carolinek13's review against another edition
4.0
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.
Wow. This book. I have so many mixed feelings.
Kallia. I love her so much. She is such a strong icon. In a place where females struggle to take stage, she stands out. She faces every criticism and rises above. The men in the story judge her for simply being female. Her clothes are to scandalous, her words too witty. In a modern society where every women faces this, anyone can find themselves in Kallia.
Demarco. He was a little too predictable for me. A judge with a tragic past looking for answers falls for a beautiful girl. No matter the fantastical elements of this story, I could tell you the plot of Demarco’s life without having to read it on the page.
Jack. I LOVED Jack. The story sets him up to be the villain, and who doesn’t love a dark guy? He is the first and only constant in Kallia’s life. He is troubled and conflicted and dark and not in the story near enough. Please give me so much more Jack. I need it.
The setting: Hellfire House wasn’t featured enough. When Kallia left, I didn’t really care because I wasn’t attached to the place at all. Glorian was a good follow up because it did get some development, but even after finishing the book, I feel like I couldn’t really picture it. That may have been intentional, but throughout reading everything was a little bit muddy due to a small lack of development.
I am a little confused as to the purpose of Spectaculore. It was never really explained other than to save the city. I felt that was a little week. The story progressed well. The danger and twists and turns kept me interested. The romance was a little predictable and I didn’t like how fast Kallia fell in with aged assistant (he tried to rob you, girl), but the ending was WOW. The writing seemed to keep pace and was ready to anticipate, so I was so shocked at the last few chapters and the reveal of the villain and how the story ended and, despite my issues with this book, I will 110% be grabbing the sequel.
For a debut novel, I highly recommend this read!
Wow. This book. I have so many mixed feelings.
Kallia. I love her so much. She is such a strong icon. In a place where females struggle to take stage, she stands out. She faces every criticism and rises above. The men in the story judge her for simply being female. Her clothes are to scandalous, her words too witty. In a modern society where every women faces this, anyone can find themselves in Kallia.
Demarco. He was a little too predictable for me. A judge with a tragic past looking for answers falls for a beautiful girl. No matter the fantastical elements of this story, I could tell you the plot of Demarco’s life without having to read it on the page.
Jack. I LOVED Jack. The story sets him up to be the villain, and who doesn’t love a dark guy? He is the first and only constant in Kallia’s life. He is troubled and conflicted and dark and not in the story near enough. Please give me so much more Jack. I need it.
The setting: Hellfire House wasn’t featured enough. When Kallia left, I didn’t really care because I wasn’t attached to the place at all. Glorian was a good follow up because it did get some development, but even after finishing the book, I feel like I couldn’t really picture it. That may have been intentional, but throughout reading everything was a little bit muddy due to a small lack of development.
I am a little confused as to the purpose of Spectaculore. It was never really explained other than to save the city. I felt that was a little week. The story progressed well. The danger and twists and turns kept me interested. The romance was a little predictable and I didn’t like how fast Kallia fell in with aged assistant (he tried to rob you, girl), but the ending was WOW. The writing seemed to keep pace and was ready to anticipate, so I was so shocked at the last few chapters and the reveal of the villain and how the story ended and, despite my issues with this book, I will 110% be grabbing the sequel.
For a debut novel, I highly recommend this read!
womanon's review against another edition
3.0
This was extremely enjoyable, but it was all a bit bland to me? The story was 'just' okay, as were the characters and their development. I really did enjoy the ending, it had me positively reeling!
little_red_dragon's review against another edition
3.0
“The power lay not in bending what the beholder could see, but in convincing the reflection it was something else.”
Where Dreams Descend starts of with a bang--we're in a mysterious house and our heroine comes down from the ceiling on a swing à la Moulin Rouge. The vibes are immaculate--it's smoky and intriguing and oh so fascinating. And the premise? A magician's contest? Love it.
But those vibes are almost the downfall as well. Janella Angeles keeps everything shrouded in mystery and slowly gives us hints to piece everything together. The issue is that it's all too slow. Instead of increasing the tension, I felt like I was trying to read through fog and it just got so repetitive in the middle. We just had too many questions and not enough answers--it was honestly a bit frustrating at times.
With that said, will I continue on? Absolutely. The last third of the book was absolutely electric and I loved every minute of it. And how can I not continue after that cliffhanger?
Where Dreams Descend starts of with a bang--we're in a mysterious house and our heroine comes down from the ceiling on a swing à la Moulin Rouge. The vibes are immaculate--it's smoky and intriguing and oh so fascinating. And the premise? A magician's contest? Love it.
But those vibes are almost the downfall as well. Janella Angeles keeps everything shrouded in mystery and slowly gives us hints to piece everything together. The issue is that it's all too slow. Instead of increasing the tension, I felt like I was trying to read through fog and it just got so repetitive in the middle. We just had too many questions and not enough answers--it was honestly a bit frustrating at times.
With that said, will I continue on? Absolutely. The last third of the book was absolutely electric and I loved every minute of it. And how can I not continue after that cliffhanger?
alyssadorn's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book! Even though the pacing was a bit off, the use of the slow time to develop the characters (including side characters— thank you!) made it worth it. It’s VERY slow burn but I didn’t mind. It’s beautifully written and a great story concept; the world drew me in.
katierm's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
tanjibareads's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars.
Enjoyed it quite a lot but I needed something more, idk what that is, I'm sorry for that
Enjoyed it quite a lot but I needed something more, idk what that is, I'm sorry for that
mora55's review against another edition
5.0
The highlight of this book for me was the writing style, which was gorgeous and descriptive. I loved the imagery and the repetition of color and other symbols, which were deftly integrated and given multiple significances (I: love symbolism and themes).
I also loved the characters! Aaros was the best and most loyal assistant and cared so much for Kallia despite his history and how they were strangers at the beginning of the book. He always went out of his way to help her and always seemed to know what she needed, and Kallia appreciates him as he deserves. Kallia was such an interesting and distinctive personality - extroverted and confident and unashamed of herself. She constantly took me by surprise in a good way. It took me a while to care for Daron, but I eventually grew to care about him and his personality as well. I was actually rooting for his and Kallia's romance, which is unusual for me and testament to the writing and the characters.
However, I didn't understand the plot with I'm sure the next installment will bring more clarity (though I doubt I'll remember anything about this book by then lol).
(This was another one I mooched off NetGalley when it was "read now" ages ago, so thanks to the publisher for that!)
I also loved the characters! Aaros was the best and most loyal assistant and cared so much for Kallia despite his history and how they were strangers at the beginning of the book. He always went out of his way to help her and always seemed to know what she needed, and Kallia appreciates him as he deserves. Kallia was such an interesting and distinctive personality - extroverted and confident and unashamed of herself. She constantly took me by surprise in a good way. It took me a while to care for Daron, but I eventually grew to care about him and his personality as well. I was actually rooting for his and Kallia's romance, which is unusual for me and testament to the writing and the characters.
However, I didn't understand the plot with
Spoiler
the underlying Glorian magic, what the heck is going on with Jack (who is he? what does he know? how does he do what he does? why does he care? why is he even important anymore?), and the dark mirror things.(This was another one I mooched off NetGalley when it was "read now" ages ago, so thanks to the publisher for that!)
fictionalmandy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0