Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved the cover and aesthetic choices throughout. I am a bit biased as "unlocking" secrets and key motifs are something of an interest of mine but nevertheless, enjoyable. The edges on the Waterstones edition look STUNNING.

The story itself was whimsical, giving readers the chance to reach into a world of fantasy. The psychologist in me would've liked to have a bit more detail in some areas to flesh out some of the characters a bit (what are they thinking, why are they making the choices that they are, what in their past led them to this perception/decision). Some toxic elements to one of the main characters and they don't really get the opportunity to really redeem themselves before the end (at least not enough for me to forgive them/be happy with them).

"To become a God, one must present a gift to them, a sacrifice if you will".

I really enjoyed this one. Fast paced and dark academia adjacent but with enough at the edge of the real world and interaction with the people outside to keep it from being too claustrophobic. I appreciate that in the end the characters got to choose their own legacies instead of being so immersed in their pasts they fell into old patterns. Literally breaking generational curses.

If you love the vibes of Starling House and Divine Rivals, then The City of Stardust should be at the top of your TBR for 2024!
The characters are beautifully crafted and all give a sense of mystery. The FMC, Violet Everly, is strong-willed and willing to do whatever it takes to break the curse that hangs over her family.
Aleksander is a mystery and is working to become a scholar, all while working under Peneople, the same woman who is after the Everlys. He's tasked with befriending and finding out all he can about Violet and the whereabouts of her mother, Marianne. Will they fall together or fall apart? Can the curse be broken? And where in the worlds is Marianne Everly?
It's a story full of mystery, world building like no other, and plenty of obscure and divine magic.
This is the perfect debut novel to curl up and get lost with.

This book was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me. It had an interesting premise and lovely prose. However, the constant descriptions of … everything … were so detailed that it was hard to see the forest for the trees. This, plus the present tense third-person storytelling, left me feeling emotionally removed from the characters and the story as a whole. There were glimpses of a depth of feeling and connection, but they were few and fleeting. Supporting characters floated along the periphery, and relationships/interactions were not emotionally compelling. I would have loved more time and attention given to the uncles (their lives, relationships, and interactions with Violet), who were two of the most interesting characters for me. It even would’ve been nice to experience more of the relationship between Violet and Caspian.

The lack of emotional connection left me feeling annoyed by the MMC. He came off as weak and whiny, when I really wanted a strong counterpart for the FMC.

I’m left confused re: the villain - the truth of her origin story, why she needed Everly blood to be able to go through the door back to her home world (yes, there was a deal, and maybe I missed it, but I don’t know why the deal affected her ability to return home), and the truth of her relationship with Violet’s ancestor (a lot of versions were offered, but we were never told the true version of events).

The story was interesting enough to keep me going. The quality of writing was lovely. Those things are what earn this book 3 stars from me.

An e-ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions remain my own.

Well, I’m glad that is over to be honest. I am very confused by this book. The cover is gorgeous and the description sounds really great but the book itself is a mess. Honestly, if someone asked me what this book is about, I’m not sure I could give an answer.

The world building is basically nonexistent. It’s so vague I don’t really understand it. We have scholars, keys, doors, other worlds but we never really get to know about any of it. Also, plot hole: if Penelope needs Everly blood to open the doorway, then what happened to all the Everly’s she’s taken from each generation?? Why does it have to be Marianne or Violet?

The characters were so blah. I really didn’t care about any of them. I kept forgetting who Aleksander was and he’s kind of a main character! And the romance felt very forced. Violet sees Aleksander a handful of times and all the sudden he’s all she can think about. He did her so dirty so many times and she just forgives him. Penelope is really the only interesting character in the book.

The writing itself felt very YA.
The book has some Invisible Life of Addie LaRue vibes but does not come near the level of writing or whimsy that Addie has.

This 330 page book feels like a 600 page book. It took me a long time to get through. And it did not have a satisfying ending. I was more interested in the last few paragraphs in the last chapter than most of the book. Where was this city of stardust? I wanted to explore it. Imagine it in my mind. I want to go on Marianne’s adventures in a faraway world. I’m left feeling disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ability to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2024 and it did not disappoint. There were such magic instilled in this story I was constantly feeling wowed. I felt as if I was reading "The Starless Sea" with the mechanics of the world. I think the plot kept me intrigued.

Thank you to Redhook books and NetGalley for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

Title: The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

Publication Date- 01/30/24
Publisher- Redhook Books
Overall Rating- 3.75 stars rounded up to 4

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The City of Stardust is perfect for fans of magical realism, speculative fiction, romance and fantasy. Let’s start out with the things I loved about this novel. We are introduced to a world of magic, secrets, betrayal, long held curses and strong aspects of found family. We meet two characters who are on opposing sides of a long held family curse. One of the strong suits that I won’t attempt to do again here, is the synopsis does accurately reflect what you should expect from the story. I found myself drawn to the world and it’s magic. The worldbuilding is entertaining but for those who don’t like super complex worldbuilding, this is for you. The strongest elements in this are the aspects of found family, the first half of the novel’s magical and whimsical scenes and the romantic elements.

From here on out I will discuss the book in two sections, the first half and the second half. The reason this wasn’t a 5 star read for me is the first half and the second half felt like two separate books. The first half reminded me of a better version of The Night Circus mixed with V.E. Schwabs storytelling. It felt refreshing and like nothing I had ever read before. I felt like the scenes where magic was used I couldn’t look away, I was so drawn in.

Then the second half of the book happened and I felt more disconnected from the story and at times confused. The second half let’s go of the things I stated above and feels more like a war between gods and mortals which is fine. I typically enjoy those things but I think I wanted more from the first part and for it to continue in a similar style as the first half. I think it just felt like a separate book in the second half. It wasn’t bad by any means, and I loved the ending.

Overall solid story that combines magical realism, fantasy and speculative fiction.

I enjoyed this book. I thought it was pretty good. I loved the characters and I thought the plot was good!

Rating 4/ 5
Spice: 0

Tropes:
-magical mystery
-hidden worlds
-magic keys
-secret society
-family curse

A young girl is abandoned by her mother and raised in the safe seclusion of her house. She hides herself away in wardrobes and reads by candlelight, escaping to worlds she can only dream about. One day, her world changes and she leaves the safety of her home to try to find her mother and break a family curse. If she fails, the outcome may be deadly.

This story was absolutely magical. Although there was not much action until the end, the mystery kept me engaged throughout the book. I do not normally enjoy a lot of third-person storytelling, but this just worked for me. The atmosphere is simultaneously whimsical and dark. It is full of wonder and monsters. The characters range from naive and innocent to vengeful and murderous. The pace of this book was quite slow, which may not appeal to readers looking for a lot of action.

Favorite quote:

"adventure, it turns out, is a dangerously seductive word"

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook books for the eARC and the opportunity to review this book.

With a dramatically cinematic writing style, Georgia Summers presents a lush world that is dark and unforgiving, full of wolves, intrigue, and mystery. Through soft worldbuilding and immersive storytelling, it also successfully creates a beautiful atmospheric feeling reminiscent of The Night Circus, which I have been searching for, for quite a while.

There are several elements that contribute to making this an utterly fascinating read, one of which being the stark contrast between the experiences of our two main characters, Violet and Aleksander. The former being a story of strong familial bonds, love, isolation, protection, and sacrifice, while the latter is of punishment, survival, obedience, and yearning for love and acceptance.

While Violet’s character ended up falling a bit flat for me, it was Aleksander who kept me enraptured in the story. Not exactly lovable, and almost not even likable. But his experience in the story made me FEEL on such a deep level. He certainly is not your typical knight in shining armor – he’s self-serving, unwilling to go down the dark stairwells first (or at all), and when faced with a chance to ‘slay the monster’, he hesitates. He is wonderfully real and complex and delightfully human – and I was thrilled to have a critically flawed character front and center.

The conclusion left me with many questions unanswered, but I feel that is the best part of a story like this. It’s meant to stay with you and make you think long after you put it down. It leaves endless potential for the characters to continue their stories in whatever way they choose – maybe they’ll find their happy endings with each other or maybe they’ll go in completely different directions. Who’s to say? The questions left unanswered contribute to the wonderous nature of the story.

My main notes from this book are that I wish the story went a little deeper -- it would have been a compelling character study rather than a strictly plot-focused book. Next, even though I believe it is being marketed as an adult fantasy, it reads more like a YA book with more dark/gory/macabre elements. I would’ve loved to see the characters aged up a few years to really get a grasp on the adult feelings and themes.

Overall, this was an incredible debut book and I look forward to seeing what else Georgia Summers creates.

Great for fans of Erin Morgenstern and Alix E. Harrow.

I would like to thank Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape and Netgalley for the for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A magical, imaginative story that traverses worlds but remains grounded with memorable characters. I think the pacing in the beginning could be improved—too many pages are wasted before the real story begins, with not enough exposition/world building. Because of the lack of world building, a tad confusing but you figure it out by the end. Even so, I was enthralled and I’m definitely curious what Summers will write in the future. Future work can only improve!

I was so excited for this; the cover is lovely and perfectly portrays the vibes of the story. I really wanted to love The City of Stardust, but I found it to be just okay. The prose was lovely; however from the beginning, I found it difficult to get into with the story with the alternating perspectives being somewhat confusing. There was a lot of dialogue throughout the book and much of the conflict, although ripe with secrets and betrayal, was told rather than being shown. I’m interested to see other books by this author because I did enjoy the world building and atmosphere.
Thank you to Net Galley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I DNF this book around the 20% mark. I am not really into books that are "just vibes" with hardly any plot, and from what I've read so far, I don't think this one will be for me. I liked the idea of another world and the author's descriptions were very magical.

Ebook received for free through NetGalley

A good story, great world building, and amazing characters. So glad I came across this book.

The City of Stardust is not quite like anything I have read lately, if ever, which has left me going back and forth on the rating. This debut is beautifully written, it's a bit like an urban fairytale that weaves magic with cruelty and ice. There are gods and monsters, doors to other worlds, generational curses, very broken people who will be 100% unlikable at times and questions upon questions upon questions. If you liked Locke and Key you might be interested in this!

I did struggle with a few aspects of The City of Stardust but I am glad I continued. I am going to be honest that I did not have a clue what was going on until about 60% and still more questions pop up...We spent a lot of time dancing around the problem and I struggled to clue into the purpose of it all. This is in third person which I usually prefer but I have never read a third person that I have felt SO disconnected from the characters, it truly felt like watching this play out especially with the abrupt changes in povs and scenes (I actually think this would make for an interesting screen adaptation). While we're on the topic of characters, they felt a little flat and I still don't have a good grasp on our main characters. This also is true for a lot of the world-building, magic systems, the gods, the scholars etc. It all felt a bit loosey-goosey sometimes and there were a few times where I felt like some plot holes existed but you know......I really recommend just leaning into the vibes here!

I haven't read the comparison books for this but as mentioned, I strongly agree that this runs a lot on atmosphere, but not in a feel-good cozy whimsical way (this book was pretty brutal at times). If you're like me and you're in the habit of reading a lot of romantasy and big multi-book fantasy series, this book is going to be like a polar plunge but I do think it's worth sticking out if you're curious about where the story goes. The romance was a very minuscule part of this though so if you're looking for that, you won't find it here.

I liked the way things concluded, there is a bit of an open door but I don't know if I see us returning in another book. I do think this is a winter read and one you probably need to be in the right mood for.

To the other dreamers out there!

I received an ARC via NetGalley and I am thankful for that! I choose this book due the cover as well as the description. While I haven't read The Starless Sea, I was still intrigued to read this.

The City of Starlight is a very magical and intriguing book. I was interested within the first chapter. I wish there was more to the story as I found it was lacking more in the world building as well as I feel it was kind of rushed in a way of the story line as I felt everything happened too quickly. I also felt it was super predictable towards then of the story. I felt that when Violet stated that she wouldn't ask Ever to give himself up multiples times, that he indeed would after the multiple mentions.

I did enjoy how Violet grew into herself as well as how she stood up for herself and for her family name. She was not going to fall to the debt that she didn't make if she didn't have to. She was determined to find out how to break that cure and save herself and her family.

I wish there was more to the story as well as more world building to help excel the story.

Violet's mother left her and ran away when she was 10 years old. She is forced to go on an adventure to find her mother and figure out why their family has a generations old curse placed upon them and stop the curse. If she does not, she has to go and be sacrificed in her mother place. She enters into the magical underworld of monsters, good/evil, scary creatures throughout the book. And then there is the quiet assistant, who she is unsure if she can trust or not.

This was a well written book. I did not like that the book took so long to get into the plot. Things started happening quick after about chapter 10 or so. This book was not for me based on that alone. But again, it was beautifully written and I was able to easily visualize the setting per Ms. Summers' vivid description.

I would like to thank NetGalley for allowing me early access to read The City of Stardust. These are my thoughts.

I really liked the whole idea of the story and everything it could’ve been. However, I felt that the story was extremely rushed and lacked a lot of detail to suck you in. It seemed to me that we only really saw the main events that happened in the story but none of the little stuff that leads up to these events that fill in the gaps.

The story takes place over 10 years, mainly focusing on the last year with Violet Everly. All of a sudden there was a year left and then it was 6 weeks with nothing talked about at all, really that happens in those months in between. I also didn’t enjoy how In the middle of a chapter the POV would change without fully finishing the previous scene. I also feel that when another characters POV is being told, a new chapter should be started or have something dividing the paragraphs like a little design or something to prevent initial confusion. That could just be personal preference however.

I felt that the whole magic part of the book and that side of the story was not really explained. Like I have the basic understanding kind of of the magic and the scholars, but I also don’t know anything about it really. I don’t really know the extent of what the magic can do or what the scholars really do either. That side of the book wasn’t dived into deep enough I felt at all.

The ending of the book felt extremely rushed and unfinished in a sense. It was just all of a sudden over and that’s that. None of the aftermath shown or just anything really. It was just done.

The book is told in third person which I can say I am not a fan of. I found it very hard to connect to the characters as I didn’t really know anything about any of them.

Overall it’s a really cool concept with alot of potential but in my opinion, poorly executed. I felt a little lost and confused majority of the time as it was super jumpy. I think it could have easily been a 600 page book, but it’s not so what can you do.

This is just my personal opinion and you may love the book, but it wasn’t for me unfortunately. :/

2.5⭐️

Despite an awesome prologue and a plot thread that has you itching to reach the conclusion, it's hard not to notice the characters' lack of urgency and a story that is mostly told through conversations.
Full review to come on YouTube.

The premise of a city filled with stardust and a curse to be broken was incredibly intriguing. The author begins this story with prose that made me gasp out of reverence and awe. The vivid descriptions of this world played like a masterful symphony that lure you in. I was wholly unprepared for the depths of darkness the antagonist would take us into. There were a few moments where the events on the page caused a visceral reaction, but I will not post any spoilers. Overall, I believe Georgia Summers can lead a masterclass on writing enchanting prose and thoroughly enjoyed losing myself in her words. I recommend this book if you are in the mood for a magical and twisted tale with flawed characters that will make decidedly human decisions which might be cowardly or self-serving.