This super-fun novel reminded me of The Phantom of the Opera… not the original book, but the musical. Reading the author’s bio and seeing that she is likely to be “listening to musicals on repeat,” I wonder if it’s an inspiration. A mysterious and sexy man tutors a girl in magic. She runs away to become a star on her own and falls for a younger, nicer guy who is hiding a secret. There is a gorgeous theatre and magical performances and something shady is going on. All the characters are vivid and fleshed out, not just the main ones but also the very large supporting cast. The world-building is so vivid that it’s like being there, in a city of ashes and ice. You can almost feel the velvety theatre curtains, smell the flowers in Kallia’s greenhouse and taste the coffee in the Prima hotel. A word of warning, this is the first volume of a duology so we’re left with a big, huge cliffhanger. I can’t wait for the next book, I really like this story.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/St. Martin's Press!

I don't read many fantasy books, but the description of this book intrigued me. It took me a little bit to get into it (the pacing felt a little off), but it sucked me in after a few chapters. I loved Kaillia and thought she was a great main character and the plot of the competition was interesting. The problem with reading an ARC of a duology is having to wait to find out what happens. I can't wait to read the next book!

Books dealing with magic are usually a hit or miss for me. I'm so glad that this one was a hit !
First, of all, I'm really grateful that I even got to read Where dreams descend at all ! It's the first time one of my wishes has been granted on Netgalley !

Let's start with what caught my attention first : the ambience of the book.
I got drawn to the magical circus atmosphere that can be found throughout the book. You get it in Jack's place (that felt somewhat Moulin Rouge like !), you get it in Glorian, everywhere ! It kind of felt like was around Kallia, Jack, and Demarco, and they were all wrapping me in their magic. That was beautiful.

That being said, I was a little sad that during the magic shows, I didn't get as much magic as I wanted. Sure, there are spectacular acts, but I loved it so much I kept wanting more ! I want fire, ice, over-the-top magicians and gasps in the audience !
Now, it gets a little better, since magic is also happening outside of the stage. The way Jack interacts with Kallia through his magic, the way the Conquering Circus crew did casual magic on some night, and the way Demarco is doing magic made me quite happy ! I'm glad magic was not confined to a show stage.

Regarding the characters : OMG the chemistry is real ! It's real between every single character in that story ! Sure, we got the love sub-plot doing formidably, but everyone is interacting with anyone beautifully ! Kallia and Demarco wasn't even my favorite relationship ! I enjoyed seeing Kallia and Jack interacting, with all their history weighing on them as well as everything new...

As usual for me, I loved the side characters almost more than the main ones ! Aaros is absolutely fabulous as Kallia's friend. He's the friend we all want to have. My only regret is that he was rather a tool character more than an actual living character. He has his own thought on some matters, but most of the time, he's just here whenever Kallia needs him, and then he disappears until the next problem. I just wished he had some more things going on for himself.
Lottie is also a character I truly enjoyed, and I hope to see her more developped in the sequel. She could get REALLY interesting !

If you're looking for a book capable of sweeping you off your feet, search no more, you have found it. Magic, love, drama, secrets, tension : you got it all, and it's wonderful.

Where Dreams Descend put a spell on me and I'm not even mad!

In a world where only men can become stage magicians and women have to stay in the shadows, Kallia has lived a sheltered life in Hellfire House. She loves her magic and she wants to make a name for herself, to control her life.

Kallie joins the magical competition where one magician will become the headliner for the Conquering Circus. A competition that is taking place in the mysterious city of Glorian, that has kept itself from the outside world.

The strongest point to this book were the characters. There is so much complexity to Kallie as she wrestles with her dreams and her past. And the same can be said about Demarco, one of the judges, who is lost amongst the world. However, with a city so against a woman as a performance magician, Kallie shows perseverance and stubbornness to overcome the prejudices thrown at her. And I really adored her, she shone through the pages.

The overall mystery kept me on my toes as the competition went on, the small magical acts had me daydreaming and the ending shattered my heart. I'm left with numerous questions that need answering.

And I always appreciate a character that loves sweets as much as I do (Aaros snatching those bags of candy, CAN RELATE)!

Where Dreams Descend is a dreamy and courageous debut that promises the greatest of performances and advises to not trust anything as it appears to be.

Sigh. Another disappointing read. This book started out with so much promise! I was intrigued by the idea of a setting with a circus and magical elements, but this book fell flat for me. First of all, it was completely over-written. Half of the time the sentences (paragraphs) were so flowery that I got to the end and actually would ask myself "what just happened?" I had to re-read passages over and over to glean some meaning from all the adjectives and adverbs that had been piled on top of each other. This may not be the best example of what I'm trying to describe, but when I read it I laughed out loud because it felt so ridiculous...

<i> "She almost twisted her ankle in her intense yet graceless battle to reach the ground."</i> LOL I'M SORRY WUT? Since when can stepping off a horse be described as an "intense yet graceless battle to reach the ground?" I mean please, I can't be the only one laughing out loud at this, right?!

My other major quip with the book is the "relationship" between Daron/Demarco (pick a name and go with it! Gah!). I mean...talk about NO chemistry. The author tried to create this intense hate-love back and forth heated romance, but it was entirely unconvincing, and they flip-flopped back and forth more than a fish in its last throes of life. If their relationship was a ping-pong match, I would've had whiplash by the end of the game. It was meant to come across (I think??) as a tense and competitive chemistry complicated by each of their secret pasts but it was SO eye-roll worthy, and ultimately boring. It was not a slow burn, it was a fire that continued to be put out and artificially re-ignited.

The last main problem I'll address is the absolutely MIND-BOGGLING lack of care/attention anyone paid to all the disappearing/maimed magicians and circus performers. EVERY SINGLE affected person disappears or is found with a card in their place/next to them with creepy wording on it, and literally NOT ONE PERSON thinks ANYTHING of it until a journalist is called into town??? (Also, why was she brought in? That move made NO sense except to serve as an entirely obvious conduit to revealing more of Daron/Demarco's past). It's like this "giant mystery" except nobody seems to notice or care that all these people are being kidnapped(?)/harmed and clearly all the disappearances/injuries are related because of the cards, yet nobody pays them any mind. It makes absolutely no sense.

I wasn't interested in ANY of the circus characters because they all just blended together as this makeshift glorified marching band for the "all-powerful" Kallia, the main character, which felt like a real shame. Aaros was the best character (or seemed to be, until the end when he basically just served as an errand boy/unquestioning servant boy for Kallia).

I wanted to love this, but I didn't...at all. 2 stars because there's hope for the second book if the author can peel back her writing 2-3 layers so the beauty remains but we can actually figure out what the heck is going on :).

~ Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for this release and sending me an early copy in exchange for an honest review ~

DNF @ 74%

I'm so sad that I didn't love this one. I really, really wanted to. Since I heard the synopsis, I'd been dying to get my hands on a copy, and when I was approved for an ARC I was elated! And then, when it showed up in my OwlCrate in this gorgeous edition, I thought it was meant to be. Clearly, that was not the case.

This book didn't work for me for a lot of reasons, but it wasn't an entirely negative experience. While I realized that the positives weren't enough to get me to want to continue, they should still be recognized.

Pros
- Aaros is a KING and was legitimately the only character I liked and felt like could possibly be a real human being, which is funny considering he's a side character, but oh well
- one of the pros is the "prose" ha! but really, the writing in here when it came to description was solid (the dialogue on the other hand... we'll come back to that)
- the beginning setting of this book was so cool. I loved the greenhouse and the dance studio aspect, the mirrors breaking, and Jack in general. However, Kallia quickly leaves to a new location and set of events, which I found to be... lacking

Cons
- the dialogue. I feel kind of bad saying this, but the dialogue and the way in which characters interact in this book is so cringeworthy it really ruined any hopes of me enjoying most scenes. I could feel the author trying to appeal to a certain audience, and unfortunately I feel like that audience was Wattpad readers (no shade to Wattpad readers, but that's really not the vibe I'm trying to find in the books I read) [the one that literally made me decide to stop reading this book is when a judge suggestively asks what Daron and Kallia had been doing alone together and THIS is what happens in response: "Without a word, he neared Judge Bouquet, calmly and sure-footed, as though he were walking up to shake his hand. The judge barely had enough time to wipe his sneer off before Demarco's fist cracked against the old man's jaw, sending him to the floor." IM SORRY WHAT NOW? Is that not the most random Wattpad-y response you have ever seen?? Also, don't forget the scene just continues like that didn't just happen after that! So fun! So realistic and normal!]
- the pacing is so incredibly slow my god. The plot is very, very simple, which can work in some cases, but here... no. Nothing new started happening in the book until literally ¾ of the way through

And now, drumroll please............

The Worst Offense:
The Infuriating Repetition!

I cannot TELL you how many times I was told that Demarco (aka Daron- why does he have two names??) was struck by his past. Over half of this book is repetitive scenes used to get Demarco to have a negative reaction to magic because of the accident in the past. I got 74% of the way through this book and STILL have never been shown what that is. It's quite hard to literally care at all about his random magic aversion when it's shoved down our throats BUT ONLY THROUGH SHEER TELLING AND LITERALLY ZERO SHOWING. After like the fifth incident of this I no longer had any hope of ever being able to stand him.

The same kind of applies to Kallia sadly... but to a lesser extent. Of course being a female magician in this male dominated field is very hard and unfair and I genuinely like the idea of exploring that in this book. However, the way it was handled here... boy oh boy was it not what I was hoping for. Kallia takes it to an extent of assuming any and all males are constantly intimidated by and/or are attracted to her. There is not one moment where she doesn't think the world revolves around her. I truly do wish I could have resonated with her more, because I get the struggle she would feel in this world, but the way she handles it WOW I could not stand it.

Overall, I'm really disappointed with what happened here. If you want to read this story but without the insufferable nature that I personally found within it, definitely check out Caraval by Stephanie Garber.

I judge a book a lot on... the first chapter. The first chapter of "Where Dreams Descend" takes place in a magical nightclub. A chandelier comes down with a magical, sexy showgirl (the main character). I immediately thought of the opening with the chandelier in "The Phantom of the Opera." The entrance of the showgirl on the chandelier is reminiscent of Nicole Kidman in "Moulin Rouge"...and then I looked the book up again and realized.. oh, so that's what this is.THAT being said, if you like these two comparisons, you will love the introduction of "Where Dreams Descend."

I found the beginning of "Where Dreams Descend" to be slow. The main character, Kallia, is a magician that wants to be taken seriously but is stuck living with the Phantom, ahem, I mean Jack. He teaches her magic and tells her that the world outside the club is awful.

Kallia gets sick of being quarantined and leaves--- and then the book gets interesting. Although this is just the intro and doesn't give away spoilers (and I guess she isn't REALLY quarantined... that's just me pretending to be Kallia haha), it took me quite a bit of time to get through it. The world building was verbose and although it has a "magical" setting, it was also too much wordage at times.
As much as I loved parts of the book, I had a big problem with Jack (the teacher that is comparable to the "Phantom"). He is annoyingly mysterious and can't answer questions in a direct way. It may be that as an adult, I read his adult character and want him to act like an adult... and not a hormonal teenager.

My second issue was with the ending. I understand that there is a book two- but this was a very intense cliffhanger and I feel that is unfair to the readers. As the reader, I have been with Kallia and company for the whole book and deserve a better ending. I know I will tune in for book two, but still- I don't appreciate cliffhangers that define the whole book.

I don't mean for my book review to be too critical- there were parts of the book that were fun to read. There is a beautiful circus and a beautiful (I mean this literally) cast of characters. I can see many people enjoying the sexy, <i>enchanting</i> quality of this book.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an interesting idea and started out well, but could have been better as far as how the story progressed and the interactions of the characters. The book would have done well with more world building and descriptions of places/times. It was a good idea, but the plot became a bit predictable as the novel went on.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC to review.
I feel like I’m on a reading rut after reading this book.
Boring over-done love triangle check.
Only one female character is “special” check
Other women are jealous of the “special magical heroine” check
Cliffhanger check
This book did not grab my attention at all. I happened to receive this book in my June Owlcrate box but I gave it away since I couldn’t stand it at all.

This book was truly amazing! The amount of longing and imagery the author was able to impart was truly astounding of a debut. The Phantom of the Opera and Moulin Rouge vibes were unparalleled.

Thank you so much for the ability to read the ARC of "Where Dreams Descend"!!! I was excited for this book from the moment I heard about it! It is creatively written and will definitely satisfy fans of Phantom of the Opera and Moulin Rouge, especially if you can identify the Easter eggs throughout the book!!! I really enjoyed the characters and their development throughout the book. I am looking forward to re-reading "Where Dreams Descend" when it officially comes out!!!

I was so looking forward to reading this book and was so happy when I was able to get an ARC, but this book fell so flat for me.
First off, the way it started was so confusing. You have no context, no idea what is going on or how it relates to anything. This theme continues throughout the books. You are given no idea how anything works or how it is connected to anything or what it means. You need context! You need the history of the town, you need I formation about why Demarco is in Gloria. You literally don’t get this until 88% of the book and it’s a hard slog without it.
This book had so much promise but delivered on absolutely none of it.

I was given a free eArc of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Can we talk about this book for just a minute? Where Dreams Descend has been one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I have been anxiously awaiting the release. This book is so beautifully written. The story is engaging, the characters are fully fleshed out and the world building.... the world building is so fantastic, I felt like I was transported right into the story. The plot was absolutely intriguing and it sucks you right in and you don't want to put the book down. Highly recommended!!! 5 stars!

I was so excited about this book. I requested it quite a while on Netgalley and looked forward to starting it for a long time. Unforunately I was very disappointed, and I really had to push myself hard to even finish this book. I felt like I was wading through a lake of thick mud and just couldn't make any progress.

First of all the plot moved much too slowly for my liking. There was quite a bit of mystery involved, but it took forever to even lift a tip of the veil. When secrets were revealed later on it was such an anticlimax that I couldn't believe I had waited so long for something so small. Additionally, a lot of it was quite predictable as well.

The characters were not great either. They didn;t evolve throughout the story and they felt very static to me. I wish we would have gotten to know them a little better, so that I could actually feel something for them. I wasn't rooting for any of them.

I know this is the first part in a duology, but unfortunately this is where the story ends for me. I won't be picking up the second book.

Kallia has broken free from Jack and the life of performing at Hellfire House to enter a contest for the Conquering Circus. She almost doesn’t make it, being a female in a male-driven world and competition. Thankfully, Daron Demarco sees something in her. And thus begins the tale which is riddled with disasters from the very start.

When I requested this to review from St. Martin’s, I didn’t know this was a book 1, which was a bit disappointing when I got to the end with no resolution. I’m not a fan of cliffhangers, but I will be anxiously awaiting book 2 because I feel like we had just gotten into some very important things. Also, I’ve been chasing the high of The Night Circus since I read it last year, and it’s not quite. That isn’t to say anything negative about this book, I just don’t feel it’s a fair comparison.

I can’t quite tell if Jack is being a jerk because there’s something we don’t know that spells doom for Kallia, and we haven’t gotten to it because this story isn’t finished. Or if he is being a jerk because he is jealous that Kallia is spending time with someone else. I didn’t love his constant meddling, but if he’s doing it for reasons other than jealousy, then I can see reason. I will have to hold out judgment on him. I adore Aaros as her assistant and friend. I want to see more of him, and I want more in life for him. He understands her perfectly, and I see a lifelong friendship with those two. I love Demarco, and I want to see where things with him can go for Kallia. And I really liked the reporter, Lottie. She could have a book all her own, and I would read it the day it released.

This book is highly character-driven, but mostly with just the main characters, as the other magicians in the competition are just there. We were given Kallia’s performances, and that was it. And while they were magical, and we are supposed to *know* she is the best one here, it would have been fun to “watch” the other performers, even in their giant-flop-glory. I feel that sometimes we had too much fluff, things that seemed repetitive, and didn’t move the story forward. Then other times, we were at a place without really knowing how we got there. There wasn’t a balance.

I think there is promise in the series, and I think as new books are released, the writing will become fine-tuned, and readers will get more out of the series. This was a fun read, I liked that when she was on stage, Kallia was the badass she promised she was. It’s nice seeing a female take stage in this male-driven world where magic can make things happen, and I want more of it.

Having not read Various other books based around a similar theme (The Night Circus and Carnival) I was eager to start reading. This debut author manages to provided characters which draw you in and the detail and world building is captivating . A real page turner ...I am looking forward to seeing what this author produces next .

Where Dreams Descend is a fantasy novel by Janella Angeles that follows Kallia through a new amazing series called Kingdom of Cards. Magic is something that everyone that can uses does for their own personal gain and for the entertainment of those around them. Though in this world woman magician or someone with magical powers aren’t as liked as men. Kallia is the star who is liked by the master and the most liked by the audience. She is able to take all that she is learned and wow the people more than any of the others girls could do. Living and working in the casino that is owned by The Master makes Kallia’s life different than those on the outside. Jack (The Master) is able to control what she knows and make her fear the outside world. Kallia is able to find out about a contest that is taking place in the down next to where she lives but Jack doesn’t want her to leave the casino that he has built. When a big event happens that shakes her world and she decides that enough is enough. Kallia needs too goes out on her own to break the glass ceiling, and shows the men what she can do even if it’s her downfall.

Kallia and the Master seem to have a very interesting relationship that pushes through the entire novel and makes you feel like nothing will ever really be right in the end. Daron coming in seems to throw a wrench into the Masters plans even if Kallia running off wasn’t truly one of them either. Kallia as the main character truly puts a spin on the story because the reader knows just as much as Kallia does sometimes. The proud and going getting behavior that she has along with the patience for her craft truly shows what an amazing human Kallia truly is. The Master was always pulling her strings and that’s why the new Kallia that is pushed out of her shell is a true marvel to watch go through the novel.

I would recommend this amazing novel to anyone that loves a good mystery and love story. I swear you won’t know who to root for or who to trust through most of this novel so don’t trust anyone. Let the cover show you what this novel is really about because the cover really does a good job at that. I would give this a 5 out of 5 stars because of how beautifully it was written and how amazing this story was able to pull me out of the real world.

I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest reviewThis book is dreamy and wonderful and all good things. It's a heady mix of all the best things about Caraval and Phantom of the Opera and it shines just like its star, Kallia.

This book was really fun and entertaining. Where Dreams Descend follows Kallia as she learns to come into her magical gifts and fight for her right to be taken just as seriously as the male magicians around her. What’s not to love about a fun magical competition between magicians with an underlying feeling of dread from some unknown threat. I loved the character of Jack, so dark and interesting while still being complex. I also really loved Daron and I’m hoping to learn more about him and his past in the future books. And sweet bean Aaros and all the amazing ladies of the circus were wonderful to read. Kallia is a great main character and I loved how she was always ready to fight for herself and stand up for herself because she knows she’s powerful and can back up her claims. I think the strong center of this book was the value of friendship and learning to trust other people and not always needing to be alone to survive. I’m very much looking forward to continuing the series.

I absolutely loved this book. It’s a mix between Phantom of the Opera (but the Phantom isn’t at the Opera House he is, er, elsewhere), with a main character straight from Moulin Rouge with something to prove.

If you liked The Crown’s Game, Caraval, or The Night Circus, I feel like you’d love this book. There’s a magic system that doesn’t make complete sense, but you are strangely okay with it. There’s a competition with a bunch of stuck up boys wanting it to remain a boy’s club and our main character singing “anything you can do, I can do better” and walking the walk.

Honestly this book was something I didn’t know I needed. It had great characters, a slow burn romance, strong women and also there’s a lion. Always here for the lion.

My only complaint besides the confusion of the magic system was the other confusion I had with how a relationship formed between a magician and their assistant. It seemed really abrupt the loyalty they had for their magician. Through out the whole book I was just so confused on what the heck happened there. I love both of the characters tho!

Warning : CLIFFHANGER. I need book two!!!!