Pick a door. Any door. In most cases, you'll wander through and find another room. A living room, a kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom, or perhaps, if you're lucky enough, you'll find a Door to another world. Though, those kinds of doors are only in available in books. Right?

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers is about a family curse. Every generation, an Everly must be sacrificed. And now, thanks to her mother running away, its almost Violet Everly's time to die. So she goes looking for her mother in a quest to end the Everly curse. Its a journey thats grounded in one world but the possibility of other worlds is there. The Doors haunt this book. There are so many books that Doors haunt and after finishing this book, I can say, that you need to read this one.

Georgia Summers leads us on a journey. I'm trying to not spoil too much of that journey. Its a detailed journey full of wonder and horror and fairy tales and monsters and people are so flawed and so beautiful. The journey takes us to unexpected places and it ends up...well...that would be telling.

A book is a door. We all know that. It can take you on a journey to other worlds. So yes, Doors in our world are real. We call them books. I highly recommend you check out Georgia Summer's Door next year. The City of Stardust is a wonderful book that shouldn't be missed.

Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook Books for providing a early digital copy of this book for review. The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers comes out on January 30th, 2024.

A wonderful darker magical realism & fantasy, what appears to be an adult standalone with an ending that allows for Summers to continue with more stories if she would like, this story was un-put-down-able and addictive and just so good. The pacing was wonderful and I absolutely loved the worldbuilding, magical world, and the way that this felt like a darker adult version of a story inspired by The Ten Thousand Doors of January.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

This book is The Starless Sea meets Olivie Blake.

From the first chapter you notice how beautifully this book is written. It feels like poetry and music. The elegant descriptions of the world lended a whimsical and enchanting air throughout the book. The main character was refreshing as a strong and stubborn female who doesn’t need anyone to save her. The story has a bit of magic, a bit of alchemy, and a whole lot of family secrets.

My main issue with this book and the reason I gave it the rating I did is that it felt like so much was left unexplained. I feel like we were only given the very surface of the plot and many things were just alluded to but never fully meted out. The ending felt a little rushed especially with all the build up to get there. I feel like part of that is because this is currently a stand alone story so there’s only so much you can put in one book but the world felt like it had so much more to offer that didn’t get explored.

Overall I enjoyed the writing immensely but I felt the story was missing that big explanation moment that really lets you in on the secret.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Maybe it’s just me, but there’s nothing better than a well-written and thoughtfully crafted fantasy book. The City of Stardust had me hooked from the very first page and I could not put it down.

The Everly family is cursed. Once a generation, an Everly disappears and Violet Everly is determined to put a stop to it. With the clock ticking, Violet embarks on an adventure across multiple worlds to find the truth about her family. But who can she trust? Her uncles have been keeping secrets from her; her mother is missing and on a secret mission no one is talking about; and Aleksander, a boy she’s thought about for years, is working for her family’s worst nightmare. As she works to break the curse on her family, Violet discovers that there’s more to the truth, to her family, and to love than she ever could have imagined.

The entire time reading this book, I could not fathom that this was a debut. The prose was so lyrical and enchanting! Just really hauntingly beautiful over all. There were times I had to pause and reread some lines because I could not get enough. It reminded me so much of Laini Taylor and Rebecca Ross, two of my very favorite fantasy authors. The characters were well-rounded and the story was as magical as the worlds the author crafted.

I honestly cannot wait to read what Georgia Summers writes next! I highly recommend preordering, requesting from your local library, or picking up a copy when it comes out next year!

Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook Books/Orbit for the ARC!

really enjoyed the story building and the plot. I think the story all in all was a solid 4/5 for me but it was frustrating how many obstacles Violet had to keep running into that got me. At some points the story seemed very rushed and then some points it was way too descriptive. A solid debut title though for sure and I hope that she writes more books as I really enjoyed the story and world building as a whole.

The cover of this one really drew me in.

I enjoyed this story more than I was anticipating just based on the synopsis. I would describe it as similar to The Starless Sea or even a little bit of Daughter of Smoke and Bone. A bit of a love letter to Narnia.

The author combines a few elements that I happen to enjoy. Portal fantasy, otherworldly beings, a kind of secret society, an old story, a girl on an adventure.

The romantic subplot with the side character was a little meh, I almost would have preferred that it wasn't explored at all.

Ultimately, I rated City of Stardust a 4 based on my own enjoyment. I could see other readers not liking it as much based on the mythology not being very fleshed out and the ending not being as climactic as it could have been.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for the ARC of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers in exchange for an honest review. I only joined NetGalley in summer, and this was the first book I requested - while I didn't get a copy the first time around, I thank Redhook for granting my wish in October.

The City of Stardust is atmospheric - both mystical and gothic. The style/setting are evocative of Alix Harrow and Erin Morgenstern - which is great company to be in. Summers has a beautiful style, and her words and descriptions are rich and evocative. I read the whole book within two sittings (stayed up until midnight last night to finish it).

That being said, I did feel like something was missing - and I'm still not sure if the story itself made sense, I think, more than anything, I was just confused when I finished it. This makes it a bit hard for me to give a really detailed review or explanation of the plot. Maybe part of the problem was that the explanation of the Everly curse itself is so vague that I couldn't figure out where the story started (I'm really confused on how Marianne was able to work and live in Fidelis if she is the sacrifice of her generation? Also, why her? Why not just take one of her brothers who can use keys? And if Marianne is so brilliant why is in-the-dark Violet more comprehending of this entire saga?). I'll also note that the description talks about a travel through worlds and portals, but about 95% of the story is on Earth or related to Earth, not a larger collection of realms.

Add to the confusion that our time with Violet and Aleksander just feels so surface level given the high intensity of the search and the dangers of Penelope - at no point did I really care about any of the characters, even when they were in danger. If anything, I felt like the characters weren't really committed to their own growth or to each other - like what we learn about Marianne and her journey was really frustrating and, at times, totally useless - The Ten Thousand Doors of January is an example of how a missing parent can better spur the momentum of a story.

I do think Summers has talent, and I think I would try whatever her next book is, but this one just didn't work for me.

Excellent book. I wish it had a little more resolution and clarity in the end but it was a refreshingly new magical concept. I loved all the characters and their uniqueness.

Thank you netgalley for this advance copy of The City of Stardust. Unfortunately this one was not for me. The descriptions were too long and the plot too slow. I finally dnf’d the book because I couldn’t make myself pick it up again. Wanted this one to be more fast paced.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Violet Everly. Raised by her uncles, Violet is also a dreamer who finds solace in fairy tales. When a strange woman named Penelope comes to the house, her uncles are forced to reveal the Everly family curse to Violet. It’s the curse that claimed her mother and which will doom them all. Yet Violet isn’t going down without a fight. With the help of a mysterious boy named Aleksander, Violet tries to retrace her mother’s search for answers before her time runs out.

The City of Stardust is a luscious, beautiful story. Georgia Summers’ writing reminds me of Erin Morgenstern. It is transportive, magical, and so imaginative. Violet and Aleksander remind me of Celia and Marco from The Night Circus- two rivals who could easily have been true friends in another life if they weren’t held apart by circumstance. Violet is a compelling and fierce heroine who is determined to retrace her mother’s steps. Aleksander is beholden to the mysterious and vicious Penelope, who is trapped by the magic of a story long forgotten. Even as Penelope makes villainous choices, she has the air of a doomed Persephone who will do anything to accomplish her goals. I was intrigued by her story and found the ending very satisfying.

In this stunning debut, keys and curses have a great and terrible power. Summers deftly weaves together a gorgeous tale of dreamers, magic that comes with a price, and the power of stories. Once you start reading, you’ll want to cancel all your plans and stay in the magic of this world. If you love beautiful writing, imaginative world-building, and Erin Morgenstern then you will love The City of Stardust. I’m looking forward to what Georgia Summers writes next!

Thank you to Georgia Summers, Redhook Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

From the first lines of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers my attention was arrested, gripped in the hands of an evocative, sometimes unsettling fantasy that’s also beautifully written.

Violet Everly has grown up in the shadow of her mother’s abandonment, left in a home that feels all too much like a prison under the watchful guard of her two uncles.

She eventually learns that there is an Everly curse & either she or her mother are the next targets.

In this world, friends can become betrayers, betrayers can become friends, morally gray characters can do favors for unidentified reasons, stars can walk among humans, & family secrets can both keep people safe & at risk.

My favorite thing about this book is just the writing style, which is striking & thoughtfully wielded for maximum impact. The book balances emotion & action, keeping me invested & engaging me on all levels.

Be advised this book contains kidnapping & murder with some particularly disturbing elements.

On the whole it’s a compelling fantasy with some romantic elements—though it’s not a romance—& I’m really looking forward to the author’s next release! I get all the heart eyes for great fantasy books.

5⭐️. Out 01/30.

[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of a forest of trees & a waterfall in the background.]

2.5 stars. I wanted to love this book. Interesting premise but execution fell flat. It just felt like something was missing. The writing is decent but world and character development was lacking. I probably would have dnf’ed had this not been an arc. Thank you to netgalley.

First off, thank you NetGalley and Redhook Books for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alright, let's dive into "The City of Stardust." So, here's the deal – I'm giving it a solid two stars. It's got a unique story and a magic system that is very unique. However it didn't quite stand out to me. I was really pushing through to finish the story. It took me a long time to finish.

Commendations are extended to the author for the imaginative world-building and the introduction of a unique magical paradigm. The incorporation of stardust as a thematic element provides the narrative with an ethereal quality, contributing to the establishment of a fantastical atmosphere that sets it apart within the genre.

However, despite these commendable elements, the execution of the story leaves room for improvement. The anticipated narrative depth fails to materialize, resulting in a somewhat lackluster reading experience. The plot, although conceptually intriguing, suffers from a deficiency in execution, hindering the ability to sustain reader interest.

*I added this review to my goodreads

This dark fantasy introduces some literally bloodthirsty characters, but it never satisfactorily answers what makes them that way. There are multiple worlds that can be accessed with a special series of stardust-made keys, but only the select can use them. There are many dreamers, some who become scholars of the world, but the price to become one is murder. Mistress of the scholars is Penelope, who is so much more than she appears to be. Her assistant is Aleksander, who unquestionably follows her instructions--at least at the beginning. That's mostly because he has been directed to spy on Violet Everly and find out from her where her mother Marianne has gone. Violet would like to know the answer to that as well, and spends most of the book trying to find out. Violet and Aleksander dance around each other, never really sure what to make of the other. There are stories of the past that give clues, but there is a lot of blood and betrayal before anything is answered. And a lot of questions are never answered. There is the Everly family curse that is dangled in front of the reader, and it turns out to be love that has curdled over the years. This book has a lot of promise, but unfortunately for me, it did not deliver. I give it 3 and 1/2 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

DNF at 49%

I'm so sad about this one and so torn. The writing in this book is beautiful and very whimsical. Her descriptions are lovely and I can easily picture these wonderful landscapes she's describing. But all of that comes at the detriment to the development of both the storyline and the characters.

Both the storyline and the characters are all very interesting and have a lot of potential, but they're bogged down by the shear amount of descriptions and lack luster interactions.

I think that a lot of readers will really enjoy this one, but it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Georgia Summers’s ‘The City of Stardust’ is a spellbinding debut. The reader follows Violet Everly, a young girl trying to break a generations-long family curse, through the perils of contemporary earth and fantastical Fidelis. Throughout the novel, Violet attempts to solve the family curse, locate her long-lost mother, navigate family issues, and define a romantic relationship with her villain Penelope’s personal assistant, Aleksander.

The world of Fidelis is packed with interesting plot points. There are fallen gods, locked doorways with hidden keys, erudite scholars in a mysterious tower, and echelons of society determined by education. It is a super promising and intricate alternate world; it’s one downfall being it wasn’t fleshed out properly. Each visit made to Fidelis left me more confused than before. As a reader, I wanted to follow Violet through more of her discovery of Fidelis, its inner workings, its cultural differences, etc. Fidelis is super unique - which is hard to come by in fantasy these days - and really could have used more focus.

The curse the Everly’s are under - having to sacrifice one family member of each generation to a fallen god masquerading as a scholar named Penelope is intriguing. Violet’s mother, Marianne, running from the curse, Violet facing it head on, her uncle’s trying to protect her are all plots points for a tension filled family drama. My favourite scenes throughout the novel were ones in which Violet and her uncles banded together to stand up to Penelope. I found myself wishing they could have been more involved. Ambrose and Gabriel were such multi-faceted characters, I wanted to know more about them.

While I saw a romance between Violet and Aleksander coming, I was frustrated with the cycle of betrayal and acceptance between the two. By the end of the novel, it just wasn’t wrapped enough for me to be convinced they were right for each other.

I know the story was Violet’s and not her mother’s, but I was certainly disappointed when I reached the finish line and discovered there was no real answer as to where exactly Marianne was, considering so much of the plot was about Violet’s search. That being said, I think between the plot and the world-building of Fidelis, Summers certainly has room to write another novel about Violet’s story, or a separate standalone with Fidelis as the location.

I would certainly read future novels by Summers, and look forward to seeing where her career takes her.

I fear that me saying this will sound stupid but I honestly trudged through this book simply for the intriguing plot with violet and Marianne. The book itself was astronomically over detailed in my opinion to the point where it became a chore to keep up with the book. I will say the actual book was an amazing idea, just slightly, poorly executed.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. The City of Stardust was a fun read, I really enjoyed my time immersed in this world. It was unique, and very original, however I did find myself getting a little reluctant to keep picking it back up after around the 50-60% mark, I felt like the pace slowed down significantly. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

The Everly family has been cursed for generations and it is now violets turn to pay the price but she will not go down without a fight.

when I read the description for this book I was very excited to read it but unfortunately it fell flat. The characters felt very two dimensional. The world building was vague and confusing at times. I also did not like the way the pov would change in the middle of a chapter. It would just throw me off and make me disconnect from the story because I was confused on who we were following now. Violet’s character was interesting at times but some of her actions were very questionable, especially when it came to Aleksander. like I genuinely did not understand why she continued to interact with him after she found out he was telling Penelope everything she was up to. Their whole relationship was not very convincing to me. I did not feel any chemistry between at all. I felt more chemistry between Violet and Caspian and they didn’t even interact that much. I feel like the romance between Violet and Aleksander was just there for the sake of having a romance storyline in the book.

Thank you to Redhook books and NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me receive a copy of this arc.

The premise sounded so intriguing and I really wanted to enjoy this book. It was difficult to stay invested in the pace of the storyline and the choppy perspectives. I had a hard time connecting with the characters as well.