Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ninetalevixen 's review for:
Where Dreams Descend
by Janella Angeles
content warnings:
rep:
I received an advance review copy from Wednesday Books through Netgalley; all opinions are my own and honest. You can check out my blog tour post to see the moodboard I made!
As an avid fan of The Night Circus and Phantom of the Opera — though I've never seen Moulin Rouge — I was overjoyed to get my hands on an ARC then even to be asked to join this blog tour! And despite this recipe for getting my hopes up too high, on the whole Where Dreams Descend does not disappoint.
One of my earliest, strongest impressions was that the prose flows elegantly, so atmospheric that I actually literally held my breath. There were whole pages I wanted to highlight. I was torn between slowly savoring each passage and racing to learn more about this fantastic narrative I'd been drawn into. The setting and cast come alive, if you'll pardon the cliche.
The writing style is consistent throughout, which is objectively a good thing ... but at some point I picked the book back up and suddenly found myself impatient with all the descriptions, poking holes in the metaphors. (An inexplicable experience probably unique to me, so make of it what you will.)
And the characters? Exquisitely crafted. Though the star is undoubtedly Kallia, each of the main players has thoughtfully developed independent motives and a satisfying development arc; rather than supporting cast members, they are equally strong candidates to carry the story.
Since romance and hearts mentioned in the synopsis, I wanted to talk a little about the relationships — skip the rest of this paragraph if you want to avoid potential (vague) spoilers! The draw of the opening chapters, for me, came in no small part from the sizzling chemistry between Kallia and Jack; however, as the story progresses Kallia's interactions with others, including Demarco, feel a little flatter by comparison. But the friendships and platonic partnerships are pretty solid, which help balance everything out and which I really appreciate.
My main critique: I did feel that Where Dreams Descend might draw a bit too heavily from the comps mentioned earlier: multiple scenes and symbols are very close parallels or mirrors (and they're specific and/or iconic enough that I don't believe they're general tropes). For readers who love homage and allusion this will probably be a plus; for readers who prefer memorably unique stories, less so.
Still, Where Dreams Descend is very well-paced with multiple subplots and organic developments that don't rely on shock value. It's an engaging, well-told show of a book with many surprises in store.
-----------
CONVERSION: 11.13 / 15 = 4 stars
Prose: 5 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 8 / 10
Emotional Impact: 9 / 10
Development / Flow: 8 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10
Originality / Trope Execution: 2 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
-----------
[pre-review]
This was a tricky one to rate — parts of it, like the worldbuilding and atmosphere and certain relationships, are incredible; others are so similar to elements of Phantom of the Opera or The Night Circus that I couldn't help comparing them disfavorably. At first I loved the flow of the prose, but then I looked a little closer and found several lines that (while conveying the intended meaning fine) don't quite make sense. There also seem to be too many subplots and character arcs, in that sometimes one ball or the other gets dropped.
But overall it's a spectacularly engaging narrative, with scenes that quite literally took my breath away and settings I want to inhabit and characters to remember.
RTC with the blog tour in August!
Spoiler
mind/memory manipulation & gaslighting, precanon loss of loved ones, serial killings, body horrorrep:
Spoiler
POC-coded major & minor characters, bi/pan secondary character [Aaros]I received an advance review copy from Wednesday Books through Netgalley; all opinions are my own and honest. You can check out my blog tour post to see the moodboard I made!
As an avid fan of The Night Circus and Phantom of the Opera — though I've never seen Moulin Rouge — I was overjoyed to get my hands on an ARC then even to be asked to join this blog tour! And despite this recipe for getting my hopes up too high, on the whole Where Dreams Descend does not disappoint.
One of my earliest, strongest impressions was that the prose flows elegantly, so atmospheric that I actually literally held my breath. There were whole pages I wanted to highlight. I was torn between slowly savoring each passage and racing to learn more about this fantastic narrative I'd been drawn into. The setting and cast come alive, if you'll pardon the cliche.
The writing style is consistent throughout, which is objectively a good thing ... but at some point I picked the book back up and suddenly found myself impatient with all the descriptions, poking holes in the metaphors. (An inexplicable experience probably unique to me, so make of it what you will.)
And the characters? Exquisitely crafted. Though the star is undoubtedly Kallia, each of the main players has thoughtfully developed independent motives and a satisfying development arc; rather than supporting cast members, they are equally strong candidates to carry the story.
Since romance and hearts mentioned in the synopsis, I wanted to talk a little about the relationships — skip the rest of this paragraph if you want to avoid potential (vague) spoilers! The draw of the opening chapters, for me, came in no small part from the sizzling chemistry between Kallia and Jack; however, as the story progresses Kallia's interactions with others, including Demarco, feel a little flatter by comparison. But the friendships and platonic partnerships are pretty solid, which help balance everything out and which I really appreciate.
My main critique: I did feel that Where Dreams Descend might draw a bit too heavily from the comps mentioned earlier: multiple scenes and symbols are very close parallels or mirrors (and they're specific and/or iconic enough that I don't believe they're general tropes). For readers who love homage and allusion this will probably be a plus; for readers who prefer memorably unique stories, less so.
Still, Where Dreams Descend is very well-paced with multiple subplots and organic developments that don't rely on shock value. It's an engaging, well-told show of a book with many surprises in store.
-----------
CONVERSION: 11.13 / 15 = 4 stars
Prose: 5 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 8 / 10
Emotional Impact: 9 / 10
Development / Flow: 8 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10
Originality / Trope Execution: 2 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
-----------
[pre-review]
This was a tricky one to rate — parts of it, like the worldbuilding and atmosphere and certain relationships, are incredible; others are so similar to elements of Phantom of the Opera or The Night Circus that I couldn't help comparing them disfavorably. At first I loved the flow of the prose, but then I looked a little closer and found several lines that (while conveying the intended meaning fine) don't quite make sense. There also seem to be too many subplots and character arcs, in that sometimes one ball or the other gets dropped.
But overall it's a spectacularly engaging narrative, with scenes that quite literally took my breath away and settings I want to inhabit and characters to remember.
RTC with the blog tour in August!