a pacing accident.

Clarity Comes With Her Stability

As Quinn becomes more grounded, confident, and magically competent, the narrative becomes clearer.
The world sharpens.
The rules solidify.
The stakes feel more real.

Confusion isn’t the whole experience — it’s the starting condition.
Her arc moves you out of it.

Is this style for everyone? Of course not.

Some readers want a map before the journey.
Quinn doesn’t get one.
And neither do you.

But for readers who love immersion-through-chaos, unreliable reality, and stories where you’re discovering the world through the main character’s unraveling…
It hits exactly the way it’s meant to.