Thank you to NetGalley and Red Hook for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book! The comparisons to Alix Harrow’s The Ten Thousand Doors of January and Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer are absolutely spot on. I wouldn’t be surprised if they served as inspiration to Summers when she was coming up with this story.

Like TTTDJ, this book features a lot of magical doorways and keys and traveling between worlds to find a loved one. And like StD, much of the present conflict is influenced and haunted by a huge event from the past.

I loved the characters in this book, and I loved the fairy tale-like quality the prose takes on, but there are two things that keep me from giving this 5 stars. The first is the ending. It felt very anti-climactic to me after an entire book spent building up this great confrontation between Violet and Penelope. I knew it was going to end the way it did, but it was over in like a page. I wish it had been expanded on a bit more.

The other thing is kind of how surface level everything was? Violetis the reader stand-in in terms of learning about the other world called Fidelis and learning there’s a curse on her family that’s lasted generations. And while we do get a fair bit of world-building, I felt like we weren’t told enough? There are two different passages where Aleksander and Violet are both researching various topics about Fidelis, but all we’re told is that they found a lot of information. Ok, cool, tell me some of it!! I feel like there was a lot of wasted potential to give us even more world-building.

But I still enjoyed it! And I’m excited to see how a book box I subscribe to customizes their edition of it.

So I liked the premise of this a lot. I liked both Ambrose, Violet and even Gabriel and Aleksander. Did any of them make great choices no but they did the best they could and I liked that Ambrose, Gabriel, Violet, and even Maryanne felt, like. Family they might not always get along but they are always there for each other and I liked how realistic and genuine the family dynamic felt. I also really liked the world and mythology and how relatable Violet was, was she sometimes annoying and naive yes, but she redeems herself quickly and I too probably would have been tricked by Aleksander too. Also, Penelope was a fun and unique villain. But Caspain might be my favorite he deserves his own book.,

This is definitely going to be a divisive book. The comparisons to The Starless Sea are valid, but it didn’t quite have that extraordinary, magical quality that TSS had. It also does have a bit wonky pacing at moments and some of the characters feel a little meh. These weren’t bad enough to really take away from the book, but I do think your enjoyment of the book will depend on how you vibe with the writing style.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

Whimsical and beautifully written, The City of Stardust was honestly such a great read. My only complaint is that I do with the characters would have been a bit more fleshed out, especially Violet's. Overall so good though!

For centuries, members of the Everly family have been taken by a woman named Penelope and never seen or heard from again. Deemed as the Everly curse, Marianne Everly is next to be taken until she disappears determined to break the curse once and for all. But she never comes back and no one knows where she is. Now her daughter Violet must find her mother, or she will be taken in her place.

To do so, she must descend into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. She must also contend with Penelope's quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted - and yet to whom she finds herself undeniably drawn.

Tied to a very literal deadline, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find her mom and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.

The story is beautifully written with gorgeous prose, vivid descriptions, and amazing world building. The point of view shifts quickly between characters and is always in third person so sometimes it’s a little hard to keep up but overall it comes together nicely. I think the MC could’ve been developed a little more to really push her to the forefront of the story and show off her talent and ingenuity. A little more backstory regarding the curse would’ve been a little more satisfactory to the ending I think as well. Overall it was a great read that kept me engaged throughout and I can’t wait to see what the author writes next.

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers was an imaginative and captivating read, filled with magical elements and intriguing characters. I found The City of Stardust to be an enjoyable escape from reality, with its vibrant world-building and enchanting storyline.

While The City of Stardust had a promising concept, the execution fell short for me with its slow pace and lackluster character development.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Everlys are cursed. The most talented of each generation is sacrificed to an unknown fate, disappeared for a crime no one remembers. Violet Everly is the last of the line - and unless she can track down her mother and break the curse - she's running out of time.

I'm not gonna lie, that's a hell of a hook. It's unfortunate that it's so much better than the actual book.

City of Stardust is lyrical and whimsical, but without any sort of substance underneath. It's like cotton candy - sweet but ultimately unsatisfying. Violet is underdeveloped as a character, and her interest in Aleksandr borders on stupidity. (What kind of person who was abandoned to a horrible and gruesome death by their mother, never, ever expresses anger or fear about said fate? It doesn't make any sense.) The entire first act is a giant miscommunication trope.

I'm so disappointed, because I was so looking forward to this.

2/5 stars, mostly for the lyricalness of the language.

This is one of the more interesting reads I have read lately. The plot was so interesting and kept me flipping page after page. I don’t typically enjoy 3rd person especially from multiple povs but this story was overall well done.

📖 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙂𝙚𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙖 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨

“𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺.”

When Violet Everly was 10 years old her mother disappeared leaving her with her two uncles. Violet has spent her whole life sequestered in her family home and taught by her uncles. When she was 12, she had a memorable encounter with a boy who preformed what could only be called as magic. Now 21, Violet’s only reprieve from her family home, is her job at a local coffee shop. One day, she meets that same magical boy and they build a friendship. Little does Violet know, so many odd and dark things are going on in the world and they are all connected to her. The is a curse upon the Everly’s and Violet is next in its path.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵.“

This story was very original and the world building was intriguing. The story telling was great. At first, it was very hard to keep all of the different POV’s straight. There is a lot going on in this book and once you get a feel for it, everything starts clicking into place. I really enjoyed this book! I do want to mention that at the heart of this story there is a lot of darkness I wasn’t really prepared for. There is a happy ending but the author really puts you through the wringer to get it.

I feel like somethings weren’t really well explained. I know if I was to read this book a second time I would understand everything way more. The character of Violet’s mom was almost mythical and there was so much build up about her but then you really are left with nothing in regards to her character at the end. I also felt that the climax was lackluster, I expected more but still enjoyed it overall. Overall rating: 4.5⭐️

🩶 The romance in this story is very minimal and not the main focus of the story.

Tropes:
🗺️ Adventure
⭐️ High Fantasy
📖 World building
💞 Multi POV
🩶 Dark Fairy Tales

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook publishing for my eARC of this book so that I could share this honest review! This story will be available on January 30, 2024!

Thank you to NetGalley and orbit books for this opportunity to read an arc in exchange for my review.

The premise of this novel was absolutely brilliant. My only main issue was the characters all fell flat to me and I was needing more from them. I don’t normally say a book should be longer; but this should have been longer to give us more character growth and insight.

I wanted to thank netgalley and Orbit publishing for the opportunity to read an ARC of The city of Stardust.

I loved the uniqueness of this book. I loved the strong MC in finding her true identity. With that I felt that this book could have been a lot more in depth. I felt the ending and epilogue kept me wanting more but not in the sense of wanting the next book but unanswered questions that didn’t get answered throughout the book.

I could feel myself being in FIdelis the magic and power, the story of the gods that foretold what was happening in the current time frame. I just felt that there was something missing.

Georgia if you read this. This was a fantastic book. I absolutely loved the world building and space of this book I just felt there could have been more depth and if there had this would have ABSOLUTELY been a 5 star book. I look forward to reading more from her.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.


Stars that have basically made themselves into gods who could walk the earth, one in particular having cursed an entire bloodline due to the debt she believed she was owed from an ancestor who lived over 1,000 years ago is where this tale begins. Our FMC, Violet, is trying to stop herself from being taken and used for her blood by a bloodthirsty, old, aggressive star who takes children from their beds so they can be sacrificed to her later on. I really empathized with Violet's struggle against time, especially since she was basically on her own when it came to saving herself. The one person she thought she could confide in, snitched on her at every opportunity, and everyone else she came across hated her mother (who had left her behind as a small child and ran from the fate she's now left Violet to), so they wouldn't offer her much help either. While the story itself is exciting, the two MCs are both so broken, both physically and mentally by the end. If you enjoy a kind of twisty fantasy, with a snippet of romance, and a lot of betrayal, then definitely give The City of Stardust a read.

This book was good, and could have been so much better. The idea of this book made so much sense, and I could almost feel Fidelis (and magic) at my fingertips.

However, as much as I loved the story, and the characters, I wanted MORE. More world building, more character building, more development. I feel as if it could have all been fleshed out a little better, and it just didn’t give me what I was hoping for from it.

If this book had been twice as long with more developed characters and worlds, I would have 100% given it five stars.

3.5/5 stars
I was excited to read this book, and it delivered on the perceived concepts of "magic," power, mortality, and the wrath of gods. However, it left a lot to be desired for me as a reader. Summers' world and magic system are downright cool - doors to different worlds and "talent" that is a power or magic of its own. I especially loved the tales woven in about the gods and the "betrayal" that began the curse that our FMC finds herself entangled in. The concepts were there and they had such potential for world-building!

unfortunately, it just didn't feel like those concepts were flushed out. The book felt rushed, skipping ahead in time like it was mere seconds, leaving me as the reader wondering where I was in the storyline. There were too many points of view, which, in some parts, I really appreciated, but usually pulled me out of the story instead. It also ensured that I didn't have a real connection with any of the characters. The world-building also wasn't super clear throughout the book, until more than halfway through, when some of the history or backstory was brought to light.

Overall, this book had so much potential but just missed the mark for me. A sincere thank you to NetGalley, Redhook Books, and Georgia Summers for allowing me access to an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an unbiased review!

A riveting good book, full of intrigue and a bit of adventure. Prepare to go on a journey for answers.

The world building was utterly phenomenal. I was pulled right in on that dark and Stormy day, and stayed that way to the end.

Thank you Netgalley and Redhook books for this arc!
The story follows Violet Everly and the curse on her family. But theres an academia vibe to it, plus fantasy!

I loved the story and the world it was set in. The adventure that Violet goes to try to save herself and her family is so fun and tense at times. At the beginning there seems to be a lot of different POVs but they all served a purpose and that was fun to realize as you read it. The descriptions made everything so easy to visualize and it kept me wanting to read more. I'd 100% recommend this to people looking for an easy but fun read.

Some things id comment on would be the beginning of the book felt kind of rushed but once you understand what is happening it's super easy to follow. Aleksander's character felt a little undeveloped but I still liked him.

Overall great read, I would definitely read more from this author and this world if she were to continue it!

3.5/5 stars

This mysterious and dark debut book was told with imaginative prose and an easy to read writing style. The writing style was a good balance between whimsical and wistful while still moving the plot along.

The story is told in a unique way where the storyline blends the past and present and the perspective jumps from character to character. The blending of the past and present scenes through the book reminded me of the story telling style of The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue, however, I felt like the order we discovered things in made for weird moments where we know more than the characters did at certain points - it made some character discoveries feel a little anticlimactic. I also didn’t feel like the story wove all the pieces together to my satisfaction.

The story was a great idea but the execution could use a little polishing. The world was interesting to follow with portals to multiple worlds, astral gods and fairytale-esque magic. I just felt that the order of the scenes in the story weren’t optimal and that I still have a lot of open questions. It almost felt like this should have been a duology such that we could finish exploring the world.

I would recommend this to those who enjoyed the invisible life of Addie la rue but want a faster moving plot or those who enjoy prose filled with imagery and don’t mind loose ends.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Redhook Books for providing me an eARC for my honest review.

I didn't finish book as the violence toward children had me putting it down. The overall story was about a girl breaking a debt owed my her bloodline.

I wish authors would give trigger warnings. While I still will read books that perhaps tackle tough or disturbing topics, I think it should be included up front by those who might want to avoid certain topics for whatever reason.

TW: violence towards children

The Everly family is cursed. In each generation, a family member is taken by a woman named Penelope as payment of a debt owed to her. When Violet's mother was taken, she was left to live with her uncles and Penelope has given them ten years find Violet's mother or else Violet will be taken in her place. Determined to break the curse, Violet sets off to a magical underworld where she encounters scholars, gods and monsters. Here is she has to figure out who she can trust and who can help her break the curse.

Right away I was interested in the mystery behind where her mother was and the debt that was owed. The book was easy to follow and I found the ending to be satisfying. I do think the pacing could use a bit of work, especially in the beginning as I did struggle to get past the 30% mark at times, but I am ultimately glad I powered through.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sadly this book just didn’t grab as much as I hoped it would. I put it down and picked it up multiple times but I just couldn’t connect with it. Super bummed.