Books about magicians are always calling to me. I find them to be a fun mix of fantasy and real-world, and it just draws me right in. Where Dreams Descend introduces the reader to a world where nothing is as it seems, and the dreams of one young magician have the opportunity to be the downfall of an entire town.
This book has brought out a whole lot of feelings in me. I found myself struggling to get into the book at the beginning but unable to put the book down by the end.
Janella Angeles has a beautiful way of writing. I felt that her descriptions brought buildings and clothing and features to life. I could envision the sparkling, dazzling performances, the way the buildings look, old and decrepit, or newly transformed and shiny. I think that this is a definite strength for her, and ultimately I think it is what kept me reading.
At first, I was really intrigued by the world in the story. When a reader picks up any new book, they have to learn about the way the world is built in the book. It’s up to the author to build that world so that the reader gets drawn in, almost like they are a part of the world. I think this was a huge miss for the author, unfortunately. After reading all 464 pages of this book, I’m still extremely confused about what is happening in this world. I did find out about 3/4 of the way into the book that this is a series, so I’m sure we’ll find out so much more in book 2. However, I really needed a bit more information in this book.
Let’s talk about mirrors for a minute. They are extremely important in this story for multiple characters. They are talked about, thought about, covered up, broken, and avoided. Mirrors are all over this story, but I’m still unclear on why in the world they are so important. I haven’t figured out what magic they truly hold, but I hope book 2 gives me some insight!
Every location and character in the book seems to have a secret and a history. I felt that the author just missed giving us ENOUGH information to understand a little.
The characters were pretty amazing for me. I, again, feel that there should have been a bit more information about some of them, just so that I could somewhat understand, but there were still some pretty awesome characters. I absolutely adored the main character Kallia. She is sassy and so full of herself on the outside, but clearly has some internal struggles to deal with. She is an easy character to like, and I think many readers will adore her. Her relationship with Demarco, a judge in the competition is pretty wonderful. I loved the descriptions of their interactions. One other character I adored was Kallia’s assistant in the competition. He was caring and intuitive about what Kallia needed throughout the story. I hope he is in the second book because I still want to learn more about him!
Overall, I liked this book but struggled with understanding what exactly was happening in this world. The beginning was hard for me to get into because I had so many questions and not enough answers. By the middle of the book, I was attached to the characters and wanted to keep reading so I could see what happened in their story.
To Read or Not To Read:
I would recommend