Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
What if we victim blamed Maleficent and pretended to ask ourselves if that was deep? What if we took 300 pages for a man to realize he has no personality?

On my do not read list.

Pre-reading:
Lol I fully expect to hate this, but it’s a book box pick, so once more unto the breach!

Thick of it:
Immediately getting Ink Sister, 10000 Doors, Addie LaRue, Middlegame, and June Farrow. (Never didn’t get those books, and they are not my flavor of literature.)

I am never in the mood for an artsy fartsy fuck off mom book, so tread carefully. (I love going in blind to books, but it does really set me up for failure sometimes.)

Detritus sin

I'm bored.

God, I don't give a shit. I hate these kinds of books.

I gave it 5 chapters, 10%, would DNF.

I’m just picturing the yellow dog from the children’s book.

You had me til manbun.

Of course, the quirky girl drives a bug.

Do you know how hard it is to write summaries for books that purposely leave the audience in the dark?

I hate these magical generation books that are like mom promised to never have more kids but whoopsies, she had me. Take your fucking birth control. Tell your husband to wrap it. Get an abortion. Knock it off.

Here’s the thing, if you like this genre, you might be into this book. It’s not poorly written. The plot is moving. But I hate this genre.

There’s a special place in hell for people who hit kids.

I’m assuming girlypop wants to destroy the city and go home to the stars so they don’t have to have mortal bodies anymore. (Basically.)

Is this a Rapunzel retelling because she’s giving mother Gothel? (It’s more Sleeping Beauty.)

I better get an explanation for why they broke up. I will not accept maybe it was this or maybe it was that. We don’t really know, teehee. I want concrete fact, thank you. (SIGH. I feel like this exemplifies my problem with the genre. The authors are always like it’s open to interpretation! And Sam’s like I don’t want to interpret shit. Am I right or not?)

I guess phone calls and sending emails were out of the question. (You always have to suspend your disbelief in these novels about the use of technology.)

There’s a lot of plot happening off page and it’s annoying me.

If you tell me about something from the villain’s POV and then force me to hear about it again a few chapters later so that the protagonist can also know about it, I hate you.

Bitch, this is Monsters Inc. (Door/portal magic is inherently cool and yet we do nothing with it.)

Detritus sin again

Literally no point to that chapter. “I know shit. I'm not gonna tell you.” Repeat ad infinitum. I. Hate. This. Genre.

Okay, but there was nothing for him to even tell Penelope because you don’t know shit about fuck.

If she's not gonna fuck the demon, what’s even the point? (Samantha, horny jail.)

pauldron

Bitch, that’s Santa.

That gestational math is barely mathing.

I don’t like this romance. I don’t like them. I don’t like anyone in this book except maybe Caspian, and I don’t trust him.

It’s a YA so it’s a masquerade cliche.

Don’t know what’s going on. Don’t care to figure it out. (None of her globe-trotting plot even matters. It’s all filler to delay the inevitable.)

This book is really pretending that its shoestring plot is even somewhat coherent while refusing to speak plainly about anything.

There’s something vaguely Anastasia about this, but like it’s so bad.

It doesn’t exist…yet? Like does she have to make it? (I mean kinda?)

I don’t understand. This is not a romance. This man is textbook family annihilator.

Another fucking detritus sin

I feel like this book is going to ask me to reward this man for not being a villain. (Oh it most definitely is.)
Like Bestie, that’s bare minimum. Don’t be an asshole.
Or, if you’re gonna be an asshole, be a sexy asshole.

OK, but this fight already doesn’t make sense. We know she can stop time. Why doesn’t she just stop time and slit all their throats? Why has she let them live this long anyway?

This man is useless.

Is the author asking me to feel bad for this man because I hate him. He sucks. (Oh she is. Girlypop was like look male abuse rep! He’s a victim. Isn’t he soft and smooshy? We can fix him!)

I'm Gabe.

Time and place for horny!

Oh, I’m supposed to forgive him everything because he’s been abused? Bitch, please.

I probably should’ve mentioned this earlier, but I just keep getting Velaris vibes from the city, even though Fidelis I keep reading as fidelity.

Except I don’t care about any of these dead people so this gore means nothing to me. Do you know how easy it would’ve been to give him a side character bestie that made me actually give a shit about the scholars?

Everyone in this book needs a fucking tetanus shot.

Listen, it’s really just sounding like all of this was caused by a man because it’s not all men, but it is always a man.

Also, were we not supposed to know that the story was obviously about her ancestor and Penelope? Like were we supposed to be that stupid? I thought we knew that from the get-go.

Oh look, more vitally important plot happening off-page.

Bitch, we already knew!

What in the baptism was that?

Cool story, bro, throw the fucking sword anyway.

I’m sorry do you think you’re the only one with trauma?

I hate a whiny sad boy whose only redeeming quality is his girlfriend! Women are not therapists for broken men!

Time and place for horny, children. You don’t have condoms.

It just reads like you’re an abusive husband who won’t let his wife get a divorce.
And fuck the kids as long as you get to maintain your lifestyle.

It’s not that I don’t think there’s a book here, It’s just that it’s been mangled into this unreadable, incoherent garbage fire.

It’s very what if we victim blamed Maleficent?

I’m too much of a Capricorn. I’m like you made a deal, now you have to pay the price.
Oh cool, why not always be owned by a man when all you want is to escape from him?

But Sam, she murders babies! She’s a god. Your god drops houses on his worshipers, and y’all are still gung ho for his shit.

That’s it? They just die?

What if we victim blamed Maleficent and pretended it was deep?

300 goddamn pages for a man to learn he has no personality.

What do you mean ramshackle house? They literally have a trust fund.
They have fuck you, travel the world money.
Let’s not pretend they’re impoverished.

This wouldn’t be a book if men could just keep it in their pants.
No, you can’t fuck a literal star.
No, when she said she didn’t wanna have kids, she wasn’t kidding.

That sounds like a nod to Emily Wilde.

They don’t even find her fucking mom. Are you kidding?

After every helpful thing that man did for you, you’re still not gonna call Cassie your friend?

Oh, I’ve never been so relieved to be done.

Post-reading:
Here’s the thing, do I think this book has an audience? Absolutely. Am I that audience? Good fucking god, no.

I truly think this is the genre that I loathe the most. I think it is way too good at excusing people’s wrongdoings. I’m a Capricorn. I love accountability. It was set up to fail for me.

But I kinda dig the book’s premise. Here’s a smattering of warped fairytales. Which one is true, and does it even matter if both characters have become villains anyway? That’s juicy. There’s a book there.

But not this book. It’s incredible to me that you take that dramatic of an idea and choose to focus on the two most milquetoast characters in the world. Aleksander’s entire character arc is literally discovering that he doesn’t have a personality!

I think he’s a fundamental failure for this book. You can argue that it’s male domestic abuse rep, but honey, this is a fantasy. Everyone and their mama has trauma. He’s a shitty person. That makes him a shitty love interest. I never liked him. I never wanted him on page. Violet’s boring. I never understand these magical realism heroines who are content with taking I’m not gonna tell you as a stonewalled answer. Get on Google, go to a library, fucking try anything else! My curiosity is too rabid to ever relate to them. But she’s designed for the audience to project onto. You’re supposed to unravel the magical mystery alongside her.

Except we don’t because the book fails again in that department. It gets mind-numbingly repetitive slogging through the beginning because you’ll read something from the villain’s point of view and make your assumptions only to be forced to read about it again a few chapters later so that the main character can catch up to what the audience already knows. It’s so frustrating to read. Write it well enough for your audience to catch it and trust your audience to then catch it the first time around. So much vital plot happens off-page, and then the characters are forced to catch the audience up in one line of dialogue. But that’s the action that we actually wanted to see!

The side characters are so one-note they might as well not exist. Penelope’s compelling but lacks that charismatic zhush to carry a novel where everything else is lacking. She seems heavily inspired by Maleficent, but the novel’s solution comes off pretty victim blamingy-some man screwed you over but now you’re the villain for advocating yourself and gradually escalating in violence so that you’re heard, and the only way for you to win is to take another woman down. But psych, you’re actually permanently linked to your ex, and if he can’t have you, no one can. But like it’s fine because now our heroine can maybe go on a coffee date with her sniveling boyfriend that she’s forgiven for betraying her because he has mommy issues so he gets to escape culpability. Like it’s just…icky.

It's pretty plotholey too. We establish early on that Penelope can stop time to murder people but she conveniently forgets about these powers when fighting Violet. Violet knows how to swordfight despite being…Violet. We drop Yury’s plotline like a hot potato. We never find out who Violet’s father is.

And this book should be sexier! I know, I know, it’s a YA. Put down your pitchforks. But it’s literally about gods of the stars in a forbidden romance. It’s about a deal with a devil. If you’re not going the horror route, you have to make it sexy to provide that tension. You’re already including a sex scene and heavy petting. But because the romance is so lackluster, those scenes are jarring and alienating. They never feel earned. They’re just kind of shoehorned in to advance the romantic subplot that really doesn’t belong in this book, or at least not with the characters involved.

At the end of the day, you’ve got to give me a solid plot, snappy dialogue, or furiously likable characters to get me invested in a book. This story doesn’t have any of that.

And yet, I can see why other people would like it. It is very similar in flavor to other magical realism books that have done very well with the greater Goodreads audience that I cannot fucking stand. If you like Addie LaRue, or June Farrow, or Middlegame there’s a good chance that you’ll like this book. If you’ve read the 10,000 Doors of January, you’ve already read a better version of this book. But if you’re like me and fervently hate this genre, you are going to have the worst time with this. I can’t wait to find the book that changes my mind about this genre, but it won’t be this one.

Who should read this:
People who love the mom mysteriously abandons the family trope
Magical realism girlies
Addie LaRue girlies
Adrienne Young girlies

Do I want to reread this:
No.

Similar books:
* The 10,000 Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow-this is the same book but more lyrically written, magical realism, family drama
* The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young-this is the same book but with time travel, magical realism, family drama
* The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang-this is the same book but there's no doors, magical realism, family drama
* Middlegame by Seanan McGuire-this is the same book but it’s superpowers instead of magic, magical realism, family drama
* The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab-historical, magical realism, deal with a demon
* The Book of Love by Kelly Link-magical realism, family drama, ensemble cast, deal with a demon
* Starling House by Alix E. Harrow-this is the same book but now it’s a YA gothic romance, Alice retelling
* Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko-if this book was punishing to read dark academia, magical realism
* Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs-magical realism, ensemble cast, family drama

The cover is super pretty and the premise of the book sounds really good but unfortunately this book just wasn't for me.

A great fantasy that keeps the reader engaged throughout.

You are meeting Violet at a young age, and hearing about the Everly curse early on. This book is about the different worlds that surround us, and the different people you can choose to be if needed. All the places you can visit with just a bit of this magical ore called Revuirite and a scholar's key are infinite.

Alexander is a lost child who is taken by an elder Scholar named Penelope. She raises him as her apprentice or assistant for majority of his life, and convinces him to befriend Violet Everly, in hopes of either capturing her or her mother Marianne, who has been missing since Violet was extremely young.

This book crosses rivers and an ocean, doors to new worlds and old, to find yourself within and to discover what it actually takes being the person you're meant to become.
1 like · Like ∙ flag

The City of Stardust was a beautifully whimsical fairytale of generational curses, vengeful monsters, and a strong-willed heroine taking control of her fate. The world building and magic system was unique; however, it lacked the emotional depth needed for me to connect with the characters.
The jump between POVs was hard to follow and added to my detachment from the storyline. While I wasn’t crazy was about the story itself, I was captivated by Summers’ writing style/ prose and I look forward to reading any future releases (fingers crossed for a prequel to go more in depth with this world).

I wholeheartedly agree with recommendation to fans of Laini Taylor, VE Schwab (specifically The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue), and The Night Circus.

This book was about a mysterious family curse and other worlds accessible by special key. Its mysterious air was nice at first, but there weren't enough other details or plot to keep me interested in reading. I made it 36% in before deciding to set it down. I need a bit more excitement to keep me reading a book. You may like this book if you like family mysteries, curses, and secret societies.

Thanks so very much to Netgalley and the publisher for kindly providing me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. I do reviews on my main social media platforms and will be providing my full review there as I get through my TBR blacklist. Thanks again!

I think this is now one of my favorite books (and audiobooks) of all time.

I love the world, the magic, the characters, the villain, and the lyrical writing. This book was stunning from start to finish. I can’t wait to read this again.

This is a good book, I like the idea of the story and I like the writing. However, this book really isn't grabbing my attention or holding my interest. I may give it another try later.

A beautiful book but wasn’t my favorite. It felt a little too YA for my taste but it might be the perfect book for someone else!

I found this storyline to be extremely promising. The delivery of the story did impress. I liked how we received several narrators.
The way plots were explained and the time they were said were not my favorite. i found the first 66% of the book to be a loop of circles and the ending being wrapped up within 10 pages was lack luster.

An enchanting story of love and love lost - I particularly enjoyed the underworld and all of the characters. Will be watching this author!

I absolutely loved this book! The plot was amazing and it kept me turning the pages unti well into the night.

This book was magical and so fun to read! I loved this book and was a great YA fantasy! Thank you to netgalley!

This was a beautiful otherworldly tale of a girl who is of remarkable talent or power hidden away from someone who wishes to use her for their own agenda. The familial ties and relationships are incredibly dynamic and the magic system is like no other I’ve read before.

The City of Stardust is a book I really really wanted to love. I’ve been asking for more fantasy standalones because it’s nice to not always commit to another series with every new (to me) author. Sadly, this is another example where I think making it at least two books would’ve benefited the story more.

The book was divided into several parts and there was obviously a mystery from the start, but the first part felt too meandering to immediately get me invested. I liked the intros to the various POVs, which felt like a good selection of characters to tell this kind of story. Some of them featured more than others and I liked having some that we only saw here and there or maybe even only once.

The second part of the story hooked me more and by the third, I really needed to know what would happen to this world and its characters. The story felt like it had a more solid direction at this point, which made me feel much more invested.

The world Summers created was fascinating and beautiful. She gave enough detail to not distract from the story but to still allow me to imagine something amazing. The possibilities felt endless with the setup for her story and there were several things that I didn’t predict at all, which was really fun. I do think it would’ve been nice though to see a little more into the darkness of the scholars that was promised in the blurb. Just a little more emphasis there. I also found Aleksander’s ignorance in regard to his mentor surprising and that there wasn’t more uproar about the scholars’ habits.

My biggest criticism is that once again I felt the characters and their relationships were underdeveloped. To the point that I thought Violet might try something with a completely different person (my personal fave). The distance we felt to Penelope made sense because of who she was but I really wanted more from Violet and Aleksander. Their feelings took me by surprise because I didn’t think there was nearly enough development for that on page, which made the impact of her mixed feelings and trust feel off to me at times.

I did really enjoy the development of Violet’s feelings toward her mother though. This could’ve easily been a very predictable part of the overall story but instead took a much different direction.

Full of mysterious keys and doorways, peculiar secrets, dashed hopes, and unbreakable longing, I can see why this book might dazzle readers. While it didn’t land on my own favorites list, I’m still glad I finished it because I would’ve always wondered about Violet’s fate. The resolution felt fitting and while the prologue was once again too cheesy for me personally, I know a lot of people like that kind of closure at the end of a book.

I thought this book's concept was so interesting, and I liked the author's writing style, but I did end up quitting the book around 30% in, as I could not get into the story. I hope to continue some other time, though! :)

I ended up reading the finished copy of this book because I waited so long to read and review. I really had a great time reading this. It was whimsical and fun but also had some darker tones to the story. It was much more of a mystery focused story than I was expecting but I think that helped the suspense and pacing of the story. It was character focused and I think they were well developed. I easily connected with our main character and was swept up in her story.

I love the idea of a portal fantasy. And this book started out well with an intriguing prologue and quickly pulled me in and set the scene for the fascinating world and mystery-filled storyline that emerged. But ultimately, this storyline seemed somewhat disjointed and suffered from pacing issues and dragged out a little bit too long.

This novel has incredibly beautiful writing that keeps you immersed in the novel and constantly intrigued. However this novel can get confusing at times due to the lack of proper world building. The characters also felt flat due to the lack of character development. It was hard to feel much sympathy for the characters or feel connected to them since they were very two dimensional.

This book was magical! The whole thing from the beginning to end was ensnaring. The writing, the storytelling, the characters were complex and endearing. The only reason I give this book a lower rating was because after having finished it, I felt that not much happened the whole book until the very end. If your one that can just enjoy the journey of a fantasy book, I’d market more to that group. But for me, I needed a little more adventure. However, I really just enjoyed it immensely. The whole world building and plot was fantastical and so magical. What a world to live in, one with doors to the ends of the world.