That “action” is simply pulling a couple of important objects from a hiding hole before moving on to a new scene. I promise I enjoy beautiful imagery as much as the next reader, but there’s still at least one more paragraph of description before we get to anything resembling action. Every hint, merely puzzle pieces in the distance. Proud, jutting towers like the tops of palaces. Buildings like mountains that could’ve been manors. A few vast silhouettes peeked from behind. Even from this distance, the imposing black gates of rectangular shapes jutted up clearly from the rimmed enclosure. The Dire Woods went on for mile after mile in every direction, wrapping around a wall enclosure just beyond. It gave her a perfect view of the thick spread of treetops, dark spires under the sun’s slow rise and the morning mist between. It felt good to be as far from the ground as possible. It whispered through her hair and her nightgown, around her bare legs that dangled more than twenty feet in the air. The wind washed the rest of the dream off her. She scaled the vine-wrapped side of the greenhouse, muscles shaking even harder when she perched on the black rusted edge. “The sun was still climbing the sky’s dusky walls when Kallia finished watering. It’s hard to give an idea of what I mean without devoting entirely too much space to an excerpt, but I’ll try. I admire how clearly she pictures the world she created but I really wanted at least half as much description and way more action and answers. She has a powerful imagination and a great idea here but my first piece of advice to her would be that old adage, “Kill your darlings.” There were so many adjectives and similes wedged into every sentence, it was almost impossible to follow the thread. This is author Janella Angeles’s debut novel and unfortunately, it shows.

But there was way too much description, infinitely too many unanswered questions, and too little actual plot to please me. The concept is strong and I couldn’t help comparing it to The Night Circus, another book I wanted to love. But strange things begin happening in Glorian and Kallia isn’t as free of Jack as she thinks she is. She’s only chosen for the competition because Erasmus, the owner of the circus, and Daron, a young magician who has given up performing, acknowledge her talent despite the fact that she’s a woman. Kallia’s talent should take her far but female magicians are almost unheard of in this society. Glorian has been cut off from the world for a long time but a popular circus is visiting and encouraging the mayor to open the gates and revive the town. One night Kallia stumbles on a disturbing secret regarding Jack, the owner of Hellfire House, and decides to run away to the mysterious town of Glorian, where a magician’s competition is being held. Kallia is an orphan living and working as a magician at the ultra-exclusive Hellfire House.

Where dreams descend by janella angeles