I enjoyed the premise of this book, but it was too long and repetitive. I kept waiting for the conflict to resolve, but it never did.

When I got a copy of this book early, I said I might never get over the excitement. This is one of my most anticipated reads of 2020 and I had been dying to get my hands on it. Now that I’ve finished, I know I will never get over it. Ever.

I want to start with the negative. Just get it out of the way since there is only one thing I disliked about this book: the beginning truly does this book a disservice. I realize I read an ARC (thank you Wednesday Books!) and it may very well be changed come publishing day, but it was absolutely the wrong way to set-up such a phenomenal book. It was sparse and rushed with very little useful and clear detail. I was very confused about what was being laid out and where this story was supposed to be going. It is the big introduction of Kallia and Jack and the magic of this world and it was poorly done in my opinion. Once Kallia enters the mysterious city of Glorian, the meat and potatoes if you will, I got precisely what I wanted. AKA romantic and magical perfection.

This is marketed as Moulin Rouge crossed with Phantom of the Opera. I can’t say how close it came to either, but I can make my guesses. What is important is I adored the dark and sultry showmanship vibe it brought together. The writing is so good with surprising little lines that paint such a big beautiful picture with so few words. For a debut writer, you may colour me impressed by Angeles' prose. The magic system is a patriarchal one, but wholly interesting and well thought out. It felt very magician-like, if that makes sense. However, it is not the sole focus of this book, and technically neither is Spectaculore, even though they’re both a central part of the plot’s motion. No, most of the mystery comes from the secret city hidden in the woods called Glorian. There is a deep history to this city that we barely scratch the surface of. From one of the reveals at the end, it’s clear we will dive head first into it in the next book, and I honestly can’t wait. Apart from the history, there is the mystery. Why is it hiding? What is it hiding? And more importantly, what is waking up in it?

The cast of characters deserves its own round of applause, particularly for standouts like the thief-turned-assistant Aaros and the biting fire-eater Canary, but I’ll keep my love to the three mains.

Kallia – The star of the show, literally. She is a firecracker of a young woman, brimming with confidence and power that she can’t help but show-off. Kallia has a unique history that we don’t see nearly enough of, but I loved what we did get. She has spent her whole life trapped in the Hellfire House, and she finally escapes with the chance to be the star of her own show in Spectaculore. She is admirable in her facing down of the patriarchal society and those who blame her for every little thing gone wrong. And yet, beneath that strength and confidence is a girl who is scared of her past and those in it.

Daron Demarco – The other main POV character, Daron is one with one hell of a backstory that is unveiled layer by layer in a delicious slow-burn. He is a young and powerful magician who retired a few years before when his last act went wrong. He is now in Glorian as a judge for Spectaculore for appearance sake, but is really trying to find where his sister, Eva, has disappeared to.

Jack “the Master” – We get very little of Jack in this book, but he is forever a presence that is on Kallia’s mind. This was a fault of that lacking beginning I mentioned, but we aren’t entirely clear on why he was keeping Kallia in the Hellfire House and strongly discouraging her from leaving. However, what mysterious glimpses we get have me comparing this character to Leigh Bardugo’s the Darkling and Stephanie Garber’s Legend, which is a big heck yes from me.

As one would expect from a book with comp titles like those mentioned earlier, there is absolutely an element of romance. Now, I won’t spoil it, but I ship it. Oh, yes indeed do I ship it. I think they are well suited for each other and the banter and chemistry is exactly what I adore. It’s sassy, sultry and swoony all at once. For a while I feared there might be a love triangle, but as time went on and we began to see more of the story as a whole, it took a turn that I absolutely support. The relationship dynamics involved are very much my cup of tea and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

The ending still has me reeling. This book does a great job of building and building the tension that leads to the explosive events that end it. And boy, did that ending snap. Twist after twist after twist with a bombshell in between, making you question everything you thought you knew. In case you haven’t figured it out, yes, it absolutely ends in a cliffhanger, but I promise you won’t be disappointed. Now I enter that awful phase of needing the second book, which I will have to wait longer for than most people. Hold me, people!

Where Dreams Descend is a brand new debut by Janella Angeles. We follow Kallia, a magician showgirl who grew up an orphan in a nightclub, and is kinda trapped by Jack, the master. When she sees a flyer for a competition in a town she’s been longing to visit, she takes her chances and runs off to compete. However, women don’t get to compete, and she has to pull all the tricks out of her sleeves to be taken seriously as a competitor.

I love Kallia, she’s a very strong and very feminist character. She’s very sure of herself and a bit arrogant to be honest and doesn’t take any crap from anyone. I don’t think you need to be like this to be a strong character, but with Kallia, it works. She reminded me a bit of Celaena actually. However, if I look at the competition, the other contestants all really boring and nameless, so it’s kinda easy to win lol so girl be cocky about it! I think the women circus camping in town has more strong magicians than the entire competition. The women all were great, too, they all worked together and lifted each other up (and no, not just in the acrobatic way lol). They became real friends to Kallia and accepted her. There is a lot of women power thrown in, and I love that aspect!

Kallia also makes a friend, Aaros, and makes him his assistant about 5 minutes after he tried to pickpocket her, which is the best way to start a friendship. The roles are reversed, as he is the eye candy now and does so splendidly. He’s an amazing friend and always there for Kallia, but tbh I didn’t like the way she treated him. Convenient if he is there, dismissed when he’s not needed. They didn’t really have a mutual conversation where we found out more about his background or likes and dislikes. He’s just there to cater to every whim, and while he does it admirably, I think this is just not right in a friendship. But Kallia did grow a lot and learned that she can actually trust others and ask for help, so that’s a big plus!

Daron is one of the judges, who has come to town for a whole other reason, but he gets swept away in the competition anyway, especially when he sees a certain pretty girl lol! Unfortunately, they dislike each other on side, but maybe there might be a slow burn enemies to lovers plot. And if there were, it was done very well.

The antagonist was really creepy, and very mysterious, and I honestly lived for the scenes with him, because he’s very interesting.

The story takes a long time to set up, which I personally don’t mind at all. The worldbuilding was big, with many aspects and ideas, and the magic system was pretty cool too! Some things remain unclear (like there is this kind of magic police that is threatened to be called in, but why they should come and what they actually do I have no idea). However, there were aspects I liked less... for me, the writing didn’t work. It was very unclear to me in the beginning when flashbacks began and ended, and throughout the book I was wondering where exactly I was sometimes. I couldn’t really feel the surroundings and I was confused sometimes and found myself flipping back to see where I was exactly, which didn’t always have an answer. I don’t really know what most of the characters look like... The competition was a really nice element, but to me it fell a bit flat, it wasn’t spectacular and there wasn’t much emphasis on them. We basically only see Kallia’s performance, and that’s it. The other competitors remain mostly nameless, and we don’t see them much at all.

The story has much mysteries, and set up for a very rich world with its own questions, and after 400+ pages I expected to see at least some of them answered. But unfortunately, there is no resolve, and no questions answered at the end, only more questions. This frustrated me a lot, the ending fell flat for me, as I want at least some answers instead of a few hints and a cliffhanger.

So, all in all, I’m not entirely enthousiastic about this book. I did enjoy it a lot (except for the ending lol), because I loved the worldbuilding, the slow building romance and the characters. And the magic system is unique in its use and intruiging. But I think there are some flaws that unfortunately brings the rating down a bit.

I received a free e-arc from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A well written Fantasy Novel with nicly developed Characters.

To be earnest the storyline is mostly the same, with books in this genre but that's not important for me.
It about how I feel when I am reading and if I got sucked into the book.

And what can I say this book got me and I hope we will see some more of the author.

Thanks very much that I got the chance to read this book.

I was so excited about this boook! I’m always a sucker for magician stories, but this one didn’t meet my expectations at all.

This book is a journey of magic and deceit. Kallia is a born magician who performs at the Hellfire Club, seemingly trapped there by Jack who has trained her. She craves her freedom and finally slips away to a nearby town, Glorian, to join a magic competition. There she meets the judges, including Daron Demarco, who has his own shadows in his past. As the two are thrown together repeatedly and the competition turns deadly, Kallia fights with the demons of her past which are somehow related to the history of the town. This book has a surprising ending and sets itself up to make readers want more in a sequel.

There is so much I can say about this book, but to wrap it up - bluntly and aptly - this book makes no sense.

None.

What did make sense is how loosely elements from Phantom and Moulin Rouge were borrowed an thrown into this book. Even still, that did not help the plot.

1.) There is a night-club in the woods owned by someone who is ... a man? a teen? He is called 'The Master' and the endless fawning and obsessing over the way that he enters the room, harasses the 'lead', broods and sulks is all noise and means nothing to the book. Apparently The Master (called Jack) can erase memories but the purpose of this is not ever fully explained or makes sense why he keeps wiping the main character's memory (or has, many times before).

2.) There is a town that apparently was broken into four ruling factions, but the factions fell into disarray and now the people are governed by a mayor who... I guess hires a circus to come and entertain the poor people? Oh and the winner of the circus ends up... who knows? Apparently there are two kinds of magicians - born and trained. I never could understand the difference between the two or why one is so disliked than the other, but apparently there are also grunt work magicians too? They get stuck doing repair/work instead of entertaining people. Oh yes, another thing about this city? Apparently people can enter the city but they cannot LEAVE the city? But postal mail somehow gets to city... so that's never explained.

3.) The editing on this book was sloppy and there was a lot of times a character was doing something and either they would switch to a different area in the room, a different movement, or even a different train of thought without really allowing us to bridge into the next thought.

4.) There is a lot of repeated things that the characters do (i.e - drumming of nails on the table, cocking of the hip, lounging in the door, etc. etc.). It got annoying after a while to the point where instead of picturing a character doing it when they're irritated, it was thrown in there as if it was ness. for a scene.

The fact there will be a sequel to this book is a little concerning. I don't know what the author was trying to convey and I wish that someone would kindly point it out to me, because it felt like some low-key Phantom of the Opera fanfic with names changed (I think I counted a girl named Meg, a character named Joseph Buquet, the Phantom - Jack - and the Raoul character - Demarco.)

This book had gorgeous world-building and writing, and reminded me a lot of The Night Circus or Caraval. I loved the atmosphere and intrigue of Hellfire House and wish we spent more of the book there with Jack, who was easily the most interesting character in the whole book. I liked Kallia and the feminisit, female-positive notes in this book, especially among the friendships. I felt like Kallia's character changed after she left Hellfire House and started the competition, where I found I didn't like her as much as I wanted to, and the romance left me confused and wondering who I should be rooting for. The twist at the end was exciting and unexpected, and overall I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series!

Kallia lives in a seclude house, Hellfire House. Jack, who lives with her, often leaves for weeks to work. Lonely, Kallia wonders about the mysterious town in the woods that no one visits.
When she finds a flyer for a magic competition, Kallia devises a plan to leave and enter the competition.
Kallia soon finds out that the town is not what it seems. With other contestants disappearing and other strange things happening, Kallia is not sure who to trust.
She ends up being paired with a judge, Demarco, for the final event. The book culminates at this event and leaves a powerful image in your mind.
This book was awesome. There are so many symbols repeated through the book that you are constantly guessing their meaning/role. The characters are well defined and you feel as if you know what choices they will make. The twists to the story truly make the plot something to read. I look forward to reading the rest in the series. Great book!

This is one of the best books I've read in a very long time. I cannot believe this is Janella Angeles debut novel as the writing feels as though it came from a more seasoned writer.

This book had me hooked within the first two pages. The plot was extremely captivating and held my interest. There were references to secrets and mysteries throughout the story line, and it made me want to continue reading so that I could learn the truth.

The characters were extremely well developed and written in a way that I cared about them and what they were experiencing.

I'm really hoping that Janella Angeles has already started the sequel, because I can't wait to read it!

I absolutely adored this one! It was definitely one of those books that when you get to the last page, you yell WHAT, I WANT MORE! I have to admit this got off to a rocky start for me- I think way the narrative was framed and conflict was set up was not what I expected, so it just took me a second to get in to it. But Angeles writes beautiful prose, and it doesn't take long to fall in. Angeles continued to make unexpected choices throughout the novel, and I feel like a less skilled writer, they would have bothered me. I thought this was going to be more about the competition, but it's less of an ensemble cast, and has a much more narrower scope in character and conflict. Also, one of my biggest pet peeves in fantasy is when there's a made up world but still a strong patriarchal system- this is a major part of the plot here, but by the end I warmed up to it, and Kallia is truly a fully realized character that you just can't help but root for. I'm a little all over the place because I went in to this book so excited for it, highly anticipating the premise, but it ended up being something else all together that I still ended up loving and having a really great reading experience. Definitely one that I was thinking about, even after I put it down. Excited for the sequel (that cliff hanger, though) and anticipating anything else Angeles writes.

I almost threw my kindle across the room last night when I finished this! Then I checked to see if it was a series and looks like there will be at least one more thank god. This is a cool story but I struggled a few times with how wordy (?) it was. Maybe wordy isn’t the right word. More like it lost me with the story lines going in different directions. I’m sure more sense will be made with the next one which I definitely intend to read! Kallia and Demarco’s relationship is fun and toasty hot.

This book has a lot of beautiful atmosphere and wonderful characters. I really liked all of the side characters, especially Aaros - we need more of him! I was hooked from page one. I wanted to know all about Kallia and Jack. I like how much personality all of her characters have, each of them different. There were a few things that I didn't enjoy while reading this book that made it hard to like it as much as I hoped I would.

The first issue I had was how many "big" secrets there were and how long they went on for. It felt like almost everything, and everyone was hiding a secret, and it made me feel more like I missed a few chapters than an exciting edge of your seat type of mystery. It also seemed as though each character thought their secret was the most important and detrimental secret ever to exist. I know there would be no story without secrets but this was another level.

The second issue I had was how hot and cold the romance aspect was. The two characters would go from yes to no within the span of paragraphs. It didn't add any fun tension - it just made me annoyed that they would not communicate. BUT I still liked them together. Although I also liked Jack...

Lastly, I think it was REALLY weird how they only cared about the attacks long enough to argue that the show must go on, and then you could almost forget it happened until the next attack. I would have liked that to be more of the story than it was.

In the end, I think I had more questions than answers. I kept waiting for the big reveal which never came. . I know it's supposed to be a cliffhanger, but I would have liked some answers. Hopefully, I will get those in book two!

My feelings aside, I think teens will enjoy this one. It was an interesting and unique story; the world-building is enchanting and inviting. They will love it. I would recommend this to fans of Caraval or The Night Circus.

I look forward to reading what is next for Kallia. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this one!

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley, after I wished for this novel, for an honest review.

This was a stunning and visually beautiful debut novel that seems similar to the Caraval trilogy with the mystery, magic and intrigue and a strange almost dystopian/evil world that seems similar to Moulin Rouge all mixed together. We follow Kallia as she decides to escape the only world she has really known to compete in a magicians competition where women are NOT usually welcome, and that is no different in this situation. As Kallia begins to really come into her own and makes a life and friends of her own, strange things begin to occur in the town and with the other magicians in the competition. Kallia is feeling watched, is it her previous captor or something new and strange in this secretive and secluded town?

This was just a thrilling and magical (no pun intended) visual experience that was just amazing. This novel had a slow and wonderful romantic story that was in the background and didn't over-take the story as well as some amazing friendships that unfolded during the dark and strange mystery unfolding.

The only real bad remark I want to say about the novel was the ending was just BAM and then left me hanging and now I have to wait until what, 2021 for the next novel?!??! Oh Janella Angeles, bravo on your debut novel and at the same time I hate you for making me wait....so hurry up! :)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.

I technically did not read this book all the way through. I got to about 45% before I got bored and then skipped to the last 20% of the novel. Judging by what I liked and didn't like, I think I got to read at least some of the cool parts. One thing this book has taught me is to not be fooled by the taglines and comparisons. Yes, this book does have elements that reminded me of Moulin Rouge and Phantom of the Opera, but the story didn't keep my interest and the stuff I did like didn't seem like it was going to be featured much.

I don't understand why authors start off with cool ideas and then immediately go into something completely different. This book starts off amazing with Kallia as a performer in this club, basically acting as Satine/Christine while Jack is our stand-in for Harold Zidler/the Phantom-- though he's a lot more Phantom. Jack is a magician who manipulates reality and deals in people's memories. This sounds incredible and I was really excited to see where this was going. Where it ended up going was Kallia running away to join a magic competition that women aren't usually allowed to be in. Because we sure haven't ever read that plotline before. I tried to power through despite my interest plummeting, and found that any time Jack's presence was mentioned or threatened I was interested again. And of course he makes the climax so good. Why couldn't he be in the whole book?

Kallia was kind of an interesting protagonist until she got away from Jack. Then she turned annoying and kind of stuck up. She does these dangerous stunts with her magic and when people tell her off, she gets mad at them. Another magician tries to give her some helpful advice and she ignores him and acts like she can do no wrong. Dude, I don't care how good you are, you can always improve yourself. Maybe you should listen to people when they say not to do dangerous stunts that could hurt others, or just admit when you do something wrong. Sure, sometimes characters who act this way are interesting, but I feel like the narrative was trying to make it read like Kallia was right and they were wrong and it was all due to her being a woman that they were scolding her.

There's also a romance but as I didn't read much of it, I'm only judging the parts of it I read. And the beginning was a basic 90's romance where the two argue all the time and there's constant misunderstanding. I guess I'm glad it wasn't insta-love, but I'm not sure if this is much better. Plus the question I'm always wondering when romance is in these books: was it necessary? Did it add anything? Could the story be told without it? Even if this part was inspired by Phantom, I can safely say that the other guy being a love interest didn't feel necessary to the story. Jack of course was necessary but should've been in this a lot more.

So yeah, the good parts for me were whenever Jack was involved with anything. I love the idea of illusions and manipulating reality and memories. The relationship between them and their chemistry was fantastic. It was captivating and made me uneasy all at the same time. If more time had been given to it, I think the reality manipulation and illusion could've eventually affected the readers to where even they aren't sure what's real and what's an illusion. That was done well in the climax but from what I read, most of the middle section is pretty standard magic competition stuff mixed with gender politics and probably relationship building between Kallia and the other guy. That's all stuff we've seen a million times.

I don't think this is bad by any means. The magic is pretty good and again, all the stuff with Jack is fantastic. I just wish the book had kept it to just him and the relationship between him and Kallia. The sequel seems like it's going more in that surreal direction, so who knows.

Love the world building, the tension, and especially the main character’s determination to break that magical glass ceiling!

But also- this book has FRIENDSHIP.

Women supporting women!

And a male/female platonic friendship where they really can just be there for each other without weird unwanted romantic undercurrents.

We need more friendships in books.

Plus, there is still romance for all you romance lovers, and I actually loved it.

I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

This story was breathtaking from start to finish. The writing, the settings, the intricate weavings of the plot were a feast I couldn't step away from. I could live in this world for book after book. It's rare to find a unique YA read that skips the tropes and formula and just lets the characters breathe no matter where it may take them and the readers.

Thank you, Angeles, for giving my skeptical heart a breath of fresh air.

The only downside is that I've read it - but release is too far away to shower copies around for Christmas.

This book is an interesting debut book that (for me) did not deliver. The world building was good but the pacing was slow until the end wich felt rushed. The characters where complex and you never who who was good or bad, however I didn't like the main character.
I think my favorite part of the book was the Hellfire House and the illusion and mystery surrounding it and I kinda wish that theme was explored more rather than a magical competition. (I'm not a fan of books based around competition plots.) This is all my personal preference, while I did not enjoy the book I would recommend it if you are into fantasy, magic, mystery and romance. Many who read this have said that if you like the Night Circus you will like this.