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stars

The magical element to this book is wonderful! I purchased a physical copy basically the day it released because after reading the ebook I had to have a trophy for my shelf (and the Waterstones edition was calling for my wallet). I cannot believe how much I loved this!

Thank you Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this and even got the physical book.
The main character goes through a rollercoaster ride if self discovery and betrayal.
This is a perfect example of YA fantasy.

The last quarter of the book really made it what it is, did take me a little while to get into it but when i did was worth it.
I wasn’t so keen on the pov switch up mid chapter sometimes throws you completely off.

"The City of Stardust" by Georgia Summers is an immersive fantasy debut with fairytale vibes that follows the life of Violet Everly since the moment her mother left her in the arms of her uncle, never to be seen. Violet's life is haunted by the presence of another world that prickles her curiosity, a secret her uncles won't reveal, a dangerous curse that has haunted her family's lives for ages.

With magic shimmering through every page and the semblance of a fable, The City of Stardust will capture its reader thanks to Georgia Summers' writing style. Every word is capable of carrying you into the enchanting universe created by the author, conferring the novel a charming appeal that will surely draw you into the streets of Fidelis, wondering what secrets the scholars hide in their books and what the curse exactly represents.

Questions upon questions pile up little by little, doubts increase as the reader dives into the story and it may be engaging at first, but it gradually becomes unclear, especially at the end. The world-building and the magic system are quite confusing for the reader to learn its characteristics with Violet. It's easy to be left behind by all the different detailed descriptions written in the shape of short tales.
All the news acquired by Violet, all the secrets she unraveled didn't surprise her at all: she was unveiling a world that she considered fantasy until a few moments before and she's perfectly calm-- if not enraged with her uncles for the knowledge they kept from her.

I would have loved to read more deepened notions about the astrals, the scholars and their society, and the characters themselves but everything was only a beautiful backdrop.
The real issue of this book is its pacing, it feels like a marathon, the events flow by and the reader doesn't have the time to absorb all the knowledge. The story was too short to be as effective and intriguing as it promised to be.
We don't see much of Fidelis, the scholars, and what they actively do remains a story that still needs to be fully told. I craved to read more about them, about Alexander and his studies, but the academic part isn't a central point of the novel, leaving behind a lot of interesting pieces of information that I wished to explore more.

Violet Everly didn't conquer my heart. The fast narration didn't give her personality the right space and time to properly develop and I couldn't justify her behavior in most situations. Violet could have been a great character: torn between saving her family and living the life she deserved, between despising her mother and understanding her actions. But Violet stayed a side character in her own story.

Aleksander had even more potential. His traumas and the inner battle that tore him between the debt he owed toward Penelope, the blind awe he felt for her, and the blooming love he was developing for Violet needed more attention. If Aleksander and Violet's relationship started as a friendship, it was impossible to predict the all-consuming and all-encompassing passion burning between them. It came out of nowhere and the very beginning of their bond hasn't been shown to the reader, so I couldn't cheer them.
Penelope, like all the other secondary characters, could be better investigated. The fast-paced plot didn't allow them to be appreciated and their stories to be fully understood.

"The City of Stardust" remains a well-written book, an enviable debut. It's a standalone that aims to convey wonder and magic, the same sensation typical of fairytales, and the author's bewitching prose did just that, creating an easy-to-read novel perfect for fans of evocative and magical settings.

High stakes, costly dark magic and wanderlust for incredible, magical worlds.

Violet Everly has lived for years with the shadow of the Everly curse hanging over her. Bought up by her uncles after her mother vanishes on a mysterious quest, she is remains hidden away at the Everly's ancestral home, until Penelope discovers her existence. With time running out before Penelope enacts the curse once more, Violet must set out into the world her mother vanished into, unsure who she can trust, working with and against power-hungry scholars on a desperate search for answers - and the doorway to another world.

I really enjoyed this dark fantasy and I'm looking forward to reading whatever Summers writes next.

I struggled with THE CITY OF STARDUST.
It’s not that the story isn’t interesting, but I just didn’t get the sense of magic and wonder that I was hoping I would, based on the blurb.
In that sense, I think this was a ‘just-not-for-me’ issue. I’m sure other readers will be hooked, because I can’t actually point to anything I actively disliked, it just didn't grab me.
I do think an actual flaw might be that the book doesn’t seem to know what age category it’s in. The writing and characters at times felt rather simplistic, and very YA, and at other times the story and its themes felt more solidly Adult. A little jarring, but not something that would bother me, I think, if I'd been more immersed on the whole.

To me The City of Stardust is like reading a traditional grim fairytale with all the beauty of the darkness underpinning the story. I read this book faster than I expected. The story broken down without too many spoilers is about power-hungry scholars, fickle gods, and monsters bent on revenge.

This book is a tale of a cursed family destined to lose their best and brightest child, the children taken by a mysterious woman who never seems to age and never forgives a debt. I do have a kind of spoiler without really giving too much away but I loved the magic system.

The way Georgia weaves together this tale is remarkable. There are captivating twists and turns, it was effortless getting hooked into this story. The characters are well thought out and developed, the plot is interesting and wasn’t predictable. I have seen some reviews say the book is too descriptive, but I personally didn’t mind.

Fantastic read which felt slow in some parts but also hard to understand with a lack of differentiating between character and past and present. Hopefully this will change with the final verison, i found myself flicking back and re-reading some bit which is never easy on digital.

Over all the story was good.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the book, here is my honest review!

I have big expectation for this book because I love the plot this book offer. But it turns out not like what I expect.
The world building is amazing, the explanation of their world with the doors, keys, hidden city, scholar, God and Goddess. Everything is so good I like it. But the plot is not execute well, I think there's too much prolongation that makes me bored and nothing really happen at the half of book.

The movement from one character to other character POV is also kind of confusing but because of that we know much things happen in that world and also the backstory. For the characters also not really special, I believe at the beginning there's something special from Violet but turns out not really happening here. She's just another girl whose trying to save her family. We also met Aleksander, the potential love interest but I can't see the chemistry from both of them. I'm not sure how and why they can develop any feelings.

The conflict also not end well, no great battle or anything and it just end like that. It so confusing while reading this book. Too bad the story didn't going like I hope.

'The City of Stardust’ is a beautifully written debut with elements of portal fantasy and dark fairytale. One for fans of lyrical writing and those who dream of other worlds, its packed with gorgeous imagery threaded throughout with a sense of danger and suspense. While the central relationship is unconvincing, the rest of the novel is cleverly crafted and spins an engrossing tale.

“A curse can be many things. A wish left out to spoil in the sun, putrid and soft, leaving behind only calcified desire and oxidised envy. Or a poisoned chalice, a mistake tattooed across an entire family tree, with every generation promising, vowing to never sip until they do. Sometimes, it’s a deal and bad luck conspiring like old grifters closing in on an easy mark. For the Everlys, it begins with stardust.”

Ten years ago, Violet Everly’s mother left – trying to escape the curse that’s taken generations of Everlys before her. Raised instead by her uncle, Violet has been sheltered from the reality of her Everly name. But now time is running out – and if Violet doesn’t find her mother, the curse will take her too. Finding herself drawn into a seductive world of power-hungry scholars, secret worlds, and something that looks a lot like magic, Violet can feel her childhood dreams of adventure coming true – but in the worst possible circumstances. She’ll soon find out that no-one here can be trusted, and that no secret stays buried forever.

The ‘new adult’ genre has gone out of vogue, but that’s undoubtedly what this is – a coming of age story about a woman in her early twenties figuring out her place in the world. Admittedly, her world has a lot more imminent threat to life and secret magical figures than most, but the central themes and how Violet grows throughout the story are some of the strongest parts. Violet herself is a typical protagonist for this sort of tale – naive and sheltered, but fed up of being treated like something that needs to be wrapped in cotton wool. She trusts the wrong people, leaps before she looks, and gets in some truly sticky situations, but throughout she learns and grows – except from in the central romance, which is a blight on her believability as a character. There, she’s too trusting and forgiving to truly gel with how she’s portrayed elsewhere.

The writing is the strongest part of the book. Gorgeously lyrical, it fits with the dark fairytale themes and paints beautiful pictures of the Everlys and the hidden worlds alongside. ‘The City of Stardust’ has been compared to ‘The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue‘ and ‘The Night Circus‘, and whilst it isn’t quite there, the writing is similarly evocative in places. Its also had comparisons to ‘The Ten Thousand Doors of January’, which is perhaps more apt – the portal fantasy themes are similar, as are the themes of growth and independence, although ‘The City of Stardust’ is a tad more superficial.

There are two points of view – Violet’s, very much the protagonist, and Aleksander’s, an apprentice to the woman who controls the Everly curse, and Violet’s eventual love interest. Aleksander is an excellent character – intriguing, complex, full of contradictions that smooth themselves out as the reader gradually gets to know him, and as he gets to understand himself. He provides a solid counterpoint to Violet. Their romance on his side is better crafted than hers, although lacks some of the depth of emotion needed to fully root for it.

This is mostly a slower paced book, although picks up in the middle when Violet is in the depths of her quest. The slower pace suits the writing style and allows the reader to fully immerse themselves. The plot itself is relatively simple but well crafted – nothing particularly original but, again, suiting the fairytale nature.

Overall, this is a gorgeously written book showcasing an author with real potential. There are a few small areas where its less convincing, but for fans of lyrical writing its a book worth giving a go.

This was a good fantasy, but I was expecting more...

The City of Stardust focuses on Violet Everly and her family's curse, in which the brightest star of each generation disappears and she fears to be next. She must find a way to break that curse and, to do that, she must discover more about this magical world she's been kept away from all her life.

I had such high hopes for this one because I'd heard amazing things about it, but, even though it grabbed my attention in many moments, it didn't really live up to what it was setting itself up to be. I couldn't really connect with the characters and I didn't think the author made us care about them, which made the stakes very low for me because I didn't really care what happened to any of them. This was also true of the romance/couple in the book; I felt they lacked chemistry and their relationship was not very believable. Also, the world-building was quite interesting with the keys that could open doors to any place you'd ever been, but there wasn't enough of it, in my opinion; I thought there were too many loose ends and questions unanswered there and I did want to learn more about how this world worked.

With that said, the writing style was good and fast-paced, so I do intend on reading the author's next book, as I understand this was her debut.

Thank you very much to Hodderscape/Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars. I have so many complicated feelings about this book, so let’s break it down by writing elements before I lose my mind.

First, the prose is beautiful. It flows quite well most of the time, and gives the story this dream-like quality that fits the material. It’s definitely what allowed me to keep going, keep that momentum. Because of that, however, it can be intangible, not lending itself very well to character interactions or the suspension/mystery plot thread, and focusing more on guiding the reader through the story and Violet’s thoughts. This could work with a less straightforward/more complex perspective, and if the plot itself wasn’t this concrete in opposition.

Unfortunately, this also impacted the pacing. On the one hand, the lovely prose masked that a bit. It is a bit like being put on a trance, and I do love the effect. On the other hand, I don’t think we knew where we were going most of the time. Violet had a purpose, but every step leading her there felt random and unfocused. Talk to this person, acquire this object we’ve never talked or heard about before, go to this place that this person mysteriously knows about for no good reason. And the last 20% just lingered for, again, no reason. The ending was one of obvious four (if not the more obvious of them all), so there was no true suspense. Do I think the ending made sense? Well, yes. It fits and it’s where it should end, but the execution was a tad lacking for me.

As for the world, it is so magical. It truly feels like its scope was larger than the story itself, and reminded me of His Dark Materials, but also a bit of Narnia. I was constantly craving more, wondering about the lore, certain characters’ backstories, further exploring what reveurite could do, what doors we could cross. But then… we didn’t. It’s almost a crime that we barely get to interact with reveurite and that the true adventures to lands unknown happen off-screen. I was promised magic and adventure throughout the first 25% of the book to then get glimpses of some of the world’s more iconic cities and have three off-brand tarot readings? I just wish we’d taken full advantage of the captivating world Summers crafted.

Next is the character work. It was very middle of the road for me. We are told Everlys are stubborn, loyal, and brave, and so… that is exactly what Violet is and nothing else. My biggest issue with her character is how this young woman went from being so incredibly sheltered, never allowed outside the house, to suddenly working at a café, to then being very proficient at rubbing elbows with the crème de la crème of society. (Also, the reason why she left is just… Eh. Did not convince me. I get why we had to, but that’s precisely why it felt more forced than organically woven into the story.) It’s implied that before this, Marianne (Violet’s mother) also kept her quite sheltered, so I don’t see how it’s possible for Violet to be so at ease in social settings and negotiations. Where is the struggle? This is worsened by the fact that we don’t actually see most of those conversations, we’re only told that she did this and that, and then see one or two of them where those connections are already established.

Then there’s Aleksander. Same problem. We get to see how he’s mistreated, but only told of the good times. As a reader, I shouldn’t have to fill in the blanks of the abusive cycle. If you want to have that discussion in a book, do it properly and respectfully. His relationship with Violet was also not very believable to me, especially from her side. This woman did the same thing thrice hoping for a different outcome, and because this is fiction, she succeeded. Sort of. Then there’s Caspian, who appears basically three times to have three short interactions with Violet, but we’re supposed to believe he’d bend the rules/stick out his neck for her because she’s just that intriguing and worth it. Not once, but twice at that.

The uncles were fine, if a bit one note, which is a shame, since I could see the potential and the relationship between them and Violet was very endearing. Penelope was also fine, if again not as complex as probably intended. If you want to bend basic human morality to allow for Penny’s actions and perspective, that betrayal is not enough, regardless of whichever version of the story is true. (I liked the fact that there were different versions, though. Nice touch. I also liked the parallels with Violet and Aleksander. It’s the old knowledge/power vs. love conundrum at play again.)

All in all, this book kept jumping forward to compensate for a slower pacing when a tighter narrative deadline and the details of the curse being lesser known would have solved most of these problems. It's not common that I ask for a book to be split in two, but that’s exactly what should have happened here, in my opinion. I would never be mad at more of this author’s writing, after all, and I do think she shows tremendous promise and I’m looking forward to her future projects.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Georgia Summers and Redhook for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A whimsical book of big adventures and even bigger characters.

The plot of this book follows Violet Everly - a young woman who's family is cursed. She sets out to break the curse, find her mother and escape her fate all before time runs out and the mysterious Penelope claims her blood debt.

I want to start by saying this book is beautifully written. It is almost poetic and times and the plot is extremely character driven. Violet is a strong lead character and her determination and love for her family really shines through.

The other characters - namely Alexander and Penelope - are equally well built and you understand everything they are feeling/thinking.

My complaint is not enough explanation for the actual plot. The book is fast pacedn as Violet only has a year to break the curse, but it would often jump quickly through time and bigger events weren't always well explained.

I really wanted more detail on the astrals and the world and felt this was what lacked slightly.

It was still beautiful and it compelled me enough to continue reading to find out how it ended.

A gorgeous, magical adventure with doors, keys and a dash of the most swoony romance!

I enjoyed the whimsical writing, the stand out characters and the imagery., This is a spellbinding tale that will enchant fans of fantasy and romance alike. With its captivating world-building, unforgettable characters, and passionate romance, this book is sure to leave a lasting impression and earn a special place on the bookshelves of readers everywhere. Highly recommended for anyone in search of an escape into a world of magic, adventure, and true love.

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the e-arc!

I loved this book, it felt so poetic and real at the same time. The characters were believable even if maybe not that relatable, the relationship between the two main characters was very interesting and I found myself often rooting for the two at the same time when... well if you've read the book, you know.
I liked how the stories became legends even for the protagonists themselves.
I wish this book had been longer because I wanted more!

The book has a premise that caught my attention, but it did not live up to my expectations.
The plot is chaotic, at the beginning the pacing is very fast and then very, very slow. The main characters have almost no chemistry and develop very little or very poorly, sometimes the female protagonist seems very innocent and has not learned anything, normal when you spend the first 20 years of your life without leaving home or interacting with children your age, and then it seems that she is smarter than the Scholars.
The resolution of the conflict seems anticlimactic to me, after 300 pages of pure evil on Penelope's part, it's over in two paragraphs and a fight that is barely described. Besides, the reasons why Penelope degenerates so much are not clear to me.
There are constantly recurring mysteries, such as the identity of Violet's father and the location of her mother, both of which remain unresolved, at least in my opinion.
The secondary characters are many, have two lines and do not help at all to advance or change the story of the protagonist, they are quite flat, have little personality or depth.
It was a very disappointing book, it had a lot of potential but the execution left a lot to be desired.

“A curse can be many things. A wish left out to spoil in the sun, putrid and soft, leaving behind only calcified desire and oxidised envy. Or a poisoned chalice, a mistake tattooed across an entire family tree, with every generation promising, vowing to never sip until they do. Sometimes, it’s a deal and bad luck conspiring like old grifters closing in on an easy mark. For the Everlys, it begins with stardust.”

City of Stardust is a whimsical flight of fantasy of magical families, the struggle to hoard power and the need of the Everly’s to break a curse that has long plagued their family. The world-building is unique albeit a little difficult to grasp despite the beautiful prose flowing throughout the story.

You are struck by the selfishness of characters who are unwilling or unable to consider the impact of their decisions beyond themselves and it underscores the desperate need for self-preservation. This story has it all, moments of violence, love, cruelty and beauty while encompassing characters who are flawed, real and believable.

This is bound to appeal to lovers of Caraval and other such whimsical tales, with beautiful atmospheric writing and the creation of a fantastical world, that exists alongside the real world and unique magical system.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read this.

I wanted to like The City of Stardust more than I actually did, unfortunately. Although the writing was beautiful and whimsical, I felt that it was a bit slow in places and I didn't connect to the characters as much as I wanted to, perhaps because it was written in third person present POV. The style actually reminded me of Laini Taylor's novels and they were always a bit hit or miss for me.

I really enjoyed this book. Violet Everly is a strong young woman fighting against her families curse that has been going back for generations. The details of the worlds inhabited in this book and the craftsmanship was great. I’ll be looking out for more from this author in the future.

I admit, I was drawn in by the cover.

Violet Everly’s family is cursed. A curse was put on the family thousands of years ago. Each generation the family has to hand over the most promising Everly to Penelope, an ageless woman. The ‘sacrificed’ Everly would then become a scholar in Penelope’s world. No one knows what the Everly family did thousands of years ago to be cursed, but everyone in the family knows that there has to be a sacrifice once every generation. Marianne, Violet’s mother, was supposed to be the last generation’s sacrifice, but she vanished when Violet was ten. Penelope gave Violet's uncles ten years to find Marianne, or she would come to collect Violet. Now Violet needs to find her mother or break the curse to free the Everlys, otherwise she'd be sacrificed to Penelope. That is my take on what this book is about.

I did not like the book. I was confused by the flowery language that packs a lot of words into a sentence which eventually doesn’t tell me anything. Further confusion was created by the omniscient narrator switching between different POVs from one paragraph to the next. All that is interspersed with fairy tale interludes. Set in present tense, so that distinguishing between what timeline (present or past) and which character I was following was confusing. It just didn’t work for me.

World-building is essential in fantasy novels, yet within all that flowery language I couldn’t find an explanation for how the magic system works, what kind of curse was put on the Everly’s and why, and quite frankly, by about 60% of the book, I didn’t really care anymore. I still finished the book but only to see what explanation there might be for the curse. I still don’t know.

I hope that the finished book was less of a mess than the ARC I read.