A young woman must work to fight a magical curse that has haunted her family for years.

I liked the magic here, but it took too long to get into the main plot. We kept time jumping for a while and it felt like little happened in those chapters.

The City of Stardust
by Georgia Summers
Fantasy
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: January 30, 2024
Redhook Books
Ages: 14+

Violet's mother left her with her uncles when she was young to search for a way to break the curse that had haunted the Everly family for centuries, but Violet's mother never returned and Penelope gives Violet's uncles a deal; find Violet's mother in ten years, or Violet will be the sacrifice.

As a teenager, Violet's uncles, who have been searching since she was left in their care, continue but now include Violet whom they had left in the dark. But Violet takes the search upon herself since it is her life at stake.

This is one of those books that the blurb sounded so good; magical underworld, montsers, and curses. We fantasy nuts can't help but be drawn in. If only the writing had been as good. Even though the genres are listed as Sci-Fi/Fantasy, it read more as if it was intended for YA instead of adults.

There's not a lot of depth in this book, the characters and settings are flat, along with the dialogue. And with the plot, the characters just didn't seem to care even though a girl's life was at stake. She believed Aleksander even though he had proved how untrustworthy he was, showed how little she cared about herself. One couldn't even blame that she was 'madly in love' with him. That never came across as anything more than a crush.

There's nothing extremely violent, sexual, or 'offending' in the book that the YA audience can't see on TV or read in books specifically aimed at them, so readers fourteen and older can read this.

I wish I'd DNFed it!

1 Star

The City of Stardust is an atmospheric fantasy following Violet Everly, whose family has been cursed for generations. When her uncles try to bargain with their tormentor, Penelope, to give them time to find their missing sister, Violet’s mother, Penelope gives them 10 years before she claims what is hers (aka Violet). Violet begins her search at year 9 and has to deal with society politics, Penelope’s assistant (Aleksander), and Penelope herself.

I loved the writing of this book. The detailed descriptions made you feel like you were there with Violet yet, did not feel like “too much.” We have multiple points of view, which helps with the world building and the lore behind why the scholar society is the way it is. We are figuring out the world along with Violet, which kept up the mystery of this other world and prevented info dumping. However, there were times where parts of the world didn’t make sense or I was missing something. Similarly, parts of the story felt disconnected or disjointed.

I wish there was more characterization for the various characters throughout this book. I wish we got to see more of Aleksander’s background to help us understand some of his decisions, as well as his unwavering loyalty to Penelope. I wish we could have seen more of Caspian too. He felt like a character of convenience, someone who was there when Violet needed help with the Scholars or needed information from the other world. There were times I didn’t understand why Caspian, someone who doesn’t have a lot of page time and seemingly met Violet only a handful of times, was helping her with so much (like calling in favors to help her). I wish we got a little more information about the scholar society as a whole as well as more information about Violet’s mother’s role within that society. There were politics at play that the reader is not really privy to that make understanding some of the plot points difficult.

While this was an enjoyable read, parts of it fell flat for me and it ultimately didn’t meet my high expectations. Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I could see the aim for the exciting mystery the beautiful world and the romance but for me I just could not find any emotion connection to the characters and that was a bummer because the book has potential but just nothing to tied in the emotion

I wanted to love this, but it was not engaging enough to keep my attention. I did end up finishing it, but was not a fan of the writing style,

Georgia Summers’s debut novel takes us into a Gaiman-esque world where young Violet Everly seeks to find her mother and break the family curse before she’s forced to become its next victim. After spending her childhood dreaming and reading of magical places beyond the confines of her home, Violet is thrust head-first into an adventure that will take her to new cities, new countries, and new worlds.

I found myself gripped by this story from the start. The magic system, the mysterious world of Fidelis, the elusive Everly family with their curse almost as old as time had me captivated as we followed Violet on her quest. I found it refreshing that we were able to witnesses the ups and downs of her quest – sometimes she trusted those she shouldn’t, other times a clue can lead to nowhere. But all the while Violet gains insight into her family’s past, her mother’s disappearance, and most of all, herself.

Summers’s full cast of characters are colorful and intriguing, led by an incredible villain Penelope. The fact that I can’t smell vanilla right now without thinking of her and her terrible exploits could be my biggest endorsement for this book. Aleksander is a captivating male lead; a boy with shadows of his own that gives Violet glimpses into the magical world she was kept from in her youth. Watching Aleksander and Violet grow across time and distance, with the dull ache of the other’s absence a constant companion, I was so eager to see them reunited by so worried about what would happen when they did.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of this story came from the tale of the Everly family curse. We learn across chapters that there are many versions of curses origins…but which is the truth? Is the curse the source of a love story where passion led to destruction? Is the curse at its heart the result of deception?
While I would hate to spoil this story in the review, I will say that there were more questions than answers at the end of this tale. Whether a product of a quickly paced ending or the desire to leave some mysteries unsolved, there were a few too many things I felt we needed explanations for. However, the City of Stardust, it’s characters, and it’s magic left me eager to start a re-read as soon as possible.

“Do you not hear the stars sing, little dreamer?”

Heavily recommended for lovers of A Darker Shade of Magic and the Night Circus, The City of Stardust is not to be missed!

Thank you Netalley and Redhook Books for the eARC!

I think this is a really good entry to fantasy! The plot is really straightforward and easy to follow, and the chapters are pretty short, so it's easy to move through quickly. If you're an avid fantasy or fantasy romance reader, in the sea of outstanding new releases, this might lack in shocking plot twists, but it's a solid read.

"At that point, I would have taken you anywhere you wished."

Oof this book is beautiful. The prose is so very captivating that I was drawn in by the prologue and didn't want to put it down. Although the story has similarities to other fantasies, I found it to be a relatively unique premise overall. I loved the journey and that it was told from multiple POVs.

The characters and relationships are complex, in an almost unsettling way. Throughout the whole book, I was never really sure who I did or didn't like, and my opinion on people were constantly changing. I love that type of entanglement. I only wish that there would have been more in depth looks at some of the main characters. Sometimes with multiple POVs, you don't get to have as extensive a look into the individual characters. I personally love getting to know the characters' thoughts and emotions, and that is what makes me become attached to them, so I would have liked a deeper dive into some of that to make the book stick with me more.

The storyline never really went where I thought it was going to, which is always fun. There were some disappointing aspects to this, but overall, I found it to be very fun. It is a fantasy written almost like a mystery in that the reader is not supposed to know what is happening or what is the truth, and it is revealed slowly through the first three parts. I love being confused (knowing that I'm supposed to be) and trying to figure out what's going to happen.

My one major drawback was that I would have appreciated more details into the world-building/history. One problem with taking the slow reveal/mystery-esque route, is that it can get convoluted along the way, and I felt that happen a bit here. It didn't take away from the story too much, I just loved the world-building and would have enjoyed more depth to it.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys A Darker Shade of Magic (V.E. Schwab) and The Ten Thousand Doors of January (Alix E. Harrow). 4/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Redhook, and Orbit for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a highly enjoyable read, one that I recommend curling up with in a blanket and a cup of tea or hot chocolate beside you. I am such a fan of books with a parallel story woven throughout, so I was very compelled by the various backstories of Ever/Penelope sprinkled throughout the book. And I'm also a fan of an ambiguous ending, so that really worked for me. I could see it feeling incomplete for some folks, though, so reader beware. I will admit the romance did not particularly captivate me, but I don't need a perfect romance to feel at home in the novel. And Aleksander was all the more interesting for his flaws and his inability to recognize who Penelope was.

I will admit I read this book assuming it was YA -- and it wasn't until a little ways in that I realized the characters were now adults. I think it works better imagining it as a YA novel... a little grittier, a little darker. Maybe a New Adult middle ground would have captivated even more folks?

3.75 stars.

3.5/5
This was a beautifully written book, which, while it wasn’t my favourite, doesn’t mean it won’t be someone’s. It reminded me a lot of The Ten Thousand Doors of January and The Starless Sea. Keys and doors and mysterious people- but in this case I just found it a little hard to follow (I found the other two tricky as well). I definitely wouldn’t describe this as magical realism, as the astral concept just added way too much straight up magic for it to fall into that category. It was a little too close to the other two books mentioned for me to truly love it, but I think if you haven’t read those then maybe this would be a hit for you.

I found the format of the ebook (and slightly the format of the book itself) hard to follow as there didn’t seem to be a clear separation between different POVs or timelines.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook books for the ARC!

I have had to DNF this one. The constant changing of the POV mid chapter and no warning it is very confusing and I just cannot get through it.

Really loved the writing style - descriptive & poetic, and loved the world built. The romance was decent, but I wanted more from it. I was curious how someone who was shut away her whole life was so resourceful and confident setting out on her own. I did enjoy this book and would recommend it.

First thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This review is full of spoilers

This book was well written and was full of potential but in the end fell a bit flat for me. Firstly, I honestly did not understand why Violet could not attend a normal school after Penelope knew about her. Once the cat was out of the bag why not let her have a normal childhood experience, they claim that's what they were trying to do for her but the whole situation made no sense to me. Violet herself was just barely tolerable as a main character. I was much more interested in Aleksander and hell even Caspian who is a complete side character.

Penelope was an excellent villain I could not stand her throughout the entire book. She was a selfish entitled being that seemed to think she was owed by every generation of the family for a deal she made with their ancestor, not to mention these people are her own descendants as well that she is sacrificing for her own power and immortality. Not to mention the other countless innocent children.

I hated the fact that Violets mom really did just up and save herself without one word to her family so they could be prepared and make a plan.

The ending to me was super unsatisfying with Violet and Aleksander, I could live with them not ending up together but everything was just so left open. I wanted to see what happened with Aleksander the doors, if he was able to reforge them and what came of doing so. It was all too vague.

HIGHLIGHTS
~the keys are portals
~the portals are also portals
~deals with the Devil are safer than deals with angels
~(they’re not angels)
~best not get your fortune told

Stylistically, City of Stardust is strongly reminiscent of Erin Morgenstern – the prose and vibes made me think of Night Circus pretty much immediately, though I really want to emphasise that there are no other similarities between City of Stardust and either of Morgenstern’s novels. They are about completely different things! Do not come here looking for a magical circus or an underground world of books! But if you’re looking for something that has the vibes of Night Circus; if you enjoy Morgenstern’s writing style and would like to read something like that; then City of Stardust will probably tick your box.

It just…probably won’t tick many other boxes.

Credit where credit is due: City of Stardust is pleasantly twisty, not in a shock value way (well, not much) but more in an attempt to be true to life, where magical solutions don’t spring out of thin air, and quests sometimes fail, and being good doesn’t by default mean that the bad things will never happen to you. Which makes it sound very cynical…and I guess it is, kind of? But not bitter, or resigned, or pessimistic. More…merciless is the term that comes to mind. This isn’t a grimdark book, at all, but Summers does a good job of going against reader expectations – she knows that we’ve read enough fantasy books to know how stories like this ‘should’ go, but she’s not going to follow those well-trod paths. Be prepared to be surprised. Be prepared to be genuinely scared for the main character/s. Be prepared to see Summers weave her own pattern of story.

The problem with this is that it’s mostly very underwhelming. Yes, in real life we don’t always get answers to everything – but I kind of resent not getting them in my fiction. Yes, in real life people get scared and don’t do the heroic thing – but that’s not really what I’m here for. Yes, in real life we sometimes have to face the fact that the person we’re depending on is going to let us down – but seriously? I’m here for the escapism, ma’am! And most of this happens without a bang; quests or attempts or questions just fizzling out, rather than Summers turning the tables on us dramatically. So they don’t feel like twists or gasps or aha! moments; it’s more like wet tissue paper coming apart in your hands. Not badly written, but not impactful, either.

To be brutal, that kind of sums up the whole book: not very impactful. City of Stardust is pages and pages of style over substance, leaning into vibes and brief moments of beautiful description to carry a story that’s been shaved so thin it can no longer stand under its own weight. There’s the skeleton of a very decent story here (albeit not the one I wanted; more on that in a sec), but Summers skims over it, never giving us a chance to really sink our teeth in or become immersed, or invested, in the world she’s created. Take Violet’s so-called ‘hunt’: we barely see any of it, because Summers time-skips over most of it! We never see how Violet’s learned the skills she uses, or where she got her contacts, etc; they were gathered during the hand-wavey time-skip, and we just have to be satisfied with that.

<A year quickly trickles away to a year. To six months, then three.>

That doesn’t help with the problem that Violet feels very passive, despite the fact that she does, technically, do things. In the very last ‘act’ of the book she’s pretty great, but for most of the story she feels as though she’s drifting, Summers nudging her into place for each chapter because that’s where she needs Violet to be, not because Violet is any kind of driving force herself. The love of books and stories never really came through me; it’s something we told, not shown, and I was never convinced by her supposed passion to see other worlds – we’re told it, over and over, but I never felt it. Violet is very much a character moved around by the plot, rather than a character who makes plot happen.

And honestly, she doesn’t make sense as a character. How does this young woman, who’s never gone to school or been further from home than the cafe where she works, know how to navigate airports and masques and secret societies? When did she get lessons on how to steal invites to exclusive parties? View Spoiler » She’s somehow very capable and supposedly independent (even though, for most of the book, she depends on Aleksander and Caspian for pretty much everything) but her backstory doesn’t explain how she could have become this kind of person. She ought to be a shrinking – hah! – violet, overwhelmed by how big the world is, with little to no understanding of normal human interaction or social skills. But she’s not, and it’s both bad writing and lazy, because it would have been so easy to have the uncles who raise her to do so much more to prepare her. One of them’s some sort of international criminal; he could have taught her everything she needed! But no. She’s just magically a (washed-out shell of a) Strong, Confident-Competent Heroine, Because Reasons.

Aleksander, our sometimes-POV character and love interest, isn’t exactly more interesting, but is in a more interesting situation, with all kinds of constraints and pressures – and punishments – that make sense of his choices and actions. If he comes across as passive sometimes, it at least makes sense.

But forget the characters, let’s look at the fantastical elements: a city in another world, magic keys, fortune-telling cards. All glimpsed, sometimes dangled tauntingly in front of our faces, but never really explored. Fidelis, the magical city in another world that everything kind of revolves around, is run by the mystical Scholars – but what the fuck do the Scholars actually do? I have no idea. Aleksander wants nothing more than to become one of them, has spent his whole life training to do so, and by the end of the book I still had no clue what that meant. And once we started learning about the astrals – who are maybe living stars, maybe angels, maybe gods – I wanted a book about them. I wanted their story! My gods, you seriously wrote a book about this wishy-washy woman on a hand-wavey, time-skippy attempt to track down her mother, when you had living stars in your back pocket?! I want the backstories of the astrals we meet in City of Stardust; I want to see the realm they come from; I want to see their adventures and lives and loves and wars. And we got none of that. They’re the most beautiful, mysterious, powerful beings in the book, the best parts of the book, and they’re just a tease. I have no idea how or why Summers was more interested in writing Violet’s story than theirs!

At least in Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, though we don’t learn much about how the stars live when they’re not fallen to earth in human form, we do get, you know, the whole realm of Faerie. Summers gives us neither: nothing about the stars, and only the tiniest, faintest taste of Fidelis.

The prose is pretty, but the story is thin, worn thinner by the way it skims over so much time, the way it barely touches on its own magic. It’s the wrong story; if this book had only focused on different elements, changed its perspective, then it could have been seriously amazing. The efforts to be different and do the unexpected fall flat, left me disappointed and unsatisfied with the attempts. As-is, City of Stardust doesn’t live up to its promises. I’d be willing to read more from Summers – she knows how to put words together beautifully, and I loved the magic and strangeness that her imagination dreamed up. If she lets us dive in and embrace the magic next time, I’m pretty sure it’ll knock our socks off.

But right now? City of Stardust does not sparkle, and if you want more than vibes, I recommend looking elsewhere.

The City of Stardust is a tense, thrilling adventure perfect for fans of Erin Morgenstern and Alix E. Harrow. When Violet Everly learns the truth about a family curse and a mysterious woman named Penelope, she's thrown into a lush, dark world of scholars, doorways to other worlds, and fickle gods. A world that has been kept secret from her all her life, and that her mother disappeared into ten years ago. Violet will search the world to break her family curse alongside allies she's never quite sure she can trust.

I was enthralled by this dark fantasy centered around bargains and sacrifice. Violet was a compelling character who did not let naivete make her stupid; rather she spends every moment learning more to reach her goals. The astrals were a horrifying concept of divinity that I could not get enough of - but beware content warnings for gore, child death and harm, and cannibalism/vampirism. The brutality of this novel was pitched just right for the stakes Violet is up against; it was a truly harrowing experience as she tries to free herself and her family.

Summers' writing soared in its ability to show the complex relationships Violet builds. Love, betrayal, and trust all are subject to questioning. Violet's feelings about her absent mother and the very present Aleksander were nuanced, the frequent conflicts they created propelling the story forward.

An incredible debut. I cannot wait to see more for Georgia Summers.

This book's general magical and adventurous theme reminds me of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials (so if you love that, pick this up!)

I loved the rich cast of characters in this book, and the detailed world-building!

TWs - child abandoned by a parent, kidnapping and murder of children (off page)

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

Hard to write about this one as I didn't finish it. I find that I don't enjoy gothic books and that was the vibe I got from this one.

This book is beautifully written and the prologue draws you in right from the beginning. When I started reading I was intrigued by the mystery surrounding Violet’s mother and the magic that was slowly displayed. I really just wanted to know more! Unfortunately, I didn’t really feel like the pay off was worth it by the end.

The book is told from different point-of-views in third person. This worked really well for this story since there was so much going on even though it all surrounded the Everly family. Violet who is really the main focus since her mother is missing was full of wonder and a bit of spunk. She’s a dreamer who wants to see what the world has to offer and as she gets older she doesn’t let her uncles dictate her choices. I liked seeing how she dealt with each situation.

Two other characters were intriguing as well, Penelope and Aleksander. They had a lot more development than the other besides Violet. Aleksander and Violet kind of have a thing going on, but it really felt more like a good friendship. I didn’t feel the romantic connection at all.

What I really wanted from this book was world-building. I felt like we kind of just got surface level information and it never went into the depth I much prefer. I am left with a lot more questions than answers. Because of this, I didn’t like the ending because it felt very anti-climatic and wrapped up too well.

Overall, this was fine. I loved the prosy writing. I just wish there would have been more with the world-building.

Unfortunately, this book did not hit the mark for me. It felt like reading the second book of a sequel without having read the first book. Poorly executed world-building and background information.

One major issue that I had with this book was Marianne's decision to abandon her daughter, aware that this would put Violet in extreme danger. The story could have benefited from a more plausible relationship between Marianne and Violet, perhaps as sisters, or by omitting this problematic element altogether. Violet's reaction to her mother's abandonment also lacked emotional depth that you would expect.

The amount of similar names and terms was so frustrating. It was a challenge to keep track of the characters and concepts. The decision to introduce numerous side characters with immense individual stories only added to the complexity, leaving crucial details out.

The first half of the book definitely had a much better flow than the second half. This book felt too long and too short at the same time.

Unfortunately, this book just didn't live up to expectations, poor world-building, a plot choice that left more questions than answers, and an overload of information, but also still lacking too much information.

This sadly fell a little flat for me. It reminded me a lot of another book I didn’t enjoy much so I think it was hard for me to get past that. Other than that I do think this book was well written and you can tell the author put a lot of work into it but it just isn’t the right fit for me.