Author: jilljemmett

Title: Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards #1)
Author: Janella Angeles
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: August 25, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

As each act becomes more and more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them next.

The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost

The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told

The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide

Where Dreams Descend is the startling and romantic first book in Janella Angeles’ debut Kingdom of Cards fantasy duology where magic is both celebrated and feared, and no heart is left unscathed.

Review:

Kallia is the star showgirl at a secret nightclub, but no one knows what she looks like hidden behind her mask. When she escapes to the city Glorian, she enters a competition for magicians. She is the only female magician in the competition. Kallia catches the eye of Demarco, a retired magician with a dark past who is judging the competition. Things spin out of control when contestants go missing and everyone gets closed down in the city.

The magic in this world was different from typical fantasy novels. The magicians were born with their talent, which was a performative magic with illusions and transformations. Some had more skill than others, but the magic would wear out the magician after the performance. This kind of magic seemed more real, because it reminded me of watching magicians or illusionists perform on a stage or on TV, rather than the fantastic magic in other fantasy novels.

This story was exciting and unpredictable. The competition was largely a mystery to the magicians, with their props given to them right as they had to perform. They couldn’t prepare for the act ahead of time, so the performances were a surprise for the judges and the reader. There were some hints about the characters’ mysterious pasts given throughout the story. I still had some questions at the end of the story, so I’m looking forward to learning the rest in the next book.

This is a great, magical story!

Thank you Wednesday Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Caraval (Caraval #1) Stephanie Garber

Ace of Shades (The Shadow Game #1) by Amanda

About the author:

JANELLA ANGELES is a Filipino-American author who got her start in writing through consuming glorious amounts of fanfiction at a young age—which eventually led to penning a few of her own, and later on, creating original stories from her imagination. A lifelong lover of books, she’s lucky enough to be working in the business of publishing them on top of writing them. She currently resides in Massachusetts, where she’s most likely to be found listening to musicals on repeat and daydreaming too much for her own good. Where Dreams Descend is her first book.

Have you read Where Dreams Descend? What did you think of it?

Title: Ever Cursed
Author: Corey Ann Haydu
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: July 28, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Damsel meets A Heart in a Body in the World in this incisive and lyrical feminist fairy tale about a princess determined to save her sisters from a curse, even if it means allying herself with the very witch who cast it.

The Princesses of Ever are beloved by the kingdom and their father, the King. They are cherished, admired.

Cursed.

Jane, Alice, Nora, Grace, and Eden carry the burden of being punished for a crime they did not commit, or even know about. They are each cursed to be Without one essential thing—the ability to eat, sleep, love, remember, or hope. And their mother, the Queen, is imprisoned, frozen in time in an unbreakable glass box.

But when Eden’s curse sets in on her thirteenth birthday, the princesses are given the opportunity to break the curse, preventing it from becoming a True Spell and dooming the princesses for life. To do this, they must confront the one who cast the spell—Reagan, a young witch who might not be the villain they thought—as well as the wickedness plaguing their own kingdom…and family.

Told through the eyes of Reagan and Jane—the witch and the bewitched—this insightful twist of a fairy tale explores power in a patriarchal kingdom not unlike our own.

Review:

The princesses of Ever were cursed on their thirteenth birthdays. Just before the oldest princess’s thirteenth birthday, a young witch, Reagan, visited them, cursed the five princesses, and enclosed their mother in a glass box. On each of their thirteenth birthdays they would be cursed, each girl losing the ability to eat, to sleep, to love, to remember, or to hope. The princesses will have just a few days to break the curse after the youngest princess turns thirteen and before the witch turns eighteen, which will make the curses last forever. The eldest princess, Jane, who has lost the ability to eat, has to look after her sisters and figure out how to break the curse, while also learning why they were cursed in the first place.

This story was set in a fairytale-like kingdom called Ever, but the serious subject matter wasn’t like a children’s fairytale. The Kingdom looked picturesque from the outside, but their history was filled with sexual assaults and rape. These things were hinted at through the beginning of the book, and weren’t confirmed until partway through, but I think it was obvious that that was what happened. These serious issues reminded me of the dark subject matter of the original Grimm’s fairytales, which were disturbing and not always meant for children.

I was hopeful for the princesses throughout the story, though they kept having bad things happen to them. It was getting so bad that I didn’t see how it could possibly have a happy ending. I won’t spoil the ending, but I think it was fitting for the story.

This is a great fairytale fantasy with contemporary themes.

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

Have you read Ever Cursed? What did you think of it?