3⭐️⭐️⭐️
Story is very whimsical and if you like
monsters,Gods, Underworld,family curse, enemies to lovers it’s got it
Characters could have use a bit more Character development but it’s good book overall

DNF at 17%.

Violet Everly's family is cursed, and once a generation, an Everly family member goes missing, never to be seen again. Violet's mother disappeared and has been working to thwart the curse since Violet was a girl. On the surface, this looked like such an intriguing book, and I couldn't wait to dive in and figure out what was going on, and where the curse would lead.

However, my expectations fell somewhat flat. The prose was extremely wordy and verbose, and instead of being beautiful, it felt like a bit of a slog. I couldn't connect to any of the main characters, Violet or Aleksander, and it felt as though everything was falling into place a bit too neatly — for example, Violet just stumbling across Fidelis, the city she "knew she'd heard the name of before," in an old book in her family's library within one night. The concept of the fairy tale-esqe city of Fidelis and the business of god-metal and magic was interesting, but not enough to hold my attention and keep me going.

I give a book 50 pages to hook my interest and keep me going, and I got roughly 60 pages into this one, but ultimately, this is not for me. I think it would be great for fans of The Night Circus, and actually reminded me a lot of Catherine Fisher's Incarceron, so if you liked either of those, this might be the book for you.

Dnf at 61%.
It was very slow for me. I gave it my best shot.
As soon as things would get good and we’d get into a specific part of the plot, it would change and be done. I just couldn’t read anymore.

The Everly family is cursed to lose a member each generation but when Marianne Everly disappears her daughter Violet is given 10 years before she has to take her spot. Violet must uncover the magical world of Fidelis and the role of the mysterious scholars, a world that has been hidden from her her entire life, in order to break the curse or fall to it.

This book really reminded me a combination of The Golden Compass and The Night Circus. The writing is descriptive and beautiful and the magic system is intriguing but I found it just out of reach. I didn’t really get a good grasp on the world until the very end. There is a romantic subplot that I enjoyed but I would have preferred a little more focus on the magic and the fantasy world. It’s so unique and unlike any other fantasy I’ve read before. I think this is very well written and it left me wanting more, if it had been a little longer I would have really liked it. I felt the same way with The Night Circus, the magical elements are there but it’s not really the main focus of the book, so if you liked that you’ll really enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Redhook Books and Georgia Summers for this e-ARC

The City of Stardust is beautifully written, lyrical and poetic. Similar to The Night Circus.
We follow Violet as she learns of her family's curse and what really happened to her missing mother, as well as Aleksander who is stuck in his own lies of his past.
There's multiple worlds and interesting magic but it does lack a bit of description sometimes.
It was still interesting enough to keep the reader curious how the story would unfold and who was telling lies and why.
With such a beautiful cover and elegant writing, it was an enjoyable read for sure.

Perfect for fans of The Starless Sea. This debut is full of incredibly atmospheric and lush writing with a story you can sink your teeth into. The whole history of the world was fascinating and I was kept turning to pages, wanting more from Aleksander and Penelope and the world of Fidelis.

“Hello little dreamer”✨
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My overall review was 3.5/5
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An universe filled with beauty, myths, wonder and stars that sing and whisper to those who listen. For the Everlys their story has long ago started with Stardust and a curse that has followed their family. But Violet Everly has always longed for adventure, but with the curse breathing down her neck will that longing be filled. Or are curses never meant to be broken?
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This universe was beautiful to imagine and there was a lot of world building to understand just exactly how truly magical it was. With the world building, my down fall was that it took up so much of the time throughout the book. For the longest time you didn’t really know what exactly the curse was, until almost the end when they lay everything out.
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One of the main parts of this book throughout the search and journey is never answered, which was also something hard to just kind of let go of in the end. Overall I really enjoyed the FMC and her journey throughout.
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Overall I did enjoy this book, definitely a book I would recommend to others!

Thanks to Red Hook Books, NetGalley and Georgia Summers for the chance to read an advance copy of The City of Stardust. The Everly family is cursed; for centuries they have seen the best of their family members disappear. All taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers and for a purpose no one can imagine. The person who metes out this punishment is a woman named Penelope who never ages, never gets sick, and worse she never forgives a debt.
Violet Everly was ten when her mother left to try to find a way to break the curse. She never returned home. Penelope has now issued an order that if her mother is not found in the next ten years Violet must take her mother’s turn as the final Everly sacrifice. Unless she breaks the curse first.
Violet sets out on a quest to the edge of the world where everything began and she hopes to find the key to stopping Penelope for good.
This was an exciting adventure and a great quest story. I definitely recommend this book if you like books about lost causes and quests to win the day.

“There are no heroes. There are only those of us who survive, and those who do not.”

This book is a perfect cozy and mysterious fantasy for a rainy winter day. There was a strong plot, amazing vibes, and some of the most exquisite writing I've ever seen. Filled with curses and quests, gods and legends, star-crossed lovers, and a tinge of dark fantasy The City of Stardust had a whimsical feel to it, keeping me engaged throughout.

The book starts very mysteriously as you’re observing conversations and interactions between people you don’t know or about topics you haven’t been clued in on just yet. Part of the plot was like a puzzle, determining what needed to happen to solve the Everly’s generational curse and then determine the why behind it. The pacing is relatively consistent. However, there is one point in which Violet’s character development from an innocent young girl to a determined and fierce young woman occurs over the span of a chapter, although you are observing a year in Violet Everly’s life. My only critique was that it felt a little rushed, I only wish we saw a bit more of Violet’s thought process learning this new information, rather than having it relayed to the reader through a recap of what she’s learned and done in the past year since she learned the truth. However, I might just feel that way because I was just enjoying the vibes and felt comfortable with the pacing.

Although this isn’t a critique of the plot but more the format while reading the arc edition of The City of Stardust there are a few places in which there’s no clear cue that the perspective has shifted, it just continues, and you have to use your context clues.

Overall, The City of Stardust is a fantastic fantasy jam-packed with emotion, mysteries, adventure, and at times a tiny bit of dark elements that all combined to make a great read for me. 4.25/5 stars

I loved the premise of this novel, but the execution was lacking for me. The various different fantasy elements did not feel fully developed or cohesive to me and the story read a little YA.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc and chance to read this beautiful book!

I was immediately enthralled with this darker fantasy adventure. We learn about the Everly curse while a daughter searches the world for her mother and the answers she needs to save them all. She meets a boy of the other side of her world and they are somehow intertwined despite their differences.

I loved the writing style and the search for answers that keep bringing up more questions. I also loved traveling with the characters and feeling all their longings and dreams. I highly recommend this book!

#TheCityOfStardust by #GeorgiaSummers is an intersesting combination of fairytale, folklore, and mystique.
Once there was a city called Elandriel and it was filled with Astrals. Beings that were like Gods fallen from the stars themselves, said to be the stars come to earch in a human form. But Elandriel was lost all because of two lovers ... one Astral one human.
These are the stories that Violet Everly has grown up on sequestered away in her home. She has always dreamed of other worlds where adventure is around every corner just waiting for her to find it. Hopefully too her mother will be there, hopefully she will come home to Violet and her Uncles. She knows they are keeping secrets from her and one day finds herself imagining adventure inside the wardrobe in the library when her Uncles come in and begin a heated discussion. This, this is the moment Violet realizes that there is so much more going on and to compound that she later meets an imposing woman named Penelope and her young and annoyingly handsome assistant Aleksander.
Aleksander shows her a secret that he holds in the palm of his hand and it ignites her curiousity. She meets these two just once as a child but working in a coffee shop she recognizes Aleksander and falls into friendship with him. She can tell there are things he too is not telling her but sometimes to get to the truth you have to mix with the false and ferret it out. Will the fairytales turn out to not be fairytales after all and will heroes end up to be villian?

Can love eclipse worlds, time and space or does eventually turn to rot and destroy all in its path?


#TheStardustCity by GeorgiaSummers was a great read, the first half however felt a bit slow so it took longer to read because I had to somewhat push myself through it until bang it really picked up. Either way it is a very good and very well written book that leaves you wanting to know more about the lives of its inhabitants after the story has closed.


I would like to thank #Netgalley for the oppertunity to read #TheStarDustCity by #GeorgiaSummers in return for a fair and honest review.

I was pretty excited when I saw that this book was coming out this winter. Between the book description itself and the marketing team literally referencing “The Starless Sea,” it sounded a lot like books I’ve enjoyed in the past. I obviously always love portal fantasies, and I was also intrigued by the potential slow burn relationship hinted at within the summary. Well, I’ll say that it definitely lived up to my expectations of the former, if less so the latter.

I’ll be honest, it took a bit to become invested in this story. In the beginning, we meet a lot of different characters, all hinting at mysterious curses and histories that the reader knows nothing about. From there, the story proceeds to jump forward in time for different chapters for the first 15-20% of the book. At a certain point, even, I was pretty sure we’d finally landed on the time period in which the rest of the story would take place but…nope! Another jump was in hand! Once the story finally settled down a bit, moving forward in a more linear fashion and following Violet’s day-to-day exploits more actively, I found myself quickly drawn in.

I was also very impressed with the world-building and greater approach to characterization, especially of its side characters and villains. It is one of those books that has stories within stories, and as you go, you learn various versions of events and are left to piece together what exactly you think really took place. Even by the end, the book never feeds you easy answers about Violet’s family history and what really happened. The point, importantly, is that people are flawed, neither purely good or bad, and their actions will speak louder than anything else, so at a certain point, knowing the actions and results, some of the smaller details matter less.

Similarly, there was an equally nuanced look at some of the side characters and villains. There are many characters who you meet (or hear enough about to feel as if you’ve met) and who you recognize from other archetype characters you’ve seen in other books. With that comes a lot of assumptions about whether they are “heroic” or “villainous.” I was truly surprised with some of the massive swings my opinions of some of the characters went through, often ending up nowhere near where I was expecting, either liking or disliking character who I’d expected to feel the opposite towards. Similarly, the villain of this story is truly evil at many points. But the book goes out of its way to, not justify her, but to explain some of her own tragedy. Of course, this character is still responsible for their actions, some of them truly horrific, but it’s not left as easy as hating them for just being a “bad guy.”

All of that said, this was one of those strange situations where I ended up more interested in the side characters and villains than in the two main characters themselves. For her part, Violet came across as incredibly naïve for much of the book. She does have an interesting arc, especially her relationship with her uncles and her missing mother, and I was pleased that towards the end of the book, she didn’t simply let people she loved off the hook for their bad treatment of her. But she was still fairly frustrating for the first half of the book, which is always a bit tough to deal with from a main character.
And then Aleksander. Here was a character who had a lot of potential, especially with a deeper look into the primary relationship in his life, an abusive, manipulative one with his parent/mentor. But as he is the secondary character in what is clearly Violet’s story, his story was often even more frustrating. We would get small brushes of what his life looked life, but not enough to truly understand all of his choices. And, as it stands, it left him as a fairly unlikeable character for much longer than I was expecting. There came a point around the halfway point of the book where I felt we were finally making progress, but nope! It still took a good while longer for him to have an awakening to his reality and adjust his relationships appropriately.

All of this left the romance in a very uncomfortable place: in that the time spent between these two was always filled with betrayal, lies, and disillusionment. There is such a brief window at the very end to see any interactions between these two that read as a true moment in their relationship. It was one of those cases where I feel like the book might have done better pairing down the romance all together. As it stands, it felt like the love story was jammed in around the edges of an already emotionally packed story.

However, those quibbles aside, I still very much enjoyed this story! The writing was strong and compelling, and I think if you make it past the rather disjointed first bit, it quickly draws you in. I loved the portal fantasy aspects of it all, especially the magical histories between these worlds. And most of the characterization was nuanced and deep, though the two main characters were notably a bit lacking. Overall, if you enjoy portal fantasies or books like “The Starless Sea,” yes, this might be one worth checking out!

Rating 8: Full of magic and mystery, this book beckons you to dive into strange worlds, quickly becoming lost in curses and doorways.

(Review will go live Jan. 31 on The Library Ladies.)

I gotta say, I really liked this book. I love a POV book but I’m used to being told who is talking. But in Stardust the POV just switches on you. It caught me off guard at first and then I was sold. I absolutely loved how it flowed that way. You were moving through time and space like you’re watching a movie. You dont need to be told who is talking because Summers has developed the characters so well that you immediately know who it is. The story is an intriguing read and it kept me interested the entire time. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen or how it would end. You saw all the realms and in betweens and the home her uncles lived - just great writing I tell ya!

It feels very meta and very different from the usual. It might have a little trouble finding its readers, but I do think readers looking for something new will be delighted. The writing flows well and the third-person present tense isn’t as jarring because the style is not as narrative. I stopped after chapter 1 (5%), but I can see this being three to four stars for the target.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook for the ARC.

Thank you to #RedhookBooks and #NetGalley for a free copy of #TheCityOfStardust by #GeorgiaSummers to read in exchange for an honest, spoiler free review.

If you’re a fan of authors that write in lyrical, ethereal, poignant, and flowery prose, then you may be a fan of this book! In the vein of Laini Taylor and Erin Morgenstern, Georgia Summers weaves a tale of a child cursed by a fallen star and her journey to find her missing mother in a desperate bid to lift that curse.

Imagine a world made of literal stardust, and Gods from the stars themselves walking amongst those living there. Now imagine that world, and those fallen star gods, are not as benevolent as you’ve grown to believe. The city is magical, in so many dangerous ways. Imagine further still that same city, and it’s fallen star leader, is counting down the moments until it can claim your life as a result of a curse dating back thousands of years. That is The City of Stardust by Georgia Summer.

I recommend picking up this book if that premise sounds intriguing to you! I would avoid this book if you’re someone who needs a pretty little bow on the end of every book you read. This book does a wonderful job of leaving a lot of endings up in the air, with a gentle nudge in directions for where certain characters may (or may not) have ended up.

Unfortunately this book was not for me.

For the synopsis I was hoping for a magical story similar to those of Laini Taylor or Erin Morgenstern, but it fell short. I did enjoy the writing style - it was descriptive and whimsical, but I felt that it hindered the story more than enhanced it. The writing focused more on describing the atmosphere than developing the characters. I never felt connected to our main character Violet and questioned her motivations and abilities. She was often too trusting and naive. I was taken out of the story wondering why or how things were happening rather than being immersed in the story. The plot really doesn't feel to develop until the last 20% of the the book, but even then I was left with more questions than answers.

The idea for this book was great, it just did not hit as well as it could for me. It's not a book I can recommend, but I'm sure there is a reader that will enjoy the book for the writing style alone.

Rated 2 stars. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC ebook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Everly family is cursed for a reason no one knows other than a debt is owed to a mysterious woman named Penelope. In each generation, the most talented Everly is taken by Penelope and never seen again. Marianne was supposed to be the next one but she vanishes in search of breaking the curse, and she leaves her child Violet behind. When Violet is older, Penelope gives the Everlys a deadline of 10 years to either find her mother or Violet will be the next in line to be taken. Violet, instead, tries to find a way to break the curse herself. In her quest, Violet learns about a new magical world and finds herself drawn Aleksander, Penelope’s assistant. Can she find Marianne or break the curse in time?

Overall, I felt like this book held a lot of promise but it fell a little flat for me. I was really intrigued by the premise, and it started really strong with beautiful and descriptive writing. The world building was unique and interesting, but it was a bit difficult to follow. The story dragged a bit in the middle, but it got more interesting in the last third of the book. I had a difficult time connecting with the romance. To me, Violet’s character felt a little flat, whereas Aleksander had a lot of depth, though his depth was based in a LOT of trauma.

If you like a more mysterious standalone fantasy with unique magical world, this could be a great read for you!

Thank you to Redhook & Georgia Summers for the ARC so that I may provide an honest review.

My Rating: ✨✨✨✨✨
Reading Time: 4 hours

I was not expecting this level of a hit this early in the year. This is definitely a story that sticks with you and is impossible to describe without massive spoilers.

While reading, I think if you are looking for a more mature writing style of Mary E Pearson & Stephanie Garber, while in a slight urban fantasy? This is PERFECT.

I am shocked at how invested I was in this story- it's fantastic, whimsical, tragic while exploring the idea of responsibility and running from actions. I genuinely have no critiques.

The City of Stardust lured me in with the sparkle of a golden key (on the cover) and a description promising a tale of magic debts, a hidden [under]world, and an abandoned girl in search of answers and her mother. The story is told in third person and with several perspectives but mainly that of the protagonist, Violet Everly. At the start of the story, Violet is a child who was abandoned by her mother to be raised by her uncle, sheltered and unaware of any of the magic that surrounds, or more accurately curses, her family. The story revolves around her discovery of this magical world and her attempt to undo the curse. There are a number of time jumps in the narrative, some that work well with the story and a few that feel a bit awkward. The magic system was interesting and the world building was absorbing. I would have liked a bit more character development or more in the way of interactions between several of the main characters that would explain key aspects to the plot and its resolution. The prose is fair for ya, easy to quickly read. Overall, this was an intriguing story and I'd recommend it to someone looking for a standalone YA fantasy that is more about magical family drama than romance. (3.5/5)
I received advanced digital access to this book thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Redhook Books) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.