Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles

The Quick Cut: A group of magicians compete for a spot as the next headliner when unexpected danger comes.  A Real Review:

 Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.  

 If you've ever been interested in magic, you know how enticing the presentation can be. The feats magicians pull off feel surreal, almost impossible. Well, what if you had a chance of a lifetime through a magical competition? This is the case for Kallia, Jack, and Demarco. 

 In a city covered in ice, three magicians take the opportunity to compete for the headliner spot in the Conquering Circus. Unfortunately, all goes haywire when unknown terror comes. Will they make it through or will their lives come at risk instead? 

 Can I just say how gorgeous that cover is?!?! The red and black is a wonderful combination, especially for highlighting the dark mystery surrounding this title. The environment is enrapturing and the world building is the best part of the novel. It is powerful and highly detailed. 

 That being said, the characters leave something to be desired. The story has an underlying feminism tone that although I understand it's presence, comes off as aggressive. A significant portion of this comes through the character Kallia, a powerful female magician. She is so overpowered that it takes a lot of the fun out of the writing and even worse, her behavior makes her a witch. It's a character I believe you're meant to like, but I ended up hating. 

 The other characters in this book failed to leave a lasting impression on me (and I really wanted them to). I wanted to connect to the story, but without characters to bond to... uphill battle. If the same attention was paid to character development as world building, this would be a different story. 

 A heavy paged story that delivers a strong world with vacant characters.

My rating: 3 out of 5