The City of Stardust was an interesting read. This contemporary fantasy definitely has some darker elements to it. This one is perfect for fans of The Ten Thousand Doors of January and Daughter of Smoke and Bone. The world in this book is full of dark scholars, ancient beings, blood rituals, and magic

The story follows Violet Everly as she tries to find her mother. The Everly’s are a cursed family plagued by a mysterious woman named Penelope. Penelope takes the best of the Everly’s every generation, and her current choice has gone missing. She gives Violet ten years to find her mother, or Violet will have to take her place.

Aleksander, Penelope’s assistant, is another main character. He wants to make Penelope happy so he can become a scholar. However the more he learns about Penelope, the less he wants to follow her orders.

There are also stories mixed into the book, sort of like fairytales. I loved seeing how they related to the main story. It was cool to see how they came together at the end.

I enjoyed the overall story, but at times I would get a little bored. The biggest turnoff I had was the violence to children in the book. Nothing was too explicit, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

I liked Violet and Aleksander, and Penelope was a genuinely great villain. The mythology of this world was pretty cool too.

It took me a bit to get through and settle into the story and writing style but I found the world and plot absolutely compelling!

It was good for a little while but after I just didn't want to pick it up anymore. I dnfed at 45%
I will try again another time

Thank you for this arc

I didn't like it. I didn't like Violet and would have found the story more interesting if we had more from Violet’s uncles side than what we do get.

Summer's prose is lovely but the plot was a struggle.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. I'm sorry this one just wasn't for me.

I received an advanced copy of The City of Stardust from Netgalley and the publisher and am leaving this review voluntarily.

I've read a lot of books lately that haven't piqued my interest the way I thought they would, and The City of Stardust is one of them. Unfortunately, this is another book that will be crowding the pile of book disappointments, AKA the unfinished pile.

Don't get me wrong, I believe some people will really like this book, but I wasn't one of them. The plot was confusing, the characters lacked depth, the world-building was vague at best, and the writing was overindulgent. Ultimately, it felt like the author was keeping information from me for the sake of keeping information. Nothing made sense because so many key details were missing.

The characters were utterly lackluster. I couldn't have cared less about any of them, which in turn made me not care about the story. Though I feel I'm being overly harsh, The City of Stardust wasn't doing what the summary said it did. I didn't feel that "seductive" pull it says I would. I was left confused by the world and not seduced, although Violet seemed seduced very quickly, though I have no idea why since I had no grasp of her motivations or personality.

The City of Stardust is a book I thought I would like. Unfortunately, I can't recommend it as the "spellbinding" story it was supposed to be.

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First - this is a multi-POV and as of this ARC there are not always clear distinction of a change of POV, which leads to confusion in parts. I found myself backing up to establish whose POV was actually being done.

The world-building is just okay. The writing, however, is wonderful. There is so much potential here that I am honestly interested in a re-read of the final product of this book .

The story is interesting. The characters are simply okay - nothing greatly significant about any of them. There certainly could be more character development, especially with the support characters to establish them more fully in the story. Also the MFC needs to show growth - which she doesn't really. In this it is hard to relate to her for the book.

However, overall.....I did enjoy this and I will be looking for the final version.

This was so magical and so whimsical and incredibly reminiscent of books that I used to read growing up. If you enjoy books with compelling characters and even more compelling plot, please pick this one up, you won’t regret it!

This book landed somewhere in the middle for me. I wanted to completely get swept away and while it didn't do that, it was intriguing enough for me.

I loved the beautiful writing in this book. It was lyrical and whimsical. Sadly, I did find the characters and their development less interesting and a bit one dimensional. I will definitely keep an eye out for future work by this author because again the prose itself was beautiful, but the story just wasn't it for me.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed the story of Violet Everly who enters a dark and magical underworld of power hungry scholars to break her family's curse. After her mother set out to stop the curse but doesn't return, Penelope gives Violet an ultimatum, find her mother or the curse will fall on her. She agrees to descend down to the underworld accompanied by Penelope's assistant Aleksander to find her mother. Aleksander helps her and she begins to trust him though she knows she shouldn't. But the world of power hungry scholars and fickle gods are bent on revenge, and Violet must navigate through the edges of the world to find her Mother and the key to to the city of stardust.
It is a bit of a slow burn, and some of the relationships were frustrating, but all in all it was a fun read.

I'm giving forward-leanind 3.5 stars to this imaginative tale that feels a little too much like other reads for it to get the higher rating I would have probably given it if I'd read this a couple of years ago.

A tale that reads like a long, dark dream, we follow Violet Everly as she grows up among secrets and the shadow of her mother's dissaperance. But there's more to her mother being gone and her uncles keeping her locked away in the crumbling family home, and it all has to do with the curse on her family and the fact that Violet is the last Everly. As time runs out for Violet, she embarks on a journey of discovery to either find a way to break the curse or find her mother, preferably both. Along the way, Violet will uncover truths that should have stayed hidden and dangers she never could have imagined. There's also the boy with the storm-gray eyes full of secrets that first showed her the magic in the world and that not everything is ever as it seems.
The fact that Summers manages to make it so there's mystery left in people and events even after making big revelations is something to be admired because it makes the world and magic of the book feel like they're truly something that can never be fully understood.
It's a solid story that has issues with pacing because things sometimes feel like they're both taking forever and happening way too fast to be believable. I think it's somewhat on purpose because it makes a stark difference in Violet's life before and after she leaves her uncles, but it's a peeve of mine in storytelling.
Overall, it's a great read that offers imaginative storytelling, but it just feels a little too much like other things I've read.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Redhook for the magical read!

I had such high hopes for this story, and in some ways, it delivered, and in others, not so much.

We follow Violet as she goes on a quest to break her family's curse. If she doesn't, she's next on the chopping block.
We see the story unfold from three main perspectives; Violet, Penelope (the antagonist who is holder of said curse, and Aleksander (Penelope's assistant, who finds himself torn between Violet and his mentor).
Violet finds herself going all over the world, following in her mother's footsteps, as she tries to break the curse.
The world building is very interesting but feels a little incomplete,  the prose is beautiful, but oftentimes meanders. The pacing of the story felt off. In many instances,  the last 1/2 of the story went on for far too long, I felt like it could have been condensed.
It is still a solid debut effort, and I would definitely read this author again.

Lovely writing and fascinating lore - and possibly one of the best villains I've read in a long time! City of Stardust is a lush fantasy with dark undertones and multiple magical worlds. It was very easy to sink into this story and get lost in the pages.

While beautiful and atmospheric, I truly wanted more out of the adventure. Although the characters are delightful and intriguing, I felt like parts of the plot fell flat for me. The world building was darkly magical and the prose was beautiful, however. I certainly recommend picking it up.

(2.5 stars, rounded up) I had high hopes for this book, but was unfortunately let down. The overall plot was confusing to follow and it had multiple plot holes. I never felt connected to the characters and the romance subplot was severely lacking, it almost seemed pointless to add in. The pacing was off and I found myself skipping past paragraphs just to get to the end faster. I think this story had a lot of potential, but it was not for me.

3.75 stars

With this book getting compared to The Starless Sea and even The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, I went into it expecting it to be a new all-time favorite. While by no means would I say I didn't enjoy it, it unfortunately did not live up to the (perhaps unfairly) high expectations I had for it.

Definitely the thing I liked most about this book was the writing and prose itself. It had that element of mystical whimsy that really leant itself to the atmosphere the book was creating, and reminded me in some ways of the things I love most about Laini Taylor's work. I also thought the world itself was really intriguing and had so much potential. I really liked the concept of a hunt for a door to a lost world and all the implications of it, and I only wish we got to spend more time exploring the other world that we did get to see.

Really, I think a lot of what I wished I had seen from this book just comes down to the fact that this book would have worked much better as a duology than a standalone. The biggest area where this came into play for me was definitely the character development, because it simply did not feel like we got enough page time with any character in this book to truly understand their motivations or their relationship dynamics. Throughout the book, there wasn't a single moment where I actually felt at all personally invested in Violet or Aleksander themselves, and it felt like they both had a degree of depth and complexity to their personalities that we just didn't get the time to see. This book never felt rushed, per se, but it felt like there were interactions and events that were paraphrased when it really could have benefitted from letting us see those moments in full. I wanted to see how the conversations between Violet and Aleksander that led to their friendship actually went so I could feel invested in their connection and their mutual interests. I wanted to witness the moments of Aleksander's backstory so I could understand why he was making the choices he did. I wanted to see a lot more of the adventures that Violet went on when she finally left the nest so I could buy into the growth she was supposed to have experienced during that time. All of the foundation was there to make this book phenomenal, and I just wish it had been given the page time to do so.

The ending to this book was probably the only part of it that felt truly rushed to me. We spend the entire book building up to a particular occurrence, but when it finally happens, we barely get to see any of it for very long. While I liked the actual resolution itself, it didn't quite feel earned, and it didn't feel like the scene had been set for things to ultimately unfold the way they did.

Overall I think this book had a lot of potential, but it needed far more page time to accomplish everything it set out to do. I would definitely still check out whatever Georgia Summers releases next, but sadly this book didn't quite deliver everything that I hoped it would.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this book for an honest review.

“The City of Stardust” had so much potential. The writing was great, the story started exciting and fast-paced, and mysterious keys that could transport people to different locations were pretty cool. However, the timeline and jumping between characters was sometimes confusing, the world-building felt rushed and difficult to imagine, and the character development was lacking for me to fully commit. There was enough going on in this book that I think it may have been better to turn it into a duology - that way the author could have spent some well needed time fleshing out more of the details.

Since the book is written in third person, the author jumps around between different characters in various chapters. I don’t usually have an issue with this, but this book seems disorganized at times and caused confusion for me. Also, some characters briefly came and went, so I wasn’t sure if they were important or not and was often left wondering. Much of the book is carried by dialog, so the reader is left to read between the lines and guess in many circumstances.

I really liked the main character Violet Everly for the majority of the story. She’s naïve and still has a lot of growing up to do, but she’s relatable and has something about her that’s very genuine and sweet. However, later in the book after a major event happens, she suddenly seemed out of character – filled with anger and swearing for no apparent reason. I knew this was a change for the worse with not much left of the story, and I was somewhat disappointed by how the book ended.

The saving grace for me was Aleksander. He was the dark, mysterious type with the dodgy past and questionable future, but he really cared about Violet, and I swooned over many of their interactions.

In the end, I really enjoyed the overall idea and the writing of this book. I think that some adult readers will really enjoy it. It was just missing too much for my liking, but I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I wanted to love this beautifully written fantasy novel but this one fell a little flat for me. This book follows Violet whose mother disappeared when she was young and her uncles secreted her away to keep her safe from the curse that plagues her family. When Violet is discovered she is forced to enter a world she had been pretty naïve too she finds out she has little time left to find her mom or she will become the sacrifice.

While the premise was interesting I kept finding myself losing interest in this one. The characters were ok not my favorite I found myself not caring about quite a few but I really enjoyed the writing. The writing was dark and gothic feeling but the characters felt a little to ya for me. I also enjoyed the fairy tale feel to this story and wished there was some more of it. This is the first book I have read from this author but hopefully not my last. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

I don't know... the main character was really irritating. I thought the male lead was really compelling, but I don't know if I could read a whole novel about him. It was an easy read though!

I loved the prologue! 5 stars for the prologue! But...the plot really let me down. I loved the vibes of this and the romantic subplot was good but the actual plot of the story and Violet trying to find her mom...super confusing. I love the length and the writing style, but if you're looking for a plot heavy book this is not the one for you. If you are a reading for the "vibes" person, please pick this one up!