Welcome to my stop on the Where Dreams Descend blog tour! Today I’m sharing my review, but first here’s what the book is about:
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.
My review:
Where Dreams Descend is an ambitious debut that revolves around a magical competition in a dying city named Glorian. Reviewers are comparing it to stories like The Phantom of the Opera and The Night Circus, and I have to say I got vibes from both of those while reading. Angeles has quite the gift for creating a mysterious and magical atmosphere, and some of her story ideas were simply breathtaking. I wanted to compile a list of my favorite elements about the book, so let’s get started.
The characters – I didn’t love all the characters, but I did have some strong favorites. Kallia is a wonderful creation and was not at all what I expected. She’s fierce and opinionated and does whatever she wants, but she’s not out to deliberately hurt people, which is seen during her interactions with the women of the Conquering Circus. She’s a powerful magician, but magic takes a toll on her, and I appreciate the fact that the author didn’t make things too easy for Kallia. I also loved Aaros the thief, who becomes Kallia’s assistant. They develop a satisfying friendship without any drama whatsoever (which can’t be said for some of the other characters). Aaros also contributes most of the humorous moments, which I appreciated.
The Conquering Circus – The women of the Conquering Circus live in tents and have their own society built around performance and entertainment. I almost wish the story had centered around them more, because they were delightful. I particularly loved the relationship they developed with Kallia, who seems to fit in much better with the Circus than she does with the rest of the magicians in the competition, who are all stuffy men and are threatened by Kallia’s magical abilities, not to mention the fact that she’s the only woman among them.
The history of Glorian and its founding families – we don’t get nearly enough information in this first book about Glorian and the mysteries surrounding it, but what we do get is a tantalizing look at the four families that built Glorian and the way the city is laid out in quadrants. Each section of the city offers something unique to one of the families, and each family has its own characteristics. There is much we don’t understand about why Glorian seems to be dying and why magic has disappeared, and I’m hoping the author fills in all the blanks in the next book.
The imagery – There are some magical moments in this story, and the author has a way of describing her world that transported me and made me want to visit it. Her descriptions of Demarco’s greenhouse, for example, were just lovely. I also loved the way she described Kallia’s magical performances. Kallia is able to create fire out of thin air and she uses it in very interesting ways.
The use of music – I wasn’t expecting music to be a prominent element, but it turns out Kallia is soothed by music while she’s practicing and performing. Several times during the story, she is able to magically create music using both instruments and unexpected objects. It added a nice touch to the story and made Kallia’s magic feel more personal.
This is only the beginning of a duology, and the story ends on a shocking cliffhanger that made me wish the second book was already published so I wouldn’t have to wait so long to see what happens. I’m not usually a fan of cliffhangers, but I think in this case it worked really well. Angeles keeps the reader guessing for quite a long time—and there are multiple mysteries in this story—but we do finally get some answers at the very end. However, readers hoping for all the mysteries to be resolved will just have to wait.
About the author:
JANELLA ANGELES is a Filipino-American author who got her start in writing through consuming glorious amounts of fanfiction at a young age—which eventually led to penning a few of her own, and later on, creating original stories from her imagination. A lifelong lover of books, she’s lucky enough to be working in the business of publishing them on top of writing them. She currently resides in Massachusetts, where she’s most likely to be found listening to musicals on repeat and daydreaming too much for her own good. Where Dreams Descend is her first book.
Even before reading your review I suspected that there would be some ties to the Phantom of the Opera in this book, because the title reminded me of “and let the dreams descend” from the lyrics of “Point of no Return” – one of my favorite songs from the Phantom… 🙂
But there is more, much more in this book worthy of exploration! Thanks for sharing!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…LITTLE SECRETS, by Jennifer Hillier
Oh wow, you are probably right. I’ll bet that’s how she came up with the title!
Thanks for sharing this book, I do love Phantom, with the comparisons I might have to check this one out.
Heather recently posted…Redheads – 25 Myths, Legends and Quotes
It definitely had that dramatic, mysterious quality that Phantom had:-)
Agreed on many of these points! I loved the circus and the atmosphere too.
I ended up being really curious to learn more about the circus girls.
I need this book in my life! I think I would really enjoy it and I just love that music was a prominent element in it. 😀
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…ARC Review: The Sea Witch by Katee Robert
And I didn’t even mention how gorgeous the cover is!
Thanks for this review. I hadn’t heard of this before and it sounds really interesting.
Paige Schildkamp recently posted…All Boys Aren’t Blue
I thought it was a really good idea:-)
Though romantic YA isn’t typically my thing I do very much enjoy seeing new authors putting their work out there. And I like the idea of music playing a part, especially in regards to the magic.
Music and magic was definitely a good combo:-)
I love that the music added to the story in that way, Tammy. This is an intriguing duology, and I love that cover. Fab review!
I wasn’t expecting music in this story, and it worked pretty well!
Wow, this sounds lovely! You have me most curious about the women of the Conquering Circus and their dynamics.
Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer recently posted…Ink & Sigil by Kevin Hearne
I honestly would love to read a story that focuses on the Conquering Circus:-)
This book is new to me and it sounds wonderful. I really want to meet Kallia and lose myself in the magical atmosphere. You have me curious about that cliffhanger too!
Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned the cliffhanger, I guess that’s sort of a spoiler. But I enjoyed it!
This one kind of slipped through my radar because I’m skipping a lot of YA these days, but I didn’t know this one had Phantom of the Opera connections and it actually sounds pretty good!
So glad you enjoyed this one Tammy! I had it pre-ordered (apparently, I don’t even remember do this LOL) so now I’m looking forward to it even more. 🙂
I am not a fan of cliffhangers either, and to say the truth I really despise them, usually. They would sent me on a rant going on and on and on so… Nope. But a the rest seems just so magical and intriguing that maybe I could give this one a try sooner or later!
I’ve been seeing this around but didn’t know what it was about. It sounds interesting! And I’ve been kinda digging duologies, more than a standalone, but not too much lol. Btw I really like your picture in the sidebar with a mannequin arm, it’s cool with that book title!
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…Book Review: Silver in the Wood (The Greenhollow Duology Book 1) by Emily Tesh [+ Audiobook]
This sounds sooo good and I’ve been admiring the cover for ages!
Definitely with the Phantom vibes – even the cover in fact. Sounds like you had an excellent time with this one.
Lynn 😀
Great review, Tammy! I really enjoyed this book as well but also wished there was more history about Glorian because I found it so fascinating. And ugh this cover is so pretty