I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Holy cannoli guys! Where Dreams Descend was so freaking good. It was weird for me not wanting to dive into it yesterday but I totally get why - it started off slow. Yes, I had endless questions being formed because of what was happening.. but I was still bored. It was painstakingly slow but it magically got a lot better.

Ha, get it - magically.

Now I'm not a big fan of any kind of love-shape relationship in books.. unless it's a harem. Yet, this sort of love triangle thing worked for me. Yes, I shipped them all during different moments throughout the book because they were just that good. It isn't my fault that they all had great chemistry during this twisty af mystery. I ate it all up and I demand more.

Ugh, cliffhangers guys. I have so many questions after that freaking ending. The things with the mirrors, the notes, and the endless list of missing people. I also really want to know more about Demarco and his sister Eva. I'm suspicious that his sister is the one with true magic.. and he just kind of took it from her? In a way? I don't know... I'm not making sense after that epilogue.

I just have questions and I really want answers in the next book!

Where Dreams Descend was a light, magical story about a female magician in a "man's" world trying to make her mark on the world. Kallia lives for the stage, the applause, and one night, she runs away from the only place she ever called home to compete in the Magicians competition known as "Spectaular" There she finds friendship, love, and a power deep within herself she never knew existed.
The characters: Kallia - our protagonist, is witty, smart, and not afraid to take a hit. I loved her for her persistence and how she turns challenges into opportunity.
Demarco: a former magician and a potential love interest for our Kallia. He has a secret, his sister disappeared years before in a magic act gone wrong. and he is desperate to find her.
Jack: the master of the club Kallia lived and worked at. His role is the most mysterious and most interesting to me. what is his endgame? Is he trying to help Kallia? Or enslave her? The book keeps you guessing.
Aaros: a street thief that runs into Kallia her first day in the new city, and strikes a bargain with her. He will act as her assistant, and he will reap the same rewards Kallia does. Honestly, he was my favorite character. His devotion to Kallia made me wish that HE was the love interest of the novel. He never fails to step up and defend his friend, he is always there to "catch her when she falls" and always offers words of encouragement when everything seems too overwhelming for Kallia. Truly loved this character.
4 stars because I kind of felt lost during some parts of the book. example: there is a scene that starts off in Kallia's living area in the hotel and the next sentence she was sitting in a restaurant??
I received a fee e-ARC of this book from NetGalley, St. Martians Press, and Janella Angeles in exchange for an honest review

First off, I want to say a HUGE thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me early access to this much anticipated novel in exchange for an honest review.

So. In all honesty, this one is a bit hard for me to review. I want to say right off the bat that I don't want my opinions to discourage readers from what could very well be right up their alley, but for me this just....wasn't.

Starting out, I absolutely LOVED Janella Angeles' prose. She has such a vivid and wonderful way of creating an atmosphere. I also really enjoyed the initial introduction to this new and magical world.

That's about where my love for this ended, unfortunately. I really wanted to enjoy this novel, and I truly tried, but I found myself getting quite annoyed with characters about 20% in. I found certain characters to be unnecessarily whiny, and could not for the life of me figure out what their motivation would be for certain actions.

I find myself constantly flitting from genre to genre, and I think I may just need to lay off the YA for awhile, as I am finding myself more and more unable to relate or enjoy these types of books. I cannot understand the romance dynamics of YA anymore, and I think that is one of the biggest things that turned me off of this.

All in all, I would give this a 2.5/5.

When it comes to fantasy genre, there are so many ways in which the story could bore you out. TO ALL YOU CARAVAL FANS, this book must be your next read.

I loved this book from the very beginning of it. An incredible storyline, that I finished it in one sitting and now eagerly waiting for the sequel. I shall publish a detailed review nearing the publishing date of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this incredible eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A delicious mash-up of Phantom of the opera, Moulin Rouge and Chris Nolan’s Prestige (nope, there are no big twist and twins, just relax and enjoy the magic of the story!)

Semi-love triangle dances with manipulation, secrets, the universe of magicians, dark pasts and intriguing, riveting, high tension story-telling hooks you from the beginning and you cannot get enough because question marks are swimming in your fish-tank head and you ask yourself “Did the book finish? But instead of getting revelations, I got lost in more puzzles!”

Well actually I’m starting the strong parts of the book which I truly like: Its mysterious, eccentric, exotic world building, dark, conniving, and also intriguing pacing, dynamism of trio MCs picked my interest from the beginning.

BUT here are the weakest points that I found: The book circles around three powerful, strong willed, charismatic characters but at some parts I found them so immature, especially the hard boiled heroine turned into arrogant bitch when she competes with the other magicians and we don’t have much clue about characteristics about heroes. (especially Jack) I think the author left the most of their stories and secrets to the other installment and keep us in the dark so we may wonder and continue to read their stories. Well, a little more character building and heart throbbing romance with more hot chemistry (there are already sparks flying around the characters but they need to be ignited more!) work better for me!

Kallia (ferocious, ambitious, skilled magician, orphaned) works as showgirl in a magical club since her childhood. She is rising star (yes, Nicole Kidman’s Satine appears in your head) of show business and she has undeniable attraction with the master of the club, enigmatic Jack (club master always reminds me Tom Ellis’ Lucifer Morningstar. At least when you give his face to the character, you keep giggling when you read his chapters!) who is doing whatever it takes to protect her. But he can be so manipulative and keep so many secrets into himself.

And we’re introduced with Daron Demarco (great name choice) was a successful magician till he stopped performing two years ago. Something earth shattering happened in his life but we have no idea what it is! For fixing the damage and paying his penance, he accepts to be judge of a magical competition named “Spectaculore” ( I don’t know it’s another reference of “Moulin Rouge” because as you may remember, Evan McGregor’s Christian character was play writer and his play he wants to write for Satine was “Spectacular Spectacular”)

And Kallia learns about this magical competition so she wants to participate immediately. But the competition takes place in the nearby town and going there alone is a big challenge for the young woman like her.

As you may imagine she accepts challenge and participates the competition, defeating her rivalries. And of course a sparkling romance and attraction between her and our mysterious judge Daron confuses hell of her.

Overall this is promising, exhilarating, volatile, mysterious, dazzling reading. I cut my points because of not enough layered characterization and lack of clues to capture the story’s direction ( we left in the pitch black forest and we need an urgent flashlight to learn more about the characters’ secrets for justification of their motivations. So 3.5 stars rounded up 4 because of promising, fresh start and SPECTACULAR (once again) world-building!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ Wednesday Books for sharing this intriguing ARC with me in exchange my honest review. I’m looking forward to read the sequel. This is such a great start!

Wow, this book was a wild ride. I was intrigued from the beginning, fascinated by enigmatic Jack and charmed by fiery Kallia. The characters are definitely the strength of Where Dreams Descend, but the pale and icy setting of Glorian worked well juxtaposed against the glitz of the tournament. This book is atmospheric in the extreme.

The pace at the beginning was a bit slow, but the story ramps up over the course of the novel until you are thrown headlong into the conclusion (in a good way!). I will say, I am dying for the next book.

I would absolutely recommend Where Dreams Descend to any lovers of YA fantasy, or fans of stage magicians.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A story filled with intrigue, fire and mystery. Loveable characters, heart racing spectacles with an undercurrent of sadness weaving it's way through.

If I had anything negative to say it would be that at times the story feels that it's dragging, and the time line can seem a little off and confusing. Also, not much is answered at all about any of the mysteries that are laid bare, which whilst makes for intrigue, can be a little frustrating when you reach the last page.

However I loved the depth to the characters, even those who don't feature in the spotlight. Care has been taken with each one of them and that's always something I look for in a story. I really enjoyed the tension between the two main characters, as I'm a sucker for any kind of angst.

Fans of books such as Caraval, The Night Circus and The Folk of the Air trilogy might just enjoy this book.

Ok, listen, I LOVE magicians. I wanted to love this. I could have loved this. But there was so much that was left unexplained, so much that was not explored.

I still don’t understand a lot of the world in which this takes place. I don’t understand the antagonist(s). I know there’s more story in sequels. But I feel like the first story should at least come to some kind of conclusion. Should at least explain what the story actually is.

I think the focus being so heavily on the will-they-won’t-they of two people who didn’t earn the tension, shortchanged a lot of other dynamics. Everyone else just seemed there for the sake of being there, to move little bits of story forward. They could have been interesting.

This is the kind of book that I don’t hate. I don’t think the writing was bad (ok, a little melodramatic and I HATE when characters dance around secrets, not just from other characters but from the reader, just to drag it out). But it’s the kind of book I want to just hold upside down and shake until the story rearranges itself into something that makes more sense. I want the pieces to fall into place.

I usually don’t read sequels for books I rate so low but there’s a part of me that wants to see if the issues I had with this one fix themselves in the second.

Where Dreams Descend is a beautifully written story of magic, love, and secrets. Angeles' writing style is so beautiful that I would have probably enjoyed this book even if the story was dull. Prepare for an amazing female character who's a powerful magician and discover a magical world and one of the most mysterious circuses in literature. The first book hasn't even been published yet and I already can't wait for the next one.
*I received Where Dreams Descend as ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this book from the very start. Finally, a book that has an original storyline!. I have always been a fan of magic and i really loved how the story centers around a magician competition that goes horribly wrong. The main characters were all equally enjoyable. i cant wait for the sequel!

I enjoyed this book although it did move a bit slow at times. The writing was descriptive and evoked a magical, mysterious atmosphere throughout the book. The characters were fairly well developed but not always likable. I know that this is book 1 in a series, but I'm not certain if I would be inclined to read book 2.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I had high expectations for this read, and was so excited to receive it! The start of the story was a little confusing and hard to unravel at first. It took a good chunk, about 25% through to get my stride and really dive in. The changes of point of view were sometimes hard to catch- but I think in the finished product there will be segue marks to help with this. The world building was good, as were the characters but it wasn’t until 50% that I could say I felt for the characters and had emotion tied to them The story got a little over complicated with multiple disappearances and too many “secretive” storylines hidden in mystery. NOTHING was ever solved on any of the mysteries, which now thinking back leaves me very unfulfilled! I think some of the characters “mysteries” should have been discovered. All in all I did enjoy it and give it 4 stars!

Rating: 3.25/5 shattered mirrors

Format: eBook. I’d like to thank NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

What it's like: The style of writing and themes reminded me a lot of Caraval.

To sum up: This story starts with a powerful female magician running from her claustrophobic life in an isolated inn (and to be frank, emotionally abusive caretaker? Mentor? Love interest? I have no idea what to call him still - see ending note) to seek fame and fortune at a nearby town that is hosting a magical competition. To add to this, the town she is running towards has a murky and mysterious past, the forest she has to run through has the ability to warp your perceptions to confuse you, and get you lost, and did I mention the creepy Phantom-of-the-opera-inspired mentor who can also warp her perceptions and is hell-bent on keeping her performing at his Inn? YEA. So we have a mysterious and forbidding mentor, a mysterious forest, a town with a murky/unknown past, and all this before bodies start dropping left and right. It’s a lot to process. While our heroine must traverse the dangerous terrain of the competition, she must also face sexist judges (this book seems to be set in a sexist world in general) who believe a female magician’s place is in doing “home magic” or in a performance arena that is to be enjoyed by men.

What I loved: The author really plants a lot of seeds which all feed into different mysterious aspects of the storytelling which I enjoyed. It made me want to keep reading to find out more about how this world works, who these characters are, and who the evil forces at work are. There are a lot of cool elements at work in this story including mirror magic, some feminist themes (which I wish she took further but that may be planned for in the next book?), illusion magic, memory magic, unreliable narrators, and circus/performance backdrops. I also enjoyed the slow-burn romance (even if it was a little too hot and cold for my taste). I definitely appreciated the character of Kallia. She felt very real and has a way of jumping off the page. She is brave, self-reliant, and has a bold personality I really enjoyed getting to know.

What was meh:
The pace, in the beginning, was a little slow. But once we are in the city where the competition takes place, things start to move much faster. I had a hard time understanding how the magic works, how many people have it, and why the society is built the way it is. There is something not entirely cohesive about it all, but I wasn’t sure what was supposed to remain a mystery and what was just unclarified. Part of this issue is probably due to the narrowed focus of Kallia’s (our young runaway magician) POV; she has up to this point led a sheltered and isolated life so it makes sense that she doesn’t know a lot about the outside world. But even when we get POV shifts to one of the judges, we don’t gain much understanding about how the world, or magic, works.

Overall, the writing style isn’t my favorite. The descriptions, while sometimes were very pretty, tended to be overwritten. I feel like some pruning of the writing, especially with redundant language and cliched phrases, would have resulted in a stronger story. This is also the kind of story with a slow-burn romance that jerks you back and forth between “will they, or won’t they” that got a little tiresome after a while. There are a lot of moments where the two should just TALK to each other and 90% of their problems would be solved, and there is really no convincing reason why they SHOULDN’T just talk to each other. A lot of readers like that kind of drama, but I don’t. Further, when decisions are made between them regarding a relationship, it felt haphazard rather than built up, like the writer realized they were at the page number where something had to happen so she made it happen, rather than it making sense in the flow of the overall story.

This leads me to the next criticism I have, which is about the pace at the end. As I said above, through-out the competition, strange magical things are happening. People are dying, mysterious notes left, fires springing up out of nowhere; it’s as if the city itself were trying to communicate with the magicians but no one can understand what it’s trying to say. There is some underlying secret that everyone has forgotten and I loved that idea and loved trying to figure it out along with the characters. BUT, after all that excellent build-up, for some reason, the author decides to speed up events at the end and it felt completely rushed and confusing. She decides to literally combine two events that have been planned since Kallia arrived for the competition (for absolutely no reason I could understand), and then the book is over and 90% of our questions are left unanswered. I was SO disappointed about this. I am fine with cliffhangers, I love them actually, but only if they actually give you some hints about what might be going on and we did not get enough. All those questions burning in my mind throughout the book? I still have them and now I don’t care.

Overall, since I stayed engaged and interested in this story until the end that typically rates 3 stars. Normally, a great ending would push this up to a 4 or 5, but since the ending was rushed (seriously, did the author realize she was over word count or something?) and didn’t answer any of my questions it remains a 3. The writing style can also push up a rating for me, but this style wasn’t my favorite. I’m giving it a little extra here, because of it’s potential to do something interesting in the next book (especially if it explores further the role of women in the field of magic in their society as a metaphor for women fighting for equal rights for always) but tbh it’s unlikely I will read the sequel, I rarely do for firsts that I rate under 4 stars.

One last important note: I have conflicting feelings about Kallia’s relationship with her “mentor” Jack. To me, Jack is presented as overbearing, aggressive, terrifying in his power both in his magic and his power over Kallia. However, I couldn’t help but notice that the way he is written is also as seductive, charismatic, and Kallia’s only source of support. This complex relationship really hit a nerve in me, it made me uncomfortable and made me think of unhealthy relationships I have experienced or my friends/family have. I could say it was written well because it made me feel these things, but it is also very dangerous because I really don’t want young women idolizing Jack, who I see as a very dangerous and possibly sadistic character. I think Kallia’s relationship towards him changes for the better throughout the book, but I am very nervous about what role he may or may not play in future books.

Who I'd recommend it to: Fans of Caraval and possibly the Lunar chronicles. I really think people who like those series will also enjoy this one. The writing style is similar and for caraval the themes are really similar. I don’t recommend to people who will find controlling male figures (i.e. Phantom of the Opera types which are somewhere between mentor and lover and feel they have ownership over you) triggering, which at times made me feel both angry and terrified in the worst way.

Favorite lines:
*These quotes will be checked against the final version and corrected once the book is released*
“I gave you power,” he said quietly. “A life, a stage.”
“You gave me a cage.” Her breath shook. “And now you want to throw me back in it.”

“Magician or not, we’ve always lived in a series of boy’ clubs we’re not allowed to enter,” the journalist went on. “We’re told we’re simply lucky to be in the room, as long as we stay quiet. Make even a little murmur, and it’s like we’ve disturbed the order of life itself.”
“Trust me, I know,” Kallia said curtly. “Since arriving, I’ve been constantly reminded.”
“That’s because they’re scared. If you can’t stay small in the box they’ve built around you, they will make you feel small until you fit right back in it.”

It was wrong to justify what sort of hurt mattered and what didn’t. Anything that left scars came from hurt. Only now was she realizing the scars she bore and had trained herself not to see.

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3196606078

In a city covered in ice and ruin, a group of magicians face off in a daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the Conquering Circus, only to find themselves under the threat of an unseen danger striking behind the scenes.
The star, Kallia, is entrancing, and a powerful women who doesn’t need anyone, but truly wants friends. She’s confident in her abilities and her personality which makes her an attractive character.
The magician judge, Demarco was less dynamic in my mind. He seemed like a character who would be strong but often was overpowered by Kallia. The master, Jack, on the other hand could have used many more pages so I could truly understand what was going on with him. By the end I was still somewhat lost as to the sinister evil that begins taking out the competitors, but Jack knew.
For most of the book, the plot was perfectly pace, until the last couple chapter, which confused me and lost me somewhat until the epilogue where I figured out partially what happened. Honestly though I’m still in the dark.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an egalley for an honest review. I was intrigued when I read the premise of Where Dreams Descend, but unfortunately, that fascination was short-lived. It took me longer than normal to complete this book and I am hopeful that deft editing can restore this story to its promised glory. In its current state, however, it is agonizingly meandering, overly murky, and at times, comically melodramatic. There are several issues with the novel: overly bloated prose, clunky metaphors, but the greatest blight is the main character, Kallia. I did not like her for a significant portion of the novel. Although Janella Angeles tried to justify Kallia’s insufferable behavior as a form of armor and an appropriate reaction to the misogyny she continually endured, I abhor the practice of equating female empowerment with the diminishment of others. Kallia is impetuous, capricious, brusque, and ego-centric and all of these character sins are supposed to be blithely embraced because they are weapons to combat her perceived gender-based inferiority. Her lack of likability made reading an arduous task through the first half of the novel, but she finally became sympathetic when her vulnerability shone through.

Another issue is the unfolding of the narrative. It is simply too slow, mired in the superficial and devoid of plot evolution. The descriptions are staggeringly lengthy at times and ultimately there is not enough action. One would think with the sheer volume of description that everything is perfectly clear, but this story is firmly ensconced in shadows. Little insight is provided into the characters’ motivations and little depth is achieved. The denouement is rushed, and the cliffhanger is deeply unsatisfying. Ultimately, Where Dreams Descend is a book characterized by breadth instead of depth. Mysterious backstories and tragedies remain hidden, awaiting illumination in subsequent offerings, I suppose. I am not sure if I am invested enough in this story to await the answers to the myriad lingering questions.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I was excited to read something different and this book did not disappoint me.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This story is a fantasy romance following Kallia, an ex-showgirl, as she breaks away from her master and strikes out to become a magician. This story was pitched as a Caraval and Phantom of the Opera type story. I agree with Phantom of the Opera but not with Caraval. The only Caraval comparison could be the contest that takes place. But in my opinion, the contest was vastly different from the "game" in Caraval.

Overall, the story was fine. I think the author did a great job with the angsty romance of the story. Most the time, I like romance as a sub-plot but the author made it work so well in the forefront that I didn't mind it. The magic system was simply put and did not blow me away. I did feel the plot of the story could have been cut down. Nothing happened in the first 60% of the book. Yes, there was contest. Yes, there were murders but they did nothing to move the plot. Not until the last 25% did something FINALLY happen that moved the plot forward. This left me frustrated and bored for the majority of the book. I didn't connect with the characters. I felt they were flat and did not change much from the beginning of the book to the end. I also had a hard time figuring out the relationship between Kallia and Jack.

This was 2.5 stars for me. I didn't enjoy the story and I wouldn't recommend it to other people.

When I first read the description of this book, I was completely enthralled! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, and delve into the pages. Unfortunately I hyped it up a little more than it could deliver, though it wasn’t all lost despite its faults. There was definitely a solid plot in place, that was not my arguments against it. But rather my protests were pointed at the execution, and the characters, particularly the main one. At times I found certain parts mundane and dragging, especially the tiresome and repeated dramatics from the characters, and found that it could’ve stood another round of editing. However, if I were to focus solely on it as just a story, as just a tale being told, I would not say it was completely lacking.

I had to stew over this review for a few days because there was a lot to like about this book, but the lack of characterization of the other magicians and the abundance of unanswered questions about the plot left me feeling apathetic about much of the story. I liked the spunk of the main character, but it was hard to feel fully invested in her successes when I really had no idea of what she was up against. Challenges were implied but could have been fleshed out better. Overall, I LIKED this book, but I did not LOVE it.

*Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.*

DNF @ 21%

Things this book has that I hate:

A protagonist who, for no good reason, thinks she’s incredibly capable and can face any new hardship
A place being described as scary and then being passed through with no consequence
A child thinking himself equal in skill to adults
That child taking offense at being called a “boy” when that’s exactly what he is
People who can’t accept their role in life

Someone who:
would rather be “a fool than nothing”
is overpowered and "special"
hasn’t experienced the fundamental emotion of grief and still thinks they’re ready for the world
can’t admit they’re in over their head
only wants fame and power
thinks being thought of as a slut is good publicity
also dresses as a slut

Feminists
And I’m pretty sure this misused the word “prodigal”

This book is for teenagers and sets the worst example. It needs intense rewriting.