3.5 STARS


Where Dreams Descend is nothing short of a spectacle.


When Kallia sees the opportunity to escape her life as a showgirl and take center stage as a magician, she takes it. In her world, performing under someone else's wing is not enough, not when she has magic and power the likes of which the world has never seen. A born magician, she knows she can own any stage, captivate any audience.

And when a competition gives her the opportunity to do just that, despite all the odds, there's no stopping her. No matter the obstacle, the spotlight is going to be hers.


"The ones who dare most often disappear."


In a world where women are labor magicians, not show magicians, Kallia finds obstacles stacked against her left and right. The judges of the contest have no respect for her. Her fellow competitors are equally dismissive. The world simply refuses to make room for a female magician, even one as talented as Kallia.

Which means Kallia makes room with her own power.

This, I think, was the main draw of Where Dreams Descend, in my eyes. Kallia is not only a charming heroine, confident in her power and charisma. She's ambitious, dead certain what she wants and willing to go to any lengths to get it. As much as I love a good dose of the reluctant hero trope, it truly was refreshing to see a main character take charge of her story so willingly, with such certainty. No matter who or what stands in Kallia's way, she does her best to remain three steps ahead.

Plus, she's under no illusions that the men who look down on her will change their minds just like that. She's well aware that she has to work twice as hard as anyone else for half the recognition. But even more importantly, she's not in it for their approval. Instead, she's in it to prove to herself that she's good enough to walk the stage. Kallia aims to make of her life whatever she chooses, not what someone else dictates, and I honestly adore her for it.


Speaking of disappearing, though...where's the heart of the story?


Kallia carried most of the book on her back, and for good reason. She's the star of the show, and shouldn't be side-lined! However, a good book is more than just its main character, and this was the area I found Where Dreams Descend to be a little lacking in. Sure, we have a brilliant, vibrant main character, and she's navigating an uncanny, dazzling new setting while grappling with a past that refuses to unhook its claws from her. That alone is powerful stuff, convincing enough to keep me reading. But there needed to be more, namely in two areas: side characters, and plot.

The side character problem is far easier to explain. With a vibrant cast like the Conquerers, Aaros, and Demarco featuring so prominently, I should have felt more for them. Aaros in particular had a cheeky sort of demeanor that I adored. The problem was, though, that they were often pale beside Kallia. Less interesting, or perhaps simply less developed. And in a story where Kallia must learn that friends can be more valuable than simple allies, I wish more time had been spent really fleshing out those friends.

As for the plot, this is more of a gripe with the conclusion. A duology, of course, can't resolve everything in one book. Otherwise, it would be a standalone. But by the end of Where Dreams Descend, I felt that only one small question had been answered, while plenty of others had been opened up. It shaped the final scenes not into a startling crescendo worthy of all this showmanship, but something of a tailspin that left me frustrated. I plan to read the second book because I so desperately want the answers, but there's no escaping the way the finale left something to be desired.


Release has been pushed back to late August, so there's still time.


Time to pre-order, perhaps time for changes to be made to the book, and time in general to prepare for Kallia to take the stage! Not that you can really prepare for the wonders she's capable of, to be honest. Where Dreams Descend is now hitting shelves on August 25th, about three months from now, giving you plenty of time to place a pre-order or request it through your local library. If the dazzling flash of the stage is your thing, or you want to watch a competition take on a dangerous life of its own, I recommend you get this book on your TBR today!


CW: gambling, drinking, loss of a loved one, gore

[This review will go live on Hail & Well Read at 12pm EST on 5/28/20.]

This book was so good! If you liked Caraval or The Night Circus you will love this! It's full of magic, and mystery. I couldn't put it down. I would definitely recommend!

I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review

When I first started this book, I knew it would be a magical read. Upon finishing it, I can’t help but be so happy that I was right! This book was an absolute dream from start to finish. I felt completely transported & absolutely loved this compelling story as well as it’s amazing characters!

This book was a beautiful adventure to a mysterious city filled with magical performances. The descriptions are eloquent and stunning and sometimes downright spooky. The underlying mystery had me on my toes until the final pages.

The story follows Kallia, a young magician who wants to become something more in a world that will not let her do so, but she does it anyway (of course). She enters a magical competition in a conspicuous city and meets a judge, Demarco, who has a mysterious past. As the competition progresses the complexities of the city, and the characters, are made more and more apparent.

That all being said the story is not finished, this is NOT a standalone story. Part 1 has left me with way more questions than answers, and I am very excited to see how Part 2 plays out (maybe even a part 3? this world has the potential to fill several books, honestly).

I wish some characters had more screen time (Aaros, Canary), and I wish some of the minor characters had been more developed, but over all I had a wonderful experience in the world of Glorian.

If you liked Phantom of the Opera, Caraval, or The Night Circus, I would definitely recommend this book.

I'd pair it with a rich, dark red wine or a hot salted caramel mocha.

This was a truly magical read. Having hints of Caraval and The Night Circus, you'll feel at home before you even begin. Angeles keeps us on the edge of our seats the entire ride, raising the stakes higher and higher until she pushes us over the edge. Being left with more questions han answers at the end with the crippling cliffhanger, I cannot wait for the sequel.

Sometimes the magic of a book can fall short at the, well, magic. Writing a unique magical history and use of magic can be challenging, especially with the massive number of books being written about it. But Angeles manages to make this book invigorating and unique. Magic has it's own laws here, laws I sometimes doubt the main characters know, creating a juicy tension. The entire book I felt the magic, its pulse. I can't wait for more.

Kallia was a rich and detailed main character. She had desires and struggles, both of which were poked and prodded at at every turn. Kallia, the main character, wasn't the only character to have such depth. Every character in Where Dreams Descend has a voice, motive, and a past. I was delighted to meet each one and discover their secrets, and there is much left to learn in future books.

I was provided with an ARC of this title through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly, I'm not really into books about magicians (I prefer witches when it comes to my magic), but I was so drawn to the cover that I read the synopsis, and my interest was piqued. And I'm so glad it was! Character development was excellent, the plot moved quickly and kept you guessing, and there was lots of action to keep the reader engaged. The pacing of the novel was actually very-well done.
Now let's talk about world-building. It was fabulous. I could see Glorian and its streets so vividly, as well as the cast of characters. However, I couldn't quite grasp what time period we were in, if we were even actually in a particular time period at all. At times I thought, yes, definitely Victorian times, 18oos. Then at other times, due to certain descriptions of characters' clothing and such, I was like, wait a minute, are we just in a fantasy world that has no particular time period? I think I'm leaning more towards the Victorian era, which I think was the intent. But aside from the that, fantastic job at world-building.
With the way this book ended, obviously there will be a sequel, and I can't wait for it!

I really really really wanted to like this one... It sounded right up my alley - like caraval or something by Kat Howard. I expected atmosphere and magic and great world-building - what I found was a story that never really resonated with me, pacing the felt uneven, and a plot I just never fell into... This one just wasn't a good fit for me.

Where Dreams Descend was an easy read, but a bit of a mess? The writing was pretty nice and very poetic at times and the pace was steady. Angeles was obviously trying to weave a magical and whimsical narrative and they managed to make me feel like I really was in this world filled with magicians. This gave me very very strong Caraval vibes throughout so if you loved that book, you’ll probably enjoy this one as well.

That was not the case for me.

I found the world-building pretty shaky. There weren’t a lot of explanations about how the magic and cities worked or how the world was divided to ground the novel. The plot was a little all over the place too. It was like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to focus on before it turned into an entirely different direction. This meant the story felt quite aimless at times and it was difficult to understand what was going on or what chapters and reveals were relevant.

And for the characters… quite a few of them weren’t that well developed. Kallia was extremely arrogant to the point of coming across as totally reckless at times. There were also quite a lot of characters introduced throughout the novel that weren’t really fleshed out aside from having names and professions. The romance and supposed friendships in this were also not as developed as they should have been to be believable. There was little effort put into them? They just Were.

The ending was also a bit confusing? But I guess that was due to the shaky world-building. It didn’t end in a cliffhanger, exactly, but there were quite a few things left up in the air—as well as secrets revealed—that set things up nicely for the sequel. I, personally, won’t continue on with this. But again, if you loved Caraval or are looking for an YA Fantasy novel with similar vibes: this one is for you!

Where Dreams Descend was an enjoyable read, but it was not everything I wanted it to be. The prologue has such a magical feel to it, but afterwords things quickly got boring. The plot elements such as a magic competition, competitors slowly disappearing/being harmed, romance that can’t work because of some terrible secret they can’t communicate to each other all felt tired and unoriginal. The intriguing elements such as Demarco’s past, who Jack is, and what is going on in Glorian were all brushed over until the last 15% of the book. There was so much potential for fantastic worldbuilding, but the author gives us little to none.

The characters do very much resemble The Phantom of the Opera characters. The parallels between Kallia/Demarco/Jack and Christine/Raoul/Phantom are undeniable.

Since the plot finally started to pick up at the end, I will likely read the next book in this series once it is released. I hope the author will use this opportunity to expand the worldbuilding and explore the more complex and interesting aspects of the plot as the series continues.

A full review will be posted to my blog within the next few weeks (madsbooks.wordpress.com)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
The plot loosely follows a magicians competition in a city full of mysteries and mishaps. The competition is constantly dogged by misfortune so it really fades into the background. The main character, Kallia, was super sheltered and the city itself is super isolated and surrounded by a haunted(?) forest so there’s little to no world-building involved in this story. She’s trying to make it as a born magician in this competition and make a name for herself despite female magicians rarely being allowed to perform, etc. She was trained by a mysterious master named Jack and runs away to this city.
Hmm. What to say about this. Let’s start with the good things.
I liked the magic of the world, I liked the magician’s and the competition, I liked Kallia and Jack and Daron and Aaros and the circus performers. I liked the romance.
But there was no world-building, really. The book could very easily be summarized in one word: mysterious. There’s mysteries upon mysteries. The deal with Jack. Where Kallia even comes from. The deal with the city. I hoped some/most would be revealed towards the end, but it left more questions than answers so it disappointed me in that aspect. I really don’t even understand what happened at the end, at all. Confusion isn’t inherently bad but it certainly doesn’t leave me more inclined to continue the series.
So three stars. It was interesting and not bad by any means but also not something I’m wild about.

I was excited for this one since it's being billed as a mix between Moulin Rouge and Phantom of the Opera, both of which I LOVE, but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The world-building is promising, but remains a little murky, I'm not sure how the magic system works exactly, and I wanted more from some characters, like Jack. I know being mysterious is part of his deal, but there was almost too much of it. Janella Angeles' writing is lovely though and I'm sure most of my questions will be answered in the sequel, which I will be picking up, especially after that cliff-hanger ending!

Where Dreams Descend is gorgeous and evocative storytelling at its best! The descriptions were lush and te tension kept me on the edge of my seat. Readers will love stepping into this seductive new world.

*eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I'll be honest, I was on the fence about this one at first. I learned of it through 2019's YallFest, and then I grabbed it when Wednesday Books made it freely available on NetGalley. I am so glad I gave it a chance!

This book was somewhat hard to dive headfirst into. It was definitely a slow read, like wading through syrup. And unfortunately, I didn't get what I wanted from this book- ANSWERS! I probably say this in every review, but I need answers to at least some of my questions and then more questions for book two. Honestly, I feel like I got zero answers from this book. Even questions posed in the very first chapters, I got the scent of an answer before the book ended.

The magic-users in this book are called magicians, but they aren't doing parlor tricks. This is really magic, on stage. Ten magicians have gathered in Glorian for a chance to become the next headliner for the Conquering Circus. Of them, Kallia is the only female. Female magicians aren't really a thing in this world, because they tend to go missing under mysterious circumstances. Kallia certainly has to overcome a lot of sexism during this competition.

It starts out in the Hellfire House, where Kallia is a performer and magician (like less sexual Moulan Rouge). She feels the pull to go to the city of Glorian, which is close by but surrounded by a hallucination-inducing woods. Her lover?friend?master? Jack is completely against her leaving the Hellfire House, but she sees something in a mirror that disturbs her so much she runs away to Glorian anyway.

Kallia meets Aaros when she first comes to Glorian and he becomes her assistant (and we get absolutely zero backstory about him. He basically stands there and supports Kallia [not 100% a bad thing though]).

Kallia also meets Demarco, one of the judges of the competition, who is a young magician like herself but has completely sworn off using magic.

The competition is where the book is the weakest, since none of the acts actually seem to go right. Kallia's performances are the only ones that the book focuses on, and something bad happens in all of them. In between shows, she's practicing and carrying along as normal.

But Glorian holds something dark in its heart. It's not really explained, but something evil lurks in mirrors- that both Kallia and Demarco have reasons to fear. And the city itself seems to have lost all memory of its past. And why are female magicians so rare? And why does Jack fear so much for Kallia? And, most disturbingly, who keeps harming the people connected to the competition? All good questions, none of which we receive answers for.

Still, it is an enjoyable world. Kallia is brash and headstrong, and willing to trample over any man who gets in her way. Secrets abound and magic flourishes. From the review I just wrote, it honestly feels like I shouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did, but I've already pre-ordered my copy!

Final rating: 4.25 stars and an eye out for book two!

If you loved Caraval or Ace of Shades or NIght Circus or Six of Crows then this book is something you will want to check out. Magicians and dangers and love. I do not want to give too much away with this one because it is pure joy to read. I highly recommend for any YA fans that want to know where ones dreams can take them.

This book had a lot of potential, but just fell flat with me. It was somehow the opposite of a book you can’t put down - more like the book you find yourself easily distracted from. The problem was there were so many complex elements to the world building but I never felt like I knew where it was going. I knew I was supposed to be intrigued and spooked by aspects (such as the notes left when people disappeared) but there weren’t any supporting elements to pull those details into the story in a meaningful way. I think the author had too many ideas and wasn’t quite able to narrow them down into a cohesive plot line.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I am really sad that this book didn't work for me. I really enjoyed the prologue and the show scenes. I had to imagine these characters as in their 20s because there's absolutely no way these were teenagers. I wish that this book would have been adult so it could have gone harder than it did. The characters were fine. I didn't really latch onto any of them, unfortunately. I'm not sure what it was, but I ended up kind of bored throughout this book. I felt like I was just waiting for something BIG to happen, and when it did, it just fell a little flat?

I will say that this definitely gives off Phantom of the Opera vibes. So if you like that story, you may enjoy this one. It was well written. It's probably just a me thing that it ended up not working for me. I think overall this story would be like a 2.5, but I will be rounding that up to three stars as it did do something a little different than the usual and was well written. Not sure that I will continue in this series when the next book comes out.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. Third was a fantasy type YA novel and I find myself setting it to the side for now to finish latee. The characters were very intriguing and the premise of magic is sure to attract lots of fans.

Wow, this was definitely a great book for me to read to take a break from my normal genre, but yet still had that dark feeling I love! The author did an amazing job of creating this new world for the reader to enter! I think it was well written, developed, and an exciting read because of it! I don’t read fantasy as my main genre, but do love some that are intriguing and well written, which I feel this book is! My only downfall about this book, is waiting for the next book! Highly, highly recommend to those who love fantasy books that hint to the darker side of fantasy. I think it will give fantasy lovers exactly what they look for when they are reading fantasy!
Will make sure to buzz it up on all the different platforms! Will use my low amazon reviewer number on Amazon on release date!

I liked the characters and the magic system was very interesting. A new take on the genre. It didn't completely capture me the whole way through but I can identify certain patrons who would enjoy this. Overall very entertaining.

**I'm super excited! I received this book from Netgalley! I never get the good stuff, so I'm super happy to have been approved for this book!**

Now on to the good stuff.
3.5 stars

The pacing in this book was terribly slow! Nothing truly happened until the very last 10%. One of the main characters weren't even in the story line for the majority of the time. The author did a really good job of setting up the mysterious ambiance on the book! She made me (as the reader) ask questions. Unfortunately, she never answered those questions. That's where some of the deductions of stars came from. There were several questions posed and only one had a hint of an answer. I know that she was building up the cliffhanger to set up the rest of the series, but some answers would have been nice. The world building was severely lacking. As in there was absolutely none. Even if she's only going to focus on the one city it wasn't built up in a way that I could imagine it. It's not a bad story, but I'm not sure if I will keep up with the series.