Thank you so much NetGalley for this ARC!!

I want to start by saying I truly love fantasy books. It’s a huge part of my reading and I really love worldbuilding, however this just seemed somehow too much and yet not enough at the same time.

Violet Everly’s family cursed. She has been dreaming of adventure ever since her mom disappeared to try and break the curse. She goes on this quest to try and figure out what happened to her mom years ago while also trying to figure out who she is.

The magic was very interesting but I felt as though I needed more to understand the whole world. The writing was beautiful and poetic, but sometimes turns confusing and I only felt interested in what was happening about 60% of the time.

Would read more by her just due to the writing.

I really went into this book not knowing anything about it which is not my Normal way of reading.
I found The City Of Stardust interesting at first then it got a little slow half way through but then the author brings you into a seductive magical world full of betrayal , a family cursed, self discovery, power hungry people, people who disappear, gods and other secret hidden worlds.
Thank you netgalley

A big thanks to NetGalley and RedHook Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I may or may not have requested this book solely for it's cover.

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers is a fantasy novel. For centuries, the Everlys have seen their best and brightest disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick – and never forgives a debt. Violet Everly was a child when her mother left on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. When Marianne never returns, Penelope issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find her mother, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer. Unless she can break the curse first. Her hunt leads her into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. And into the path of Penelope's quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted – and yet to whom she finds herself undeniably drawn. With her time running out, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.

I honestly wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. I moslty blame it on the discombobulation of the plot. As I was able to sucked in with the prologue, but as soon as the actual story started I was confused. While the romance was severely underdeveloped, and made it kind of weird towards the end. Overall, this was a cool concecpt but a let down of an execution.

The Everlys are cursed. For centuries, someone in their family disappears. They are taken by a woman named Penelope that never ages, and never forgets. The Everlys have no idea what their ancestors did to get on her bad side, but that makes no difference to Penelope.
Violet Everlys mother disappeared on a rainy night when she was little. Now that she's older, Penelope will take her unless Violet's mother returns to her. Violet's uncles thought Penelope took her. Now they have to find her or lose Violet forever.

This was one of most anticipated reads. Sadly, I didn't love it. I didn't like the writing style, it felt like most of it was told in conversations. The middle of the book was a slog. And I didn't like any of the characters enough to care what happened to them. 3 stars is generous, it's maybe a 2.5.

The City of Stardust, Georgia Summers' debut in adult fantasy, presents a fascinating premise centered around the Everly family's generational curse, forcing them to surrender their most magically gifted member to the enchanting realm of Fidelis. As the chosen family member disappears, a gripping 10-year countdown begins for the Everly's to find a solution to break the curse.

Despite its promising premise, City of Stardust struggles to fulfill its potential, drowning in whimsical prose that leaves limited space for profound character development and world-building. The narrative often relies on 'tell and not show,' narrating events off-page, creating a disjointed feeling over the 10-year span and leaving gaps in the storytelling. The slow-paced nature of the book contributes to a sense of uncertainty about the story's direction, even well into its course.

While the prose is beautiful and whimsical, the vivid descriptions expected of the magical city, Fidelis, are elusive, making it challenging for readers to fully envision the landscape. The untapped potential of the story becomes evident as the reader yearns for more details, such as Violet's childhood, insights into the scholars' community, and the history of other chosen Everly's.

Violet, with more in-depth character building, had the potential to be an intriguing protagonist, but unfortunately, she remains underdeveloped. The romance subplot feels implausible, with the protagonist seemingly drawn back to a questionable relationship. The uncle relationship, although having the potential for sweetness and warmth, falls flat due to lack of development.

The City of Stardust might be a divisive read, falling into the category of a 'love it or hate it' book, with little middle ground. My thanks to Netgalley and Redhook Books for the opportunity to review an advanced reader copy of The City of Stardust.

2.5/5 Stars

The City of Stardust is Georgia Summers’ debut novel, but she writes like someone with years of experience. With elements of The Night Circus and Philip Pullman’s work combined with entirely new worlds, this is a great book to start the new year with.

I loved how Summers frames The City of Stardust; it’s a story within a story. Each section begins with a different version of the same fairytale. They hint at the mysteries of the larger narrative but leave readers questioning what the true past really is. This fleshes out the fairly simple world-building in a way that feels natural.

As the central character, Violet is fascinating. She’s the restless, cooped-up heroine with whom fantasy readers are fairly familiar. When the curse finally comes for her, she’s largely left to her own devices. But despite the dangerous situation, Violet’s first time out in the world is still an adventure. She seizes the opportunity to travel and experience new things. I appreciated that Violet is both tenacious and wide-eyed, even as she’s running for her life.

I’ve seen a few reviewers describe The City of Stardust as romantasy, but I don’t agree. While there is a romance plot, it isn’t the central focus. It may have actually been the weakest part of the novel. There’s never a satisfying resolution to a major betrayal mid-way through the book, and so the romance fell flat for me.

If you loved The Ten Thousand Doors of January or anything by Erin Morgenstern, The City of Stardust is the perfect read. This book is for anyone who loves an atmospheric fantasy set in a unique yet familiar world.

The description for The City of Stardust captivated me as soon as I read it. Here’s what hooked me: “A young woman descends into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge to break her family's curse in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy debut.” There are so many things that grab me in that little synopsis. A “seductive, magical underworld?” Sign me up. “Power-hungry scholars?” Forever and always. Fickle gods and family curses? Yes, please. While I did get all of those things, the story itself didn’t land quite as solidly for me as I had hoped it would.

This story brought to mind a multitude of others. I was reminded of The Ten Thousand Doors of January in bits and pieces of the writing style, as well as in the key and door motifs. Strange the Dreamer came to mind in terms of tone and texture, and even the story itself. There was a whiff of The Starless Sea, a subtle hint of The Night Circus. By and large, these are books that I adore. So to say that my expectations for The City of Stardust were through the roof would be an understatement. And high expectations are always risky.

I found this to be one of those odd stories that is strongest in the middle. It got off to a bit of a slow start, and the finish felt shaky and not wholly formed. But the middle 200 pages or so were incredibly engaging. This was the quest portion of the tale, and it was well crafted and well delivered. It was here that I found our main characters, Violet and Aleksander, to be at their most compelling. The various settings were all beautifully rendered. I felt that the pacing and tension, both in terms of plot and romantic undertones, were wonderfully balanced in this section. I could have overlooked the weaker beginning had the ending not unraveled. At least, it did so in my eyes. The tension dissipated where it should have been the tightest.

I liked The City of Stardust, and there were aspects of it that I absolutely love. The descriptions of Violet’s bookish childhood was fantastic. I loved Ambrose and Gabriel, Violet’s uncles, though I actually wish they had been given more time on the page. I was fascinated by the hidden world of Fidelis, and the scholarly underworld that had found its way from that world into our own. Aleksander was a very intriguing character, and I was never quite sure where he was going to fall in terms of relationship with Violet. The mythos here was pretty fascinating, and the supernatural entities were a wonderful blend of awe-inspiring and terrifying.

Georgia Summers created something lovely in The City of Stardust, if a touch unbalanced in terms of pacing and a maintenance of tension. I might have felt a bit ambivalent about the way things wrapped up, but by and large I think this was a solid debut. If everything that comes from Summers’ pen is this lovely, I can’t wait to read whatever she puts out next!

While the writing was occasionally lovely, it was more often immersed in ochre colored gore with a meandering and unnecessarily convoluted storyline.

2.5 stars
I wanted to love this book but unfortunately, it didn't hit the mark.

The City of Stardust is about the cursed Everly family and the last of the Everly line, Violet. She doesn't want to accept her fate so she embarks on an adventure where she encounters magic, new worlds, friends, and enemies.

The writing is beautiful and picturesque, I was shocked to find out this was a debut. The descriptions are easily able to be pictured.
There were just some issues that didn't work for me, the 3rd person and many povs left me confused, and hard to connect to the characters who didn't have any development. The pacing was slow and towards the end started to drag. I was never fully invested in the storyline since the beginning never hooked me like I was expecting it to.

All in all, I did enjoy the mystery, and the magic system where not one character is inherently good or evil. I thought the betrayal element was handled well but could have done without the quick forgiveness and insta-love.

Thank you NetGalley, Georgia Summers and Redhook Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the idea of this book, but overall it fell a little flat. The book primarily follows the story of Violet Everly, who has a curse placed on her family for generations. She is running out of time to break the curse. A lot of the characters' decisions felt odd to me and didn't really make sense logically, so that was a bit frustrating screaming why multiple times. The book was on the slower side and I wasn't really excited to pick it up. The writing was beautiful but often swapped POV's and took some getting used to.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

From the first lines, THE CITY OF STARDUST by Georgia Summers is engrossing -- the kind of story so beautifully written, feeling so natural it's as if it's a story I have always known and loved. Summers is a fantastic writer with huge imagination creating characters so believable and events so logical, that dinners burned while I was walking in the world she created, the encounters and moments of stunning bravery by the hero Violet setting off to find her mother and finding so much more than she ever expected. Each character is so well-drawn, so fully dimensional that I felt I knew them. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

4.2 stars
Wow, where do I even start? For one, I looked at the early reviews and the reviews are very mixed and honestly, I think this is very niche writing. It was beautifully done. The way the story unfolded reminded me a lot of The Night Circus. Not in the plot but in the flow, the writing, the timeline details and several points of view all written in third POV. All of which I loved in The Night Circus and thoroughly enjoyed reading something with a similar writing style.

The City of Stardust is about the Everly family cursed with a generational sacrifice full of secrets and betrayal. The third POV really had me feeling like I was in the head of each character, and it allowed for the plot and information to flow seamlessly and at a decent pace. I felt like the world-building and plot were being introduced at the same time, so it wasn’t a huge information dump all in the beginning (if that makes sense - really, I just want to say it was not confusing).

I loved Violet as a character. I felt her curiosity and urgency throughout the book. I could feel the clock ticking down with her and I was almost sweating with the anticipation of something good or bad happening at every turn. I have mixed feelings about Alexsander. This is very much a fantasy with romance elements. It brought out several emotions. Sometimes I caught myself swooning and other times I wanted to reach through my kindle and throttle someone. . .

I felt like the curse was one of the most interesting parts to this because the number of times the backstory to it was told, which was at times subtle and other times told like a bedtime story or folklore, really hit home how far back it dated. How long the Everly family has suffered through the dread of this curse. With the subtle changes in the beginning and ending, it had me just wanting to know what really happened.

This is one of those books that has you paying attention to detail and when it all comes together it's very satisfying. The epilogue is not your traditional contemporary romance epilogue because, like I said, it's a fantasy with romance elements. So, I would just keep that in mind when picking up this book.

What a beautiful, lush, whimsical story! This book has everything I love and need from a YA story. Such a wonderful MC, world, and magic system. Cannot recommend this book enough!

"The City of Stardust" is a captivating contemporary fantasy debut that enchants readers with its spellbinding narrative and bewitching prose. Written with a stunning and jaw-dropping style reminiscent of Erin Morgenstern, this novel is a must-read for fans of the acclaimed author.

The story revolves around Violet Everly, the last of her lineage plagued by a mysterious curse that has haunted generations of her family. The disappearance of her mother, Marianne, sparks a quest for Violet to break the curse before she becomes its next victim. The enigmatic antagonist, Penelope, adds an intriguing layer to the narrative, her ageless and vengeful character driving the urgency of Violet's quest.

Summers successfully captures the essence of Morgenstern's beauty in storytelling, delivering a narrative that is both lush and evocative. The novel's prose is a true delight, creating an immersive experience that transports readers to a magical other world filled with power-hungry scholars, fickle gods, and vengeful monsters.

One of the novel's strengths lies in the vivid national travel that Violet undertakes in her quest. The diverse settings and landscapes not only enrich the world-building but also add depth to Violet's character development. The sense of urgency imposed by the looming deadline enhances the pacing, keeping the reader engaged throughout the journey.

The magic system in "The City of Stardust" is a thing of beauty. Summers crafts a fantastical realm where magic intertwines seamlessly with the characters' lives, creating a mesmerizing backdrop for the unfolding story. The events unfold in a well-paced manner, ensuring that each revelation and twist feels earned, contributing to the overall satisfaction of the narrative.

The character dynamics, particularly with Aleksander, Penelope's quiet assistant, add an element of suspense and distrust, keeping readers on the edge of their seats. Summers masterfully weaves together the threads of trust and betrayal, making the reader question the motives of every character encountered on Violet's journey.

In conclusion, "The City of Stardust" is a triumph for Erin Morgenstern enthusiasts, showcasing Summers' ability to craft a novel as beautiful and enchanting as her inspiration. With its mesmerizing prose, well-developed magic system, and a journey that spans the edges of the world, this debut novel is a compelling addition to the fantasy genre. The only slight drawback is the occasional predictability of events, but this does little to diminish the overall allure of this bewitching tale. "The City of Stardust" is a must-read for those seeking a magical escape into a world of curses, secrets, and the enduring power of family.

When I first read the description of The City of Stardust, it seemed like a tempting amalgamation of things I love in a quasi-dark academia package. Things I heard and read alluded to a magical mystery, vengeful gods, and a forbidden romance. Yes, I can confirm the book had all of those things, but wow, did it take a lot of time to get things done.

Violet Everly knows her family is cursed. Once in a generation, the most talented of Everlys walks off into the night, never to be seen again. Her mother was supposed to do the same, but instead abandoned Violet around the age of ten in the hopes of finding answers and breaking the curse. For nearly a decade, Violet is raised in the care of her two uncles.

Violet’s mother and uncles are exiled scholars, beings who can wield magical keys to traverse between the scholar city of Fidelis and the rest of the world. Scholars have the innate ability to mold and use a mystical material called reveurite, which is made of stars, but rely on traveling to Earth for other important supplies due to the shortcomings of their wintry, fractured world.

Until she reaches her twenties, Violet is kept in the dark about most things. Her existence is meant to be kept secret, lest the powers that be have Violet fulfill the curse in her mother’s place. Spoiler alert (but not really): her existence is exposed and she has a year to find her mom or must offer herself up in her mom’s stead.

The writing really is beautiful, but sometimes turns into navel-gazing and I only felt interested in what was happening about 60% of the time. Lovely descriptions and waxing poetic about the stars does nothing to move things along and I want to stress that this is a book for meanderers. If you love a fantasy that takes its time and dips into small, inconsequential details of the world (a la Tolkein), you might really love what Summers has done here. If you want more of a story where no word or punctuation is wasted, you may feel frustrated at how the momentum drags.

I was motivated to see if Violet would meet her deadline and what would become of the Everly curse, but even after finishing and reflecting on the book, there were lingering feelings of being underwhelmed. Violet never stood out or took a firm shape in her personality, despite being the main character. The romance was rushed and was more a telling of big feelings rather than feeling them happen. I also think there was a much more interesting romantic candidate that could have been chosen.

While you’re in it and actively reading, it’s easy to find reasons to keep going and finish the story. Afterward, though, I’m more wishy-washy about the whole experience. I am the equivalent of the shrug emoji.

“Amanda, did you enjoy it?”

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I guess?

It didn't take long for me to get sucked into this story. I enjoyed the premise of brothers protecting their niece from a curse and the lengths they went to do so, in spite of her mother's disappearance. I quickly became invested in the main character and her determination to break the curse, her personality and attitude is strong and courageous, even though people were going to extreme lengths to hide things from her for her own good. However, there does reach a point where the trope of keeping a character in the dark gets old and the book gets awful close to that line for me. Overall though, I liked the world and the idea of traveling to other worlds, and I liked the tension between the main character and her friend/rival. But my sympathy for him also wanes as I felt like the end was a bit too drawn out with replays of the same tensions with hire stakes. Even so, this is an enjoyable adult fantasy.. I'd put it at a 3.5

This book deserves all the hype and more! I've been in my fantasy era lately and this book held my interest the entire time. It’s a fairytale come to life full of curses and magic. The characters were well-developed, the plot was spot on, and the details pulled everything together. The touch of romance was very well done. I was eagerly anticipating the next chapter.

Thank you, NetGalley and Putnam for allowing me to review this book.

I'm very disappointed with this book. It seemed so perfect at first. Alas, all that glitters is not gold. I do think Summers did amazingly well with the beginning of this novel. I was drawn in by the cinematic writing and the intriguing setup. It felt reminiscent of Laini Taylor's Strange the Dreamer to me: a fantastical world that you're not sure really exists, a tortured guy with a man-bun, and a great amorphous evil that almost seems spiritual. Taylor's world, however, was rich and solid. Her characters were real and full of depth. The relationships and romances had me deeply invested. In Stardust, I felt none of that. The world building was done in gorgeous language, but it ended up never feeling substantial. I didn't really get a clear idea of what Fidelis was, what it looked like, or why anyone would want to go there. Violet started out as an intriguing character, but ended up as someone who just seemed to move from one vapid setting to the next, her goal shifting and her development nonexistent. I had no clue what she saw in Aleksander. I hated him. What a weak, trembling child of a character. He frustrated me the more page time he had. As for the plot, it had a solid start, and I loved the setup, but there were too many questions left unanswered, bad pacing, and some very strange and unsatisfactory character endings. Perhaps some readers will enjoy this kind of writing and character development, but I certainly did not. A disappointing 2 stars.

3.5 Stars rounded to 4

This book has the ability to pull you in, chew you up, and spit you back out. The writing style, which is similar to Addie La Rue and the Cloisters, makes it borderline unbearable to put down the book as you navigate and attempt to solve the mystery of the curse.

My chief complaint about this book is that I wish there was more:
-I needed more character development for Violet and Aleksander. Neither of the main characters really grew in the story. We saw Violet go from naive child to naive adult that’s angry she was left in the dark to less naive adult that is running around the world trying to save herself. Aleksander goes from traumatized child to traumatized adult to traumatized adult actively enduring traumatic events.
-I needed a smidge more world building. I didn’t fully understand the doors or keys or anything to do with Ever Everly. I didn’t understand how the curse continued through generations. I didn’t understand the talent and what exactly it was. I didn’t fully understand the scholars. I wish the author had taken a little more time to explain it all.
- I needed more time with the elder Everly siblings. Their dynamic was weird. There was so much unexplained tension. I loved Ambrose but wish he and Gabriel had more time to develop into characters rather than convenient plot devices. I wish I understood Marianne’s motivations better.
-I needed more page breaks. The story jumped point of views so quickly in some chapters without any warning. It was confusing to go from one character to the next without any explanation.

I know from my complaints list it seems like it didn’t like the book. I actually really did. The author has this really dynamic writing style allowed me to picture the world even though I didn’t have all of the information I wanted/needed. I’ll definitely be returning to this author for more books in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

As an avid reader who was initially captivated by the enchanting premise of Georgia Summers' "The City of Stardust," I am left disappointed and perplexed by the execution of what could have been a fantastic story. The first part of the book promised a world filled with magic, mystery, and the potential for an epic adventure. Unfortunately, as I delved deeper into the narrative, my excitement waned, and the novel failed to deliver on my initial expectations.

The turning point, or what should have been the launching pad for character development and a gripping storyline, instead led us into a tedious and long-winded manhunt for a character we never actually found. The resolution to the main conflict between our main character and the villain, when it finally arrived, spanned a mere page, leaving me feeling unsatisfied and questioning the entire novel. In addition, Summers' attempt to infuse whimsicality into her writing only served to make the book longer than necessary, detracting from the overall experience.

A major drawback was the main character, who proved incapable of carrying the weight of the story. By the time I reached part four, I found myself disengaged and uninterested, despite the potential that had initially drawn me in. The lack of character development and depth made it difficult to connect with the protagonist, whose only defined quality seemed to be a vague "potential" for greatness that was never convincingly realized.

The romance subplot, too, left much to be desired. I struggled to comprehend the attraction between the main character and her love interest, as the author failed to provide any substantial description or qualities that would make their connection believable. The main character's resemblance to her missing mother became a weak foundation for her identity, leaving her character underdeveloped and lacking substance.

Additionally, the novel was riddled with plot holes that further undermined the coherence of the storyline. These gaps in logic left me frustrated and disconnected from the narrative, as crucial details were left unexplained and events unfolded without adequate context.

In the end, "The City of Stardust" had the potential to be a captivating and magical adventure, but the execution fell short of expectations. With a lackluster main character, an unconvincing romance, and a plot filled with holes, this book ultimately failed to deliver the enchanting experience I had hoped for.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.