Okay so eh as y'all can see, I am not a fan of this book. A lot of things put me off and it got so bad I had to take a break from this or I would've ended up in a reading slump🥲

I am so so sad because I was so excited for this book! The synopsis sounded SO good and interesting and the cover is so pretty😍 But the story, the characters, the writing.. all of it didn't work for me.. I really tried to love it, I really did but no, I'm glad it's over.

The story itself, it was a great concept, one that peaked my interest. I was expecting a lot of world building as there were a lot of different 'worlds' you could enter through 'keys' but I felt like it was barely explained. Like others also have said I had a problem with the whole curse and Violet's journey through it. We as readers knew a lot more than the main character which was very annoying to me because 1. It was hard to follow because I kept thinking why doesn't she know that? And 2. the plottwists were barely plottwists because you already knew they were coming...
I also couldn't keep up with all the different aspects and tbh if you'd ask me what happened in this book I couldn't even explain it lol. The world, the rules, the magic, it was so complex which made it very hard to understand everything that was going on.

Then the characters.. unlikable, especially the main characters Violet and Aleksander. I felt like they both didn't get any development and Violet was just too naive and forgiving. Their chemistry was off so I also hated the romance part in this book. There were some side characters I did like though, Ambrose, Gabriel, Caspian.. but they got barely any dialogue.

The writing? I'm in the minority on this but this writing style is not for me. When I first started reading, something felt off for me and it wasn't until I started reading reviews I knew why. People were comparing this writing style to the night circus, another book I absolutely despise. I HATE this kind of writing which caused a snowball effect of me not understanding some stuff and hating all the dialogue and the way the story flowed. It was just overly descriptive but not descriptive enough in other aspects..
I also have to note that I really didn't like the switching POV's mid chapter without a proper indication. Like, you could be reading about Violet going on about her day and the next sentence will say something like " 'I'm not sure if I should do this' Aleksander thought", y'all know how much I love multiple POV's but this one wasn't executed very well in my opinion.

So yeah this was definitely not my cup of tea although the prose sounded amazing and definitely up my alley! I do think (and know because of the reviews) that a lot of people would like and even love this book so take my review with a pinch of salt. If you like descriptive writing this book will suit you!

The City of Stardust
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“Books have always been her escape. When she couldn’t leave the house, when no one would answer her questions, when she felt so very alone in the world. They have given her a way out before - maybe they can do it again”
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Writing a review for this book is really difficult, on the other hand even the book itself is very complex, layered and full of questions but with enigmatic and universal answers that make you think a lot! If you love these types of books then it’s definitely for you! If you loved Addie LaRue, The Starless Sea or Strange The Dreamer then you might like it!! I personally loved it!
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Violet’s mother disappears one stormy night, never to be seen again. Unbeknownst to the child, her mother is leaving to try and break their family curse. Violet is left in the care of her uncles who do their best to hide her from the world, because if Penelope ever finds her, she’ll take her. When Violet can no longer be hidden from the world she must set out on adventure to break the curse herself and discover where her mother has vanished to. To do so, she must descend into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. She must also contend with Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted but his charm can’t but attract her.
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I don’t say anything else because in my opinion this is the kind of book that you have to start completely blind !! The reading experience will be amazing!!
I loved the characters so much! Violet was characterised very well in her being young and stubborn! Aleksander is a boy with a tormented past and often makes difficult and questionable choices. Penelope instead is the villain of the story but while reading we can understand and get to know her better!
Speaking of writing I really have no words because as a debut novel it is divinely written! A dreamlike writing!!
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Thanks to netgalley hodderscape/Hodder and Stoughton and Georgia Summers for providing me with this e-ARC!!
The city of stardust comes out everywhere on January 25th !!

The City of Stardust is full of mystery, betrayal, magic and adventure. I had to read it for the cursed family plot alone. It’s beautifully written throughout with gorgeous settings and pure vibes. For this reason I would compare it to The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue or The Starless Sea. The book is in 3rd person and this meant I didn’t connect to the characters as much as I would have liked, it just wasn’t as immersive and I feel this was why. But I do think it was a beautiful piece of fiction. Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an E-ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

The City of Stardust is a story of magic, of curses and adventures. We follow the tale in the footsteps of Violet Everly, whose family is the victim of a long standing curse. One member per each generation of the Everly household must be taken to pay the debt that is owed. After Violet’s mother disappears when searching for a way to end the curse, it falls to her to pay instead.

The world building crafted by the uber talented Georgia is beautifully constructed and the mystery unfolds as the protagonist travels both our world and others that Co-exist alongside it. I loved delving into the wonders of the world Violet and her companions occupied and felt that it was reminiscent of those crafted by Philip Pullman in the His Dark Materials series. The intrigue of what would happen next kept me reading despite the lag in pacing in some areas.

In some ways I feel as though this book really caters to those who grew up reading the likes of Pullman, and series like The Chronicles of Narnia (I was SO hoping that the wardrobe in Violet’s house was going to lead somewhere!) because of the wonder and enchantment of the new world we are introduced to and also the lens by which Georgia explores cities we might already be familiar with.

This book was a highly anticipated release for me and I’m extremely disappointed. I went back and forth on whether to rate this book 2 or 3. The book wasn’t offensive to me, I just simply did not care. It was a slog to get through and I sadly cannot recommend.

Just a super boring/ middling fantasy read. Not at all high stakes and I didn’t care or like any of the characters. This book is categorised as adult but I’d say it’s definitely YA. This book has been tagged with romance but I don’t agree with. There’s barely buds of a romance. Certainly not strong enough to deserve the tag

There was so much about this book which fired my imagination - from the fantastical world found through locked doors, the scholars manipulating star-metal for magic and the vengeful gods to Violet's uncles and the mysterious curse afflicting the Everly family. I was totally swept up in the world and enjoyed the story more and more as it progressed. I loved Violet as a main character and Penelope as a female villain. I also loved the gentle romance between Violet and Aleksander. It has the best combination of love, family, heartache and betrayal and it blended dark academia with fantasy and threw in some gothic fairy tale vibes for good measure. I finished it no time and was left full of wonder. It's billed as a standalone novel but there were enough loose ends and interesting characters I would love to know better to leave me hoping for more from this world which I feel is a recommendation in itself

3.5 Stars

I feel torn on this one, because on one hand the descriptions were gorgeous and the vibes were off the charts, but it missed the mark on too many things to really have me hooked.

I couldn't really feel connected to the characters - Violet is almost a compelling protagonist, but there's just something missing from her personality. We meet her when she's a child and she feels completely different to her adult self, it's hard to make her out. She was so naive as an adult, especially with her relationship with Aleksander, it made me want to tear my hair out.

The plot was also a little wobbly - although my favourite book is the Starless Sea and slightly insane vibes plots are something I like, I was asking myself too many questions while reading for it to feel complete. If the light was tinted purple in the last few chapters, why was Violet describing colours as if she could see them in plain sunlight? (and so on...)
I didn't love the pacing either, the last chunk of the book was super fast, slow then over all of a sudden, and I didn't find the ending that satisifying because it was over so quickly.

The worldbuilding is definitely what kept me going here. It's an incredible premise and the descriptions are just stunning! I will definitely be picking up more from this author because I love her writing, hopefully the characters will be stronger in future books.

I also love the legend that's woven throughout the story and how there are different versions. This is one of my absolute favourite plot devices and I loved it in this book, it was one of the best bits in my opinion!

4 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this arc!

The writing in this book was beautiful and I loved the start of the book so much. The worldbuilding & descriptions were vivid and creative, and I would happily read several more books set in this world. For the first and last thirds of the book, the plot was very engaging, but it felt slow in the middle - the story could have been more enjoyable if some of this had been cut out. I enjoyed the way it flitted between characters, but despite being one of the main characters, Violet felt a little underdeveloped. I also would have loved to find out a bit more about Marianne by the end.

Overall an enjoyable read, which I would recommend for people who enjoyed Addie LaRue, His Dark Materials & Starling House - I look forward to reading more of Georgia Summers’ work in future as I really loved her writing style ❤️

3 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
When I first started this book, I genuinely believed it would be a 5-star read because the opening was intriguing and promised something truly special. I anticipated embarking on an exciting journey and was initially thrilled and prepared for the adventure. However, my enthusiasm dwindled after the first 100 to 150 pages, and I found myself losing interest. Each attempt to resume reading became more challenging than the last.

The writing, while beautiful and captivating initially, eventually became bothersome. The primary issue was the lack of significant events in the plot. While there was extensive and well-executed description, it became excessively prolonged. This resulted in the actual plot getting lost along the way, and the characters suffered as a consequence. They felt one-dimensional and uninteresting, as each character seemed to have only one defining trait.

The main protagonist was burdened with a curse, and the male protagonist struggled with the dilemma of choosing sides, and that was essentially all there was to their characters. In summary, this book would have been more enjoyable if it were shorter and if there had been more restraint in the descriptive elements.

Wow what an absolutely wonderful surprise this book was, Georgia Summers has created a gorgeously atmospheric fairytale esque tale, it fully immerses you, consumes you- I finished this book in a few hours I couldn't put it down.

The Everly's are a cursed family, a curse that calls for one from in each generation to be sacrificed! Violet Everly is a dreamer who has been kept safe by her scholarly uncles but as she starts to find her way in the world she is plunged in to a fairy tale and a quest reliant on unpicking her familial history.

I adored the way that we discovered the world along with Violet we were right there with her as she unpicked the clues and peeled back her family history, the world was so complicated and sprawling however Georgia Summers makes it so uncomplicated. The writing is so poetic and yet so accessible it read beautifully.

The villain in this book is truly exceptional, I though the exploration and development of this character was so good. One of the other aspects that I really enjoyed was the exploration of the mother-daughter relationship and this set against the truly heartwarming relationship Violet had with her uncles felt quite different.

This book has dark elements and as the story develops there are some violent and gory scenes so please check content warnings,

I am not a massive fan of standalone books mainly because if I love them I miss the characters but also because there's sometimes that feeling like the story is wrapped up very quickly at the end but this book is well paced and wraps up in I think the most perfect way, it was the ending I needed.

I've seen this described as perfect for readers who loved The Starless Sea and Ten Thousand Doors of January and I would definitely agree it has that whimsical and at times almost Ethereal style, for me I also had a lot of the feelings I got when I read Ink, Blood, Sister, Scribe,

Firstly, thank you to netgalley and Georgia for the eARC opportunity!

"The City of Stardust" is an enchanting tale that lured me in with its cursed hereditary line and hidden worlds of stardust and snow-capped mountains. Georgia's creation was a powerhouse, fulfilling my desire for strong, beautiful heroes and conflicted, handsome men. My only lament? Its brevity left me yearning for more, perhaps a sequel to delve deeper into this captivating world.

Violet Everly, though somewhat two-dimensional in her portrayal, emerges as the quintessential protagonist. Her sheltered life and sudden exposure to the outside world propel her into a journey where she embraces destiny with grace, vigor, and an unwavering empathy. While her naivety in justifying people's actions might seem a tad unrealistic, given her isolated upbringing, her yearning for connection and companionship feels utterly relatable.

I genuinely cannot wait to get my hands on this book as along side it being a beautiful story, that cover is just gorgeous,

WOW! I inhaled this in less than 6 hours since I downloaded which is completely unheard of from me 😭

I don’t even know where to begin. From the world building to the scenery to the characters this was a masterclass in fantasy writing. The prose was sublime, I felt so immersed in this world with gods, and I could see this book playing out as a movie in my head.

“heavy dreams make for heavy burden”

I have highlighted so many different quotes from this book, each one has such special meaning behind it, I found this boo not only magical but also relatable. This book is for us dreamers who always wished to find hidden doors and secret passageways that leads to a new adventure. Almost reminded me of a arnica in that sense,

I adored violet and how she wanted to find her missing mother, she reminded me a lot of Addie from The Invisible life of Addie La Rue, all in all this was such a mystical read that I couldn’t recommend enough.

Thank you so much to netgalley, the publishers and Georgia Summers for my arc in exchange for an honest review!

"The City of Stardust" is a standalone fantasy written by Georgia Summers, here at her debut.

The Everlys are a cursed family. For centuries, the brightest member of each generation has been taken, vanishing without a trace, as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor is a mysterious woman named Penelope, who never ages, never gets sick and never forgets a debt. Ten years ago, Marianne Everly, the designated member of her generation, abandoned her child, her family, in search of a way to break the curse, walking away on a stormy night to never return. Violet, Marianne's daughter, grew up with her uncles, confined within the family's old, dilapidated estate in an attempt to keep her hidden from Penelope. Until Penelope discovers her existence and shows up at her uncles' house. Because a debt is a debt and an Everly is owed to her. In a desperate attempt to take more time, the uncles make a deal: ten years to find Marianne and turn her in, or Penelope will take Violet instead. Now, almost running out of time, a grown Violet, aware of the situation and tired of the many lies, decides to search for her mother herself. The hunt soon leads her into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry academics, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. And into the path of Penelope's quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted yet to whom she finds herself undeniably attracted.


What a wonderful read! "The City of Stardust" is an enchanting, dark and bewitching novel full of magic, curses, keys, doors, stars, unknown worlds, fickle gods and vengeful monsters. It is a book about abandonment, betrayal, revenge, obsession, anger, envy and power hunger, but at the same time it is a book about courage, sacrifice, loyalty, love and strong family ties. A praise for books, stories, fairy tales, dreams and imagination.  A story that made me a little bit of a child again, when I wished that the door to a closet, basement or room could lead somewhere else. In my opinion it is not a perfect novel, I perceived several flaws, but in the end I do not care. It managed to absorb me totally, moving me a lot, so for me it's awesome!

The writing is wonderful! The author has a refined, sophisticated, delicate, evocative and lyrical prose that gives an almost dreamlike nuance to the whole story. The strongly descriptive style influences the narration, giving it a rather slow pace, which in my opinion is nevertheless smooth, thanks also to the presence of short chapters.

I liked the characters a lot! The story features several povs, all in third person, the most important of which are those of Violet, Aleksander, and Penelope. Violet, the protagonist, is a girl with a strong imagination, who loves stories and dreams of adventure. A determined, loyal, stubborn and somewhat naive young woman, pressed by a curse for which she is not to blame and tormented by the absence of her mother. Aleksander is Penelope's assistant, a boy obsessed with study and knowledge, marked by a troubled past and strong inner conflicts. And then there is Penelope, the mysterious villain of the situation, capable of truly despicable and cruel actions, with a long and complex past. These are extremely interesting characters, but in my opinion they lack some depth. 

Overall, in my opinion, "The City of Stardust" is a novel enveloped in a cryptic, mysterious atmosphere that provides little clear information and even fewer precise answers. It is a choice that one may or may not like, depending on personal taste, but I personally liked it and found it coherent with the dreamlike atmosphere that hovers between the pages.

All in all, this is a book that I deeply loved, featuring evocative writing, an enchanting setting and excellent characters!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Generations of the Everly family have been plagued by a curse which requires the sacrifice of one of each generation. Violet Everly has lived in the protection provided by her uncles,Violet's mother Marianne who was the chosen one, disappeared in her childhood to find a way to break the curse. Now Violet is stood to suffer in her place, so sets out out to find her and the answer to who she is.

Violet is a fantastic protagonist and the character of Penelope is an excellent villain I would love to read more of her story.
An engaging read from start to finish and I was hooked from the first page. I did find that the end was dragged slightly and while enjoyed the subplot of Violet and Aleksander, I wasn't particularly invested in it. Reminiscent at times of Celia and Marco in the Night Circus.

It has been such a long time since a book captured me from the furst page. I have been reading this for 2 hours so far and I only put it down to go for a wee and write this. I will be recommending this to my students as inspiration for their final major project!

Thank you to NetGalleyUK and Hodderscape (Hodder & Stoughton) for an eARC of The City of Stardust in return for an honest review.

I adored the first 50 pages of this book. I fell in love with the poetic writing style, and the intrigue of the story of the Everly family. Unfortunately, as the story progressed so did my confusion. I felt that there were chapters of beautiful writing that described very little of the plot or character progression, but not enough description of key moments in the book, where I was left confused and wanting more. This book also contained one of my least favourite tropes; lack of communication. If the characters had been more honest with one another then we wouldn't have needed half of the story.

I think this book will be brilliant for readers who want a book that's all vibes (the writing was stunning!), but I'm sad to say, that as a reader who loves a strong plot line, that this one wasn't for me.

* Trigger warning for violence towards children in this book * (I wish I'd have known this before reading a copy of the ARC. Hopefully it is added in for the fully published version)

I read this one in 3 days flat – 04-Sep-2023 to 07-Sep-2023 and even now months on, as soon as I read the first line of the blurb (The Everly Family is cursed) memories of reading it come flooding back.

In this book we follow the story of Violet Everly and the Everly curse. Violet’s mother left her when she was younger, vanishing one night. In doing so the curse on her falls to Violet and we see Violet’s journey to discover and ultimately break the curse across universes – her own in a contemporary middle American setting, and the magical world of Fidelis, with gods, monsters and scholars.

The City of Stardust is a wonderfully written book. The prose and the world building is fantastic and I could picture everything that the author was describing along the way – from the Everly Mansion to Fidelis itself, to the coffee shop that Violet meets Aleksander in. However, there was so much of the rest of the world unexplained. I don’t think I fully understand the magic system (other than “Cos Penelope made it so”) or the where and the why of the existence of Fidelis. Its background, its story, its system, its purpose. The way of using the flashbacks throughout the book and writing in 3rd person, felt disjointed to me and meant that we knew what was happening in some instances before the person it was happening to. Aleksander was such a compellingly written character, that I wanted to know more of his tortured experiences and understand what he was feeling. Violet on the other hand less so – I found her the least intriguing character written in the story and she felt like a vessel or afterthought to carry the story along rather than the story being about her.

Overall this felt like a story about a curse and a concept not a person or a world and it lacked slightly due to that. I would love to see what this author could do with more words, pages and solid characters.

This was a 3* read for me

A world full of magic, mistery and dark secrets.
A girl seeking for adventures, A family with a curse.
Violet Everly is willing to do anything to discover the truth.

The potential was very high. Unfortunately, The City of Stardust wasn't for me.
This book has an amazing atmosphere and the writing is magnetic. I loved the setting of Fidelis and the world-building general concept, but beyond the wonderful landscapes and the impressive descriptions there is a story that doesn't entirely convince me.
As i said, the potential was high but I feel that Georgia Summer focused too much on creating the setting than on developing the story and characters.
The story is very linear and predictable, the characters lack depht. The world-building is too vague and by the end the reader has more questions than he had at the beginning.
Other than that, I didn't like the ending.

Long story short: too many ornaments, too little substance.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

4 stars

The synopsis says that "this is a story about a woman who descends into seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters." Which is theory is all correct, however do not go into this story to believe that this is dark and seductive fantasy (although some parts of it is dark, especially gore-filled). So my expectations were slightly off, when I read it.

The general story is still intriguing, with a secret world, interesting magic (stardust) and gods. The plot was also good (not generally fan of "lets not tell the main character something that affects them directly), but I did not fault this too much.

However my problem was the main mystery. We had a lot of POVs, so we figured the mystery out very fast (literally you are shown it straight from the beginning; or told in short stories), so I felt no stakes or interest to figure out the mystery (when the main character tries to figure it out). I think deleting some POVs would have helped ALOT.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are, as always, my own.
Edit Review

This book was all about the vibes for me which were great, I loved the whimsical descriptive prose especially the history switchbacks told like fairytales. But I didn't overly get invested with the main characters they just felt a bit flat and repetitive. I much preferred the proposed villain and the astral side characters they felt more vivid even with bit parts. I wanted so much more from this because I was loving the writing style and the plot had so much potential. There were some great scenes then rushed chunks that needed a bit more depth. I did thoroughly enjoy it I just wanted to 5 star adore it, but I'm excited to see what comes next from this author!
Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the arc in return for an honest review.