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lisamcc514's review against another edition
2.0
Huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review!
When I saw that Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles was pitched as “Phantom of the Opera” meets “Moulin Rouge” I knew I absolutely had to read it. The synopsis totally pulled me in and intrigued me to see what Where Dreams Descend was all about. The competition aspect actually also made me think of that one Disney Channel Original Movie, Now You See Me!
Where Dreams Descend is an atmospheric, fantasy tale that follows a female magician named Kallia as she competes in a magician competition in the icy city of Glorian. It is a high tension story of magicians, their dark pasts, and a mysterious presence wreaking havoc on the city.
Unfortunately, Where Dreams Descend fell flat for me. My overall feeling is just … meh. It was ok. I hate when I can’t be super positive about books, but I have to share my honest opinions.
I’ll start with what I liked . . . the vibe and the atmosphere!
- The vibe and atmosphere is by far the best part of Where Dreams Descend. The whole story is fantastical with a dark mood. The Dire Woods and the city of Dorian are so captivating and have this air of mystery. Honestly, this was the only thing that kept me invested in the story.
-The first chapter/prologue totally pulled me in. I was like ooooh this is going to be sexy and magical! It definitely started off strong.
Now, onto what I did not enjoy.
-First, and perhaps most important, the lack of world building and characterization. Where Dreams Descend starts off strong with an eerie and mysterious setting, but does nothing to build upon it. I feel like I know nothing about this world. We get a little bit of history with the tale of the four families of Glorian, but even that is vague and quite brief. I just felt like I was kind of thrown into this world. The same goes for the characters . . . I really don’t know that much about them. Like I barely even know what they look like. It seems like the main detail is that every character is running from their past and has a bunch of secrets. That’s it. I don’t know, I’m just not attached to any of the characters. I wanted so badly to love Kallia, but it just wasn’t there.
-Going along with characters and character development, I was not a fan of the romance. The two characters involved just like suddenly fall for each other. I mean it was obvious that they were going to be love interests from the beginning, but I would have liked to see some development and actual formation of a relationship. To me it felt like they were attracted to one another, talked twice, and then were obsessed. It just didn’t feel natural and was definitely rushed. At one point they’re together, broken up, and together again all within like three chapters. Their relationship didn’t feel authentic to me.
-I wanted more! Going into this book I was expecting exciting and extravagant magical competition scenes, but there were only a couple. And these scenes were cool, but it didn’t really translate into reading. Maybe it would have been better on screen? It just wasn’t what I expected.
-Along with the magician’s competition, I wanted more of the Conquering Circus performers. These awesome ladies had so much potential, but they felt more like a prop to be used for Kallia’s performances.
Wow, while writing all of this out I feel bad being so hard on a book. Especially for a debut author. It just sucks to be let down by a book that I was excited for!
I do have to mention the cover, because it is seriously gorgeous! I feel like it perfectly captures the vibe of the first chapter and the mysteriousness of the setting.
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles will be released on June 2nd, 2020 by Wednesday Books.
When I saw that Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles was pitched as “Phantom of the Opera” meets “Moulin Rouge” I knew I absolutely had to read it. The synopsis totally pulled me in and intrigued me to see what Where Dreams Descend was all about. The competition aspect actually also made me think of that one Disney Channel Original Movie, Now You See Me!
Where Dreams Descend is an atmospheric, fantasy tale that follows a female magician named Kallia as she competes in a magician competition in the icy city of Glorian. It is a high tension story of magicians, their dark pasts, and a mysterious presence wreaking havoc on the city.
Unfortunately, Where Dreams Descend fell flat for me. My overall feeling is just … meh. It was ok. I hate when I can’t be super positive about books, but I have to share my honest opinions.
I’ll start with what I liked . . . the vibe and the atmosphere!
- The vibe and atmosphere is by far the best part of Where Dreams Descend. The whole story is fantastical with a dark mood. The Dire Woods and the city of Dorian are so captivating and have this air of mystery. Honestly, this was the only thing that kept me invested in the story.
-The first chapter/prologue totally pulled me in. I was like ooooh this is going to be sexy and magical! It definitely started off strong.
Now, onto what I did not enjoy.
-First, and perhaps most important, the lack of world building and characterization. Where Dreams Descend starts off strong with an eerie and mysterious setting, but does nothing to build upon it. I feel like I know nothing about this world. We get a little bit of history with the tale of the four families of Glorian, but even that is vague and quite brief. I just felt like I was kind of thrown into this world. The same goes for the characters . . . I really don’t know that much about them. Like I barely even know what they look like. It seems like the main detail is that every character is running from their past and has a bunch of secrets. That’s it. I don’t know, I’m just not attached to any of the characters. I wanted so badly to love Kallia, but it just wasn’t there.
-Going along with characters and character development, I was not a fan of the romance. The two characters involved just like suddenly fall for each other. I mean it was obvious that they were going to be love interests from the beginning, but I would have liked to see some development and actual formation of a relationship. To me it felt like they were attracted to one another, talked twice, and then were obsessed. It just didn’t feel natural and was definitely rushed. At one point they’re together, broken up, and together again all within like three chapters. Their relationship didn’t feel authentic to me.
-I wanted more! Going into this book I was expecting exciting and extravagant magical competition scenes, but there were only a couple. And these scenes were cool, but it didn’t really translate into reading. Maybe it would have been better on screen? It just wasn’t what I expected.
-Along with the magician’s competition, I wanted more of the Conquering Circus performers. These awesome ladies had so much potential, but they felt more like a prop to be used for Kallia’s performances.
Wow, while writing all of this out I feel bad being so hard on a book. Especially for a debut author. It just sucks to be let down by a book that I was excited for!
I do have to mention the cover, because it is seriously gorgeous! I feel like it perfectly captures the vibe of the first chapter and the mysteriousness of the setting.
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles will be released on June 2nd, 2020 by Wednesday Books.
booknerdrn's review against another edition
4.0
This is really a 3.5 for me. I liked it enough to finish it and to decide to read the sequel but…. It was fairly slow. I didn’t care enough about the missing magicians or the ones in a coma etc to even notice it was a count down. Jack just feels like a toxic ex that won’t go away, I still don’t understand Kallia’s significance to him. All in all, the premise is interesting but the execution of it is weak.
katiejohn_'s review against another edition
3.0
I liked it, I liked the vibe. I might read the sequel
dearsayuri's review against another edition
3.0
Okay that took a while. Kind of slow at first so it was difficult to get into it. Took me about a day to fly through 60% of the book BUT IM SO CONFUSED WHAT HAPPENED???
andromeda_1998's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
readerofthenight's review against another edition
4.0
Intriguing with great chemistry- but it just takes a touch too long to get there for my liking.
Kallia, Daron, and the other cast of characters are very easy to fall in love with, love to hate, and enjoy their presence, which in large part does come from the exquisite prose that goes into little and big moments alike. You have a sense of most of the important characters in a very clear way, and even some of the characters who could be billed as 'minor'. While Jack is a character I am not mesmerized by in the same way I am by the Phantom (the character the book cover quote and reviews compare him to), I do at the very least get the sense of unease and look forward to building that up in the sequel.
I do think that this book would've benefited from a more heavy focus on the goings-on of the Alastor stage and Conquering Circus mystery, as it goes from being very light-handed to very heavy. I love the character interactions, but there feels like there is a slight imbalance on the overall narrative to focus moreso on characters.
Overall, liked it a whole lot, and will be picking up the sequel ASAP.
Kallia, Daron, and the other cast of characters are very easy to fall in love with, love to hate, and enjoy their presence, which in large part does come from the exquisite prose that goes into little and big moments alike. You have a sense of most of the important characters in a very clear way, and even some of the characters who could be billed as 'minor'. While Jack is a character I am not mesmerized by in the same way I am by the Phantom (the character the book cover quote and reviews compare him to), I do at the very least get the sense of unease and look forward to building that up in the sequel.
I do think that this book would've benefited from a more heavy focus on the goings-on of the Alastor stage and Conquering Circus mystery, as it goes from being very light-handed to very heavy. I love the character interactions, but there feels like there is a slight imbalance on the overall narrative to focus moreso on characters.
Overall, liked it a whole lot, and will be picking up the sequel ASAP.
carlieschadler's review against another edition
4.0
WOW what a magical ride this audiobook was! The narrators are captivating and honestly just incredible! If you loved the mystery and intrigue of books like Caraval and The Night Circus then this should be your next read! Kamilla is a fierce female main character with a mysterious past and I cannot wait to find out more in the next book. This story kept me guessing and is filled with character development and surprises! The ending leaves you wondering who is truly a villain and who is just doing what it takes to survive! I highly recommend this whimsical magical read!
ruthjennings23's review against another edition
4.0
It was really good writing most of the time but sometimes it wasn’t like things were worded weirdly.
The story was super interesting but it took a bit to get into because it was confusing. It was manipulative in a good way there were ups and downs and I didn’t know what I wanted to happen. Also super cool setting and culture, it isn’t exactly similar to this world but there are cultural parallels and it overall has a old fashioned style but with magic.
The story was super interesting but it took a bit to get into because it was confusing. It was manipulative in a good way there were ups and downs and I didn’t know what I wanted to happen. Also super cool setting and culture, it isn’t exactly similar to this world but there are cultural parallels and it overall has a old fashioned style but with magic.