Janella Angeles’s Where Dreams Descend follows ambitious showgirl Kallia as she fights to compete for a spot as the headlining magician of the Conquering Circus.
The competition takes place in Glorian, a city full of secrets. While competing, Kallia encounters Daron Demarco, the enigmatic young judge with a hidden past. Kallia, too, wishes to forget her past — but Jack, the owner of the club she left for the competition, won’t let her get away so easily.
Happily Ever After is a companion novel to The Selection series by Kiera Cass. The first story, “The Queen,” tells how King Clarkson and Queen Amberly fell in love. Their relationship is very toxic; his tests were controlling and not justifiable because he didn't want to marry someone vain. The second story included, “The Prince.” retells the beginning of the Selection from Maxon's perspective.
Before is the final book of Anna Todd’s After series. This book gives some insight into a few of the characters’ lives before After takes place and provides a retelling of the beginning and end of Tessa and Hardin’s relationship through Hardin’s point of view.
Scarlett has dreamed of attending Caraval, a performance of sorts, for her whole life. Unfortunately, her abusive father has not only forced her to remain on her home island but will soon require her to participate in an arranged marriage. Shortly before said marriage, Scarlett receives a letter from Caraval Master Legend himself, inviting her to the upcoming Caraval. With her sister, Tella, and Tella’s boyfriend, Scarlett runs away from home to attend the event. However, as audience participation is quintessential, her sister is stolen upon their arrival. Scarlett is left to determine
After Ever Happy is the final book in the After series written by Anna Todd. This book follows Tessa and Hardin as they adjust to living in different states to get space from one another and experience personal growth. This book had a different vibe than the rest of the series; it had more of a somber tone than the others, which I didn’t love.
After We Fell, the third installment of Anna Todd’s After series, might just be the best book in the series. Tessa and Hardin learn to live separately and travel to England for Hardin’s mom’s wedding. Throughout all of this, Hardin and Tessa actually seem to learn how to communicate for the most part, and a lot of drama arises surrounding both Hardin and Tessa’s parents.
After We Collided is the second book in Anna Todd’s After series. This book really isn’t anything different from its predecessor except that it’s slightly better. In this book, Tessa and Hardin changed a little bit; Tessa became slightly more annoying with her inability to use commonsense, and I was happy to see Hardin actually express some emotion for once.
Lovely War by Julie Berry is a romance and historical fiction novel that follows the lives of four individuals during World War I, told from the perspective of Aphrodite (goddess of passion and love). Hazel, James, Colette, and Aubrey’s paths cross by mere circumstance, and with Aphrodite’s help, beautiful relationships are formed. As time passes, the perils of war threaten to interfere with the romances and friendships.
Kiera Cass's fifth and final installment of The Selection series, The Crown, wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst. I have a few problems with this book, the major one being the development of Eadlyn and Eikko's relationship, or lack thereof. Their relationship was predictable, but it had no growth; it seemed like they just kind of ended up together.
Anna Todd's After, a contemporary young adult romance based on Harry Styles fanfiction, gives me mixed emotions. Tessa has been picture perfect her whole life, but when she goes to college and meets British bad boy Hardin, she starts to change her ways. First off, Tessa and Hardin's relationship is entirely toxic; during most of their interactions, they're drunk, lying, fighting, or using each other as a distraction.
