This was one of my most anticipated books last year and I made it my number one book to read this year. it fit perfectly for the buzzword reading challenge for the month. The buzzword for January is dream. As I am writing this, today is the last day of the challenge for this month. When I started this book, I instantly thought of Caraval by Stephanie Garber and that stuck with me throughout the whole book. The similarities between the two books are mirrors of each other, which is funny because in this book, mirrors are seen as a bad thing by the main characters.
We start off with meeting a girl named Kallia. She is a dancer at this place called Hellfire House. She is the main showgirl. Her master Jack is a skilled liar and magician that runs his business solely on taking memories and creating illusions. He forbids Kallia from asking about and going to the city of Glorian which is across from Hellfire House. To get the Glorian, she has to go through the Dire Woods which will make you go mad.
Eventually, Kallia escapes from Hellfire House and makes it to Glorian where she enters the magicians contest. The thing is, is that no female magician has ever made it as a contestant in these games. Female magicians are forced to be labor magicians. Kallia makes it as a contestant and faces misogyny every step of the way.
When I first read about this book and what made me want to read it was the pitch. Phantom of the Opera meets Moulin Rouge. The only Phantom of the Opera similarity is that it has a trio where one guy wants to help the girl master her talent. That is it. Nothing else.
I ended up giving this a 2 out of 5 stars. I thought of Caraval the entire time I was reading it and it took me 7 days to read this. When I was reading it, I didn't want to put it down. When I did put it down, I didn't want to pick it back up because it is a slow pace.
I will be picking up the sequel later this year because I am still interested in the story and what will happen with these characters.
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