One Liner: Worthy premise, flat executionDespite an awesome prologue and a plot thread that has you itching to reach the conclusion,

i really enjoyed listening to the narrator and i found the writing extremely beautiful and the acing enjoyable and found it to be such and interesting read, I am definitely looking forward to reading the next book the author comes out with

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook, i thoroughly enjoyed listening to it and cannot wait to get a physical copy so i can read it and experience it all again.

This was a fun book! A very dreamy and whimsical fantasy where our main character goes in search of her mother, who has been missing for a long time. Violet’s adventures bring her to the City of Stardust and she must find her mother before the curse ends up taking her instead. I found this book to be enjoyable and would love to read other books by this author!

Who doesn't dream of that door that will take you to another world? one more magical than our own.
Violet Everly certainly does, imagining that she'll find her mother right behind it after she disappeared when she was ten.
And then a mysterious woman appears, throwing her uncles into an odd unease. Why, she doesn't understand. Not yet.
But the boy that came with her showed her a magic trick. One that molded metal into a floating marble. And Violet can't stop thinking about it.
She doesn't know that the woman that came was looking for her mother. And that she wants her inexchange if her mother can't be found.
Ten years.
To find a woman that has been evading both her family and people of a magic world for years. Gone to try and end the curse that rests upon their shoulders.

This book was honestly great. I listened to the audiobook and felt bewitched the entire time.
It was tense, almost spy- or heist-like with Violet's search across the globe. The relationships between the characters are real and captivating, the inteigue behind them desperate and tense, even if not surprising.
The world this book has opened, even though i feel like it only gave us glimpses of it through the keyholes of its doors (hah), is absolutely fascinating and i would love to know more about it.
Honestly, some of it almost sounded like Dark Souls Lore, the dark stuff about torn kingdoms and gods not evil and not good, but above morality.
I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a dark but magical adventure, who loves looking up at the stars and doesn't mind a pinch of romance sprinkled into their stories.

The City of Stardust took me by surprise. Even though the initial pitch sounded good to me, I was shook how much I enjoyed this one in the end.
“When Violet Everly discovers that her family owes a blood debt to an immortal, she must venture into a hidden world of magic, gods and monsters to break the curse - no matter the cost.”
To address some of the critics I read:
• Yes, the world building stays rather vague throughout the whole book but I loved this. Same as in “the last tale of the flower bride” the ethereal quality of the descriptions helped me to envision this book as a magical fairy tale
• Violet: Yes, she is naïve and stays the same for huge parts of the book. But, in a world as corrupted as it is in this book, is that really a bad thing?
• Alexander as love interest was predictable – true, but I automatically fell for him; Props for the bi!rep btw
This is a story for people who like dreamy narrative, who can indulge in narration via conversation, for those who want to be transported in a Wonderland like narrative. This book was written for me. And I liked it so much, after having finished the ARC, I ordered a physical copy.

I struggled with the narrator of this audiobook. It came across as very monotone and for me this made it easy for my mind to wander away from the story, even in key parts. I really wish I had gone for a print version and I will sadly be avoiding this narrator in the future xxx

However the story itself was brilliant. I loved the world building and the magical.system.
Love a secret magical society trope.

I loved the characters of violet and Penelope. .

I liked the idea of the world(s) and some of the characters. The setting felt European in fantasy conception. There wa a villian I really enjoyed reading about. The plot required some waiting with little explanationand that was what caused my pause. However, when I came back to it, I liked the other beings, I kind of liked the romance and I felt able to press on better. I liked the story overall but I didn't love it.

Magical and whimsical with a naive but lovable fmc and is just the perfect embodiment of ya fantasy. I had a lot of fun reading this!

I loved the cover design, it adeptly encapsulates the story's essence and genre. The illustrations vividly portray key elements of the world-building and the mythical ambiance. The writing style, struggles to fully immerse in the third-person narrative, keeping events at a distance. Despite pacing issues, the intriguing prologue sets the stage for a captivating storyline filled with mystery. Though some characters lack depth, standout figures like Penelope and Aleksander drive tension and narrative momentum.

Audiobook narrated beautifully unfortunately I had trouble connecting to the characters and the story felt a little disjointed at times. This story gave me strong Addie LaRue vibes which was also a 3 star read for me, which may explain my enjoyment of this book. The writing style was very majestic and perfectly articulated a unique world and was a quick easy read.

I went into this book basically blind and one of the biggest reasons I requested it was that I knew I was gonna get a special edition of it from Fairyloot but I had also seen others who have read it and liked it. I really got captivated with this book right away, it seemed interesting and very different. I really like the narrator, it’s not boring and I do enjoy the accent and it fits very well with the character and the book.

I am not really sure about the main character if I resonate with her or her choices. I am not sure the overall plot captured me fully either as I honestly felt it was kinda lacking and absent? The plot didn’t really make a lot of sense and was sadly for me hard to follow at times and the world-building needed more development for me to actually get into it. This is really disheartening as I did enjoy the premises of the book and it started off good but sadly it fell very flat for me so I ended up not being able to enjoy the beautiful almost ethereal writing the author uses.
The Romance wasn’t very exciting either, it was expected but not really built upon so it also sadly felt a little flat to me. But I do like some of their moments together and I would still root for them.

This book was so promising but it left me wanting it to be more than it was.

DNF at 50% - have retried to read/listen to this a few times, and it just doesn't hold or stick with me.

I'm really struggling to remember much about the plot beyond what I learned in the first chapters - Violet (there are so many Violet's as main characters, I swear I've read at least four or five in the past few months), is next in line to be a tithe to the baddie Penelope in place of her mother who has disappeared. Violet wants to find her. There is also a boy called Aleksander who is somehow bound to and an apprentice of(?) Penelope. Not sure about what exactly Aleksander's role is, and I can't tell you really anything about Violet except to say she wants to find her mother, that seems to be both her driving motivation and a replacement for personality?

Disclaimer: I have become, I think through Covid removing all my energy, a complete mood reader, so this rating and my progress may be entirely beholden to my mood while trying to get the plot of this book to sink in, but having said that, I've tried other books such as The Principle of Moments, which isn't my usual genre, and I wasn't really in the mood for, and found myself intrigued enough to keep turning the pages. The City of Stardust has kept me at a distance. The narration of the audiobook is quite neutral and formal, which works to some extent, and is usually my preferred style of narration, but I struggled to hold onto who was speaking or when, the story jumps around quite a bit, and sometimes, if I zoned out, I found myself completely lost as to what was happening. I always give one star to my DNFs, because, let's face it, my star rating is based on enjoyment rather than anything else, and if I DNF a book, I just haven't been enjoying it at that time.

This has got some great reviews, and comparisons to other books that I love, so I do hope to give it another try and will update this review if I finish it, when, hopefully, my opinion will change, it's always gutting to abandon a story part way through, not knowing what I'm missing, but I have so many books calling to me, I need to be running through them, not trudging. So, for now, I am leaving this one behind.

"The City of Stardust" is an enthralling audiobook that captivated me from start to finish. The world-building is exceptionally vivid and imaginative, creating an immersive experience that drew me into its unique universe. The main character is compelling and well-developed, making every moment of their journey engaging and relatable. I found myself listening to this audiobook in every free minute, eager to discover what would happen next.

Additionally, the narration is outstanding, adding depth and emotion to the story that enhances the listening experience significantly. The narrator's ability to convey the different characters and atmospheres truly brought the tale to life. I highly recommend "The City of Stardust" to anyone looking for a captivating story set in a brilliantly crafted world, guided by a fantastic narrator.

A special thanks to the author, the narrator, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing this audiobook for free for review purposes. This generosity has not influenced my opinion of the book, which remains entirely my own.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

The premise was pretty interesting, the execution not so much. The writing was quite flat and I found it difficult to get engaged in. The characters were two dimensional and the romance had zero spark. It felt like the world building was kind of skimmed over and the plot was very conversation driven with some loose ends that were lazily glossed over. Overall, I think the concept had potential but the writing just didn't hit the mark.

I just love books like this with multiple worlds and epic quests. The description of the worlds and the society they lived in were just wonderful. I loved how dark it got towards the end as well, the lengths that Penelope was willing to go to just to get Violet.

This book felt like a modern day fairytale. The way it was written and the writing itself gave it a dreamlike quality that added to this. Even when they were using phones and working in a cafe, it felt like a book from another age, another world and everything tied into this.

The narration was very good. Again it had a lovely dreamlike quality to it that added to the text and made it all the more delicious to read. I would definitely pick up a book from this narrator again.

The Astrals were my favourite. They were so dark and all powerful. It gave them a real dangerous quality to them whether they were aiding or hindering Violet’s progress.

This is definitely one for fans of The Night Circus or His Dark Materials.

This one had me gripped from early on. The world-building was beautifully done and I was so invested in Violet and her story. I really loved this one and am pleased I got the Fairyloot edition.

I really enjoyed this audiobook, not only was the story itself immersive and original the narrator’s voice really added to the whole experience.

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.

I thought the narrator was good but that she was the wrong choice for this book. She has an interesting voice but did not seem all that engaged with the story.

In terms of how much I engaged with and enjoyed this one, it was 2 stars, but it was written well and decently paced, and I recognise that this type of linear YA fantasy is just not my bag. So three stars.

I think from the hype I was expecting more but frankly while this was well polished, it was also flat. There was nothing new here and no real sense of wonder. There are a lot of YA daughter seeking mother novels on the market lately and this was a fairly off the peg imitation. In fact, if you remember the 1980s kids TV show T-bag, it was like that if someone had extracted the whimsy and sense of fun. Beautifully written but really not for me.