Book review ~ Where Dreams Descend, Janella Angeles

Where Dreams Descend
Author : Janella Angeles
Genre : YA Fantasy
Publisher : Wednesday Books
Release date : 25 August 2020
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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

Books dealing with magic are usually a hit or miss for me. I’m so glad that this one was a hit !
First, of all, I’m really grateful that I even got to read Where dreams descend at all ! It’s the first time one of my wishes has been granted on Netgalley !

Let’s start with what caught my attention first : the ambience of the book.
I got drawn to the magical circus atmosphere that can be found throughout the book. You get it in Jack’s place (that felt somewhat Moulin Rouge like !), you get it in Glorian, everywhere ! It kind of felt like was around Kallia, Jack, and Demarco, and they were all wrapping me in their magic. That was beautiful.

That being said, I was a little sad that during the magic shows, I didn’t get as much magic as I wanted. Sure, there are spectacular acts, but I loved it so much I kept wanting more ! I want fire, ice, over-the-top magicians and gasps in the audience !

Now, it gets a little better, since magic is also happening outside of the stage. The way Jack interacts with Kallia through his magic, the way the Conquering Circus crew did casual magic on some night, and the way Demarco is doing magic made me quite happy ! I’m glad magic was not confined to a show stage.

Regarding the characters : OMG the chemistry is real ! It’s real between every single character in that story ! Sure, we got the love sub-plot doing formidably, but everyone is interacting with anyone beautifully ! Kallia and Demarco wasn’t even my favorite relationship ! I enjoyed seeing Kallia and Jack interacting, with all their history weighing on them as well as everything new…

As usual for me, I loved the side characters almost more than the main ones ! Aaros is absolutely fabulous as Kallia’s friend. He’s the friend we all want to have. My only regret is that he was rather a tool character more than an actual living character. He has his own thought on some matters, but most of the time, he’s just here whenever Kallia needs him, and then he disappears until the next problem. I just wished he had some more things going on for himself.
Lottie is also a character I truly enjoyed, and I hope to see her more developped in the sequel. She could get REALLY interesting !

If you’re looking for a book capable of sweeping you off your feet, search no more, you have found it. Magic, love, drama, secrets, tension : you got it all, and it’s wonderful.

My internet will be ATROCIOUS during the next week, so I probably won’t be posting much or reading blogs unless I catch a good wifi ! I hope this post will look alright, I’m posting a little blindly haha

Thanks for reading me,
See you soon,
Love,
Jade ❤