This broke me. If I had a heartsglass, it would be shattered into perpetually bleeding shards stained with my tears.

I’m going to need a lot of time.

Review to follow.

Rating: 5 stars
* Read the full reviews in my natural habitat: The Bone Witch | The Heart Forger | The Shadow Glass

... Be right back, diving into the sequel asap. But one thing is for sure: I loved this.

This is one weird book that I am too dumb to fully appreciate.

I loved every bit of it. Full review to follow.

Made me cry twice.

Review to follow.

I am one big uwu.

I want to preface this with the confession that I know nothing about Phantom of the Opera and Moulin Rouge, and therefore, I can't say if prior knowledge would have improved or negatively affected my reading experience of Where Dreams Descend. Now that we've established that I am woefully, culturally illiterate, here are my preliminary thoughts:

I will eventually have a full review up and ready, but for the time being, let's make one thing clear: This book is unapologetically Filipino. It draws from various Filipino folklore. It centers Filipino characters. It illustrates the importance of community and bayanihan, which are highly regarded virtues in Filipino culture. THIS IS FILIPINO.

I am genuinely pissed off at the reviews that write off this incredibly unique story because their ignorance of other people's cultures has led them to believe that Lalani is an imitation od Moana, who isn't Filipino in the slightest. Moana isn't the only island girl to ever exist, and honestly, the racism really leaped out from that reach. Period.

I don't know where to begin, but I swear, a positively glowing review will eventually be available on this little space.

For the time being, all I have to say is: With its beautiful cast of courageous (and occasionally whimsical) Filipino characters and clever fairytale references, Wicked As You Wish is a precious book that means so, so much to me. Please, please pick this one up!