Name: aly's review of Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles
Item: Where Dreams Descend
Rating: 4
Author: aly

Janella Angeles

"Vibrant imagery, jaw-dropping set pieces, sizzling romantic tension, and unstoppable heroine Kallia bring this ambitious debut novel to spectacular life. Fans of Caraval and The Night Circus will be delighted!" - Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn 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. As each act becomes more and more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them next. The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide Where Dreams Descend is the startling and romantic first book in Janella Angeles’ debut Kingdom of Cards fantasy duology where magic is both celebrated and feared, and no heart is left unscathed. "[A] spellbinding melody of a book, and the true magic is how Angeles puts all the best parts of an enrapturing theatrical performance onto paper and ink. From the gripping twists in the first pages all the way to the final, heartbreaking crescendo, Where Dreams Descend will surge you to your feet in a standing ovation.” – Sara Raasch, New York Times bestselling author of the Snow Like Ashes trilogy

A Novel

Where Dreams Descend

june

4.5 ☆

prolly one of my best 2021 reads!

Mahalia Lockhart 

** spoiler alert **
           The book was very interesting. I enjoyed getting to know the characters like Kallia, Demarco, Canary, Aaros and so many more. A part of me wishes that Mari, Sanja and Mistress Vernon were real because I would have loved to know their stories and their actual relationship with Kallia, but other than that it was a good read and I can't wait for more content from the author.

Gillian Rose

Full of magic and mystery, I adored this book. Loved the Moulin Rouge vibes as well as the eerie Phantom of the Opera elements. Kallia, Daron, and Aaros are great (though I could have used more Aaros!) and I cannot wait to see how the story ends!

Shawna Delellis

An incredible story about magic, empowerment, love and friendship. I couldn’t put it down.

Emily B

2.0-2.5 STARS FOR WHAT I READ:

This was not that bad, honestly. I might even pick it back up one day and give it another try. However, there were more cons than pros, and not even the mystery of the city of Glorian could keep me invested enough to finish it.

Let's start with the good parts, shall we?

Jack: I found his character to be the most interesting and mysterious, which makes sense, as I believe he's supposed to be based off of the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera. He was manipulative and yet he could show vulnerability, and his dynamic with Kallia was the most intriguing. I felt that their relationship was the most fleshed out in the book, and I felt Jack to be the most fleshed out character despite what little time we spent with him.

Kallia's Vulnerable side: This was usually shown as a part of the character's inner thoughts. When it was brought up, I felt the author did a good job of showing how the experiences of manipulation and lies can cause a person trauma. Kallia was afraid to let people in because she was betrayed by the person she cared for most. I felt that when she explored those feelings of fear, yet wanting to reach out, she made Kallia into a much more grounded and relatable character. I just wish it was shown more.

The Mystery: This was the sole reason I kept reading this book for so long. The atmosphere surrounding the city and its secrets do a good job of sweeping you in. It does just enough to keep you guessing, and gives you just enough bread crumbs to string you along. It was great!

Now for the bad stuff...

Demarco: I.....literally have no idea what his character is supposed to be. All I got from him was "I am broody" and "traumatic past that no one seems to want to elaborate on at all." He is supposed to be the main love interest and I feel his character is far too thin. I don't even have anymore to say about him, and that's the real shame isn't it?

The Rest of Kallia's Character: So, this was a surprise for me. I tend to like the arrogant ones to a point, especially if they're women. Celaena from ToG is one of my all time favorite characters. But the difference between Celaena and Kallia is that Celaena at least knew when to turn off the arrogance. There were a lot of characters that she dropped the arrogance around and allowed herself to become close to, to show her human side to. Kallia... is arrogant about 98% of the time. I get it, she doesn't want to let anyone in. But there are scenes where she is arrogant for no reason, when someone (usually Demarco) is just trying to be nice, and the book makes it pretty clear that this is just who Kallia is. It is not because of her past trauma, she just thinks she is superior to EVERYONE in EVERY WAY. Even when she is apologizing she is arrogant. Now, I didn't finish the book, so I cannot say whether or not she had substantial character growth in this area. But I was nearly halfway through, and I saw absolutely no change whatsoever. That's just disappointing. 

Kallia and Demarco's Relationship: Oh boy, the big one. I am all for an enemies-to-lovers, hate-to-love sort of romance. It's literally my favorite romantic trope. But the hate has to be believable. These two just seemed to start hating each other for no reason. And they got into petty arguments ALL THE TIME. I can only think of one argument that actually had worth to the story, and by that point, they had argued at least 10 times. This is supposed to be the main romance, and the healthy relationship for Kallia to use to recover from her past toxic one. But she had way more chemistry with Jack (who, for very obvious reasons, if you've read the book, should not be the one to get the girl) than she did with Demarco. It just was not working, and I wasn't invested in this relationship at all.

I can go on about more, but I think I covered the main points I felt strongly about. This book, in my opinion, was not bad for a debut. The beginning was very strong, and I was excited to keep coming back to this book for a little while. But by the time I got to the middle, there were just some glaring bits I couldn't keep ignoring. This was not the book for me, but don't let that turn you off from it. Just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean you won't. As for me, I am going to start reading some other books I've been excited for. Its time.

marilynn

Nicole Dykeman

Thank you SO much to Macmillan for the advanced copy of this book!!!!!! I’m in love with it!!!!!!

Is there anything this book DOESN’T have? Because it has all of my favorite things. Magic competition. Mentor/mentee relationship dynamic. A badass lady lead. The circus. Mysteriously attractive villains. Steamy romance scenes that melted my heart into a puddle on the floor. 

Kallia is a crafty, ambitious leading lady who won’t let anyone or anything stand in her way. Daron is a beautiful, soft, broody boy and I love him very much. Jack is an incredibly cool character as well. I also loved all of the side characters—if I have one complaint about this book, it’s that I wish Aaros and the circus performers got more attention and development. I really want to see more of them in the next book!! 

 I can easily see this being one of my favorites of the entire year, and it’s only March—I absolutely devoured it and I already kind of want to reread it. Now don’t mind me, I’m gonna go cry over the fact that I have to wait for the sequel.

Megan Lowe

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.

Aditi

Livia

Wow, I'm just speechless, truly speechless. Going into this, I wasn't expecting much except for a fun magical circus story. Oh boy, how wrong am I to underestimate this book. This is probably one of my favorite reads this year. Wait no, this is definitely my top 5 reads of 2021.

RTC because I cannot articulate my feelings at this moment but just know I'm in love with everything in this book, it's practically my dream.

gisela🪷

if i could give this book 2.5 stars i would it took me way to long to read it and it was honestly just pretty boring until around act 4 and that’s around 400 or so pages in out of 440 some that’s is way to long to not have anything interesting happen in a book

jenn kause

NOT ME FINDING OUT IT HAS A CLIFF HANGER AND THE BOOK ISNT OUT TILL OCTOBER 😭😭

Aundreya Rich

“Strange how applause was just noise, when you were all alone.” 

YA'LL..... I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.

Why weren't more people talking about it?!

A beautiful magician caged away finally finds where she belongs, in a cut throw competition in a land she dreamed of, where she will finally show she is an elite magician, one worth competing among men.

If you love the chaos and world building of Caraval, The mystery and time period of Stalking Jack the Ripper, the magic hidden in the night from a Night Circus, and a gorgeous and fierce dame in beautiful dress and talent like Moulin Rouge, than this book is for you.

Although it is young adult, the writing is a bit more mature in terms of pacing and rhythm of the story. It never felt forced, rushed or immature. 

After 24 hours I can say this one will stay with me forever.

Come one, come all to the Spectaculor and see what these magicians have up their sleeves, what the villain is hiding in the dark, and hear all the gossip about a forbidden love that's blossoming when the lights are off.

Will you make the cut?

Read if you like:
- games and competitions
-villians in suits to die for
-magicians, some born with magic, some acquired
-female empowerment in a world of men
-a love story that makes you giddy from the beginning
-mystery, are you a sleuth??
-epic world building, colorful gowns, and shows you feel like you are seeing in the flesh

Rating:
Story: 4.5 (docked a half star for a little bit of confusion on the back story)
Characters-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
steam- there is alot of fire in this story, but the romance is just getting warmed up

Song: Therefore I am by Billie Eilish

Ende Duerr

this book had the most beautiful writing. i did get into a slump w it ab halfway through but i’m glad i kept going! rly enjoyed this one esp the ending and the cliffhanger

Lila Harrison

4.5/5 Stars
I've never been one for circus/carnival fantasy books, but Where Dreams Descend was absolutely outstanding! And after that ending I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for the sequel!

Micol Scalabrino

Circus and magic. Just these words should make everyone want to read this book. 

We follow Kallia trying to find her place in the circus world, using her magic to get through everything. She thinks she has been betrayed by her friend and master, Jack, so she escapes. She ends up in Glorian, where she decides to take part in a competition for magicians, which consists of three trials to determine the best magician. She gets the help of a thief, met right before entering the competition, who becomes her assistant an meets Demarco, another fellow magician. There are a lot of characters, at the beginning was even a bit difficult to remember everyone, but everyone has its own part and I found it really cool, nobody was put there just for show. 

Through the entire book we get to know the main characters, their past and what brought them in the city. The one thing I appreciated the most was the social complaint made by the author about women’s position in the society, still seen as weak and under the men. I struggled a bit with the style and the world building, I think it was confusing and not really giving what I expected to the story. 

Final vote: 3,25/5

Sophia De La Garza

So, let’s just say, I was expecting to love this book and while I enjoyed it, something was missing.

I enjoy the romance, the atmosphere, and the ending. But I think what I wanted was more plot. Sure we have a female magician wanting to make a name for herself but I wanted more suspense from what was happening on the side lines. The ending was good because we finally got the build up and somewhat climatic ending. 

I will be continuing on to book 2 but yeah something was a bit off with the plot for me. Overall, 3.75-4 stars 🤷‍♀️

Aleena Korell

On its own, this is a solid 4 star read for me. A dark, circus-y tale full of mystery and magic (my kryptonite), featuring a powerful, confident leading lady and some shadowy, equally powerful dudes full of all sorts of secrets. And a wily thief thrown in for good measure :) Good fun, all of it! The biggest con for me, however, was the length-- it felt quite long and slow in the middle, and not in a dreamy, night-circus way. The other con is just a trope I don't like-- people pushing each other away for no actual, rational reason except to seemingly nudge the plot along. 

The last thing that bothered me is sort of spoilery. But the worldbuilding felt a bit off-- revealed later to be for Plot Reasons-- however, I do think (view spoiler)[ the world felt very flat and could have used some fleshing out, even though we're in the viewpoint of someone who has been sheltered, and in a city with forgotten history. (hide spoiler)] Curious to see how this is handled in book two.

However, as a Phantom reimagining (which this is confirmed to be, sort of?).... I'd probably give this 5 stars. I've read a few Phantom retellings, and they all have fallen depressingly short of portraying the nuances of the Phantom character's emotions and motivations. And/or they utilize quotes or parallel phrases from the book or musical to create some very cheesy, jarring moments. AND/OR they make the Phantom character simply a Sad Boy with none of the twisted worldview that is inherent to the character.

I feel like, so far (as this ends on a relatively large cliff-hanger), these things are handled very well. There are many extremely subtle homages and references that knowledgeable Phantom fans will pick up on-- and it doesn't bog down the story or make things predictable, which I love.

I'm not sure how I'll feel about (view spoiler)[the implied love triangle? (hide spoiler)] in the next book-- right now I don't feel like I have enough information to choose a camp. And while this doesn't pander to my dreamy side with its relatively basic (but solid and non-distracting) prose, I think this is a strong debut. Looking forward to more!

Jennifer

A diverse and magical read with a dazzling worldbuilding, Where Dreams Descend is amongst one of the many Circus themed books that I want to get around reading. As I've said earlier, I'm always down for some Circus aesthetics: I find the mysterious vibes in these books rather intriguing as it gives me a lot of food for thoughts on human psychology and things beneath the surface / face value. Where Dreams Descend has such elements that I love in Circus books and it was overall a pretty enjoyable read.

What enchanted me:

+ Worldbuilding & Magic system. This is probably the best asset of Where Dreams Descend. The fantasy setting is well fleshed out and so it was a relatively immersive experience to me. Like the world feels believable when I was taking my time letting the visual elements sinking in. Similarly the magic system is pretty creative and intriguing. Would look forward to see how this unfolds in the sequel! 

+ The writing style. I love the way Janella Angeles described the world and the magic. It's dazzling and enchanting all the same. I think it made the Circus magic come alive!

+ The diversity of characters. Where Dreams Descend features a cast of exciting and distinctive characters in the Conquering Circus shows. I think the main stars of the circus foil each other pretty well and their voices are quite distinctive.

Quotes I love:

"A good trick amzes, leaves everything breathless in that moment. But a great trick truly deceives, keeps the audience wondering what happened, long after the performance." - this quote sets the tone of the novel of the fact the surface value is often very deceiving. Also created a mysterious vibe in the worldbulding.

"Right on cue, light burst high into the sky. It crackled and sparked before exploding into spiral of colours." -vivid quotes like the are breaktaking that it brings the magic system alive through visual descriptions

"The best flowers are the ones just about to bloom. They are untapped potential. A possibility about to become." - I love this flower metaphor and it's a very poetic way to convey the unchartered capabilities & possibilities for changes.

What could be better:

- I wasn't completely sold into the multiple POV's at first as I found it repetitive, but as the story unfolds I think this dual POV made more sense. Like I was able to understand the main characters' headspace and their inner struggles as they navigate through the treacherous relationships.

- I personally think the pacing in the middle portion of the novel could be slightly faster. At the moment, it kind of dragged on so the magic and intrigue that were there at the start kind of faded away. The pacing did however pick back up towards the end.

- While I liked the worldbuilding and the diversity, I think Kallia's character development could be a tad better. I think a big chunk of the chapters from her POV was spent in fleshing out the worldbuilding (which is also quite nice) but if there were more consistent character arc throughout I think her actions in the novel would be better justified. 

Nevertheless, this is a pretty interesting & diverse Circus book. I look forward to reading the sequel. Hopefully I'll learn more about the characters now that Where Dreams Descend had established a solid worldbuilding and magic system. 

N.B. This book contains a small amount of following content triggers: accidents, blackmailing, and loss of loved ones

(3.5 stars out of 5)

Sophie Collins

This book completely took me by surprise and blew past every one of my expectations. I'm a sucker for retellings, and this phantom of the opera retelling is amazing! One of my new favourite books of the year, and probably of all time. I cannot recommend this book enough. The romance was just as captivating as the mystery. The cast of characters are beautifully written, from the most minor name to the leading individuals. I was also pleasantly surprised by the multiple perspectives, especially Jack's perspective. It added an extra element of mystery. I can't wait for the sequel, and honestly, I don't know how I'll wait until October.

Caitlyn DeRouin

You can read my full review here: https://teatimelit.com/?p=280

When a book is described as a mixture between Phantom of the Opera, Moulin Rouge, and The Night Circus, you’re going to expect the writing to be magical, the situations fantastical, and lots and lots of drama. This book absolutely delivers on all accounts. The inspiration from all three stories is clearly there throughout the book. The dynamic between Kallia, Jack and Demarco has many similarities to that of Christine, the Phantom and Raoul. Kallia’s magnetic stage presence that draws everyone to her when she’s performing is similar to Satine’s. The magical elements and the Conquering Circus draw me in the same way that Le Cirque des Rêves does. While Where Dreams Descend has similar elements to all three of it’s inspirations, this book is entirely it’s own.

From the very first page, you’re drawn into this world of magic and mystery. The writing is incredibly atmospheric. I love books where the writing makes me feel like I’m with the characters, and this one was just that! I felt like I was experiencing everything with Kallia as opposed to observing it through her eyes. It’s easy to picture her descending from the ceiling on a glittering chandelier. I felt like I was in her greenhouse surrounded by flowers (and honestly I wish I was, that greenhouse sounds beautiful and I would like to go there). I could imagine walking the run-down streets of Glorian. I find it incredibly important in books with magical elements that the writing be descriptive enough for the reader to clearly imagine what is happening but not so obviously that it becomes boring, and I think that Angeles hits the nail on the head here with clear and descriptive writing while still upholding an air of mystery.

Candyce Kirk

Jessica Williamson

2.75

This book was not for me. There is definitely an audience for this book. People who like a more poetic writing style and a heavily character-driven story will probably love this. 

And I mean, character-driven is fine for me normally, but I didn't really care about the characters so, that didn't help me any. I feel like for something that hinged so heavily on character disappearances, they should have been characters we cared about. I'm not sold on the romance either, it felt creepy and forced. 

I did like the "down with the patriarchy" vibes and I loved Aaros and the Conquerors. I would have loved more backstory about literally anything. I think this is a case of the author trying not to give away too many clues or foreshadow too much and just reigning it in too far and not giving you enough. And the breadcrumbs we did get, either led to nowhere or I got lost along the way because I had fuck all idea what was happening for 85% of this book. Which is weird because it felt super repetitive and like nothing was ever really happening. 

Honestly, if not for reading this as a backlist ARC that I need to review, I would have DNF'd it. I do not plan to read the sequel. I will consider reading more Angeles in the future.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Cover 3; Characters 3; Plot 2; Pace 3; Writing 3; Enjoyment 2.

danielle bush

I enjoyed this book alot more than I thought i would! I loved the magic, and the performances.. i loved Kallia and Demarco both with there own secrets about their past. I really want more of Jack, this mysterious immortal who runs the Hellfire club.. and despite trying to warn Kallia over and over again about whats coming for her in Glorian. He is definitely a character that I want to learn more about.. 
I'm really excited to read the sequel and see what else happens!!.

june &
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles

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