This has been compared a lot to Addie Larue and the Night Circus, none of which I have read. Now this one is a very poetic novel, for readers, at least those seeking escapism through literature which they will find in this story. Our main character, violet, was interesting but considering the story, she had a rather shallow personality. the pacing was odd and made the book very slow in the second half. The best aspect was definitely the writing. 3 stars.

Thank you to Hodder Books and Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The City of Stardust for an honest review.

The City of Stardust follows Violet Everley whose mother vanished in the middle of the night to break the curse that is on their family.

Every generation of the family is destined to lost their best and brightest to a woman named Penelope who never forgives a debt or ages or sickens.

As Violet grows up she aims to finish what her mother started and find a way to break the curse. To do this she must make her way through a magical underworld full of scholars, Gods and monsters aiming for the City of Stardust where their story began.

This was an enchanting read I could not put it down. It was really well crafted and the writing made me feel like I was in the magical worlds being described.

The world building was very unique and the magical aspects were intriguinging. Definitely one that book lovers would enjoy!

Violets character was well written and I found myself routing for her all the way through the plot. The ending wrapped most things up nicely as a standalone. However I hope we get more fantastical stories from this author soon.

My only minor critique would be wanting to know abit more of Marianne her mothers story. I know her fate is heavily implied in that she is stuck in another world and cannot return but I felt I wanted abit more closure from that after all the searching and the mystery.

Overall a solid debut story and one I would recommend to read.

Enjoyed it but felt very similar to other books which was distracting (the Night Circus and Strange the Dreamer). Liked the world building, characters felt a bit flat but still interesting, and liked the ending although some form of resolution with the character’s mother would have been interesting - although that’s perhaps the point!

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating:3.5/5
A promising debut, which (mostly) delivered. I absolutely loved the concept behind this. The City of Stardust is an adventure that spans across not only the globe, but across worlds. The worldbuilding is the book's biggest strength and its weakness. The magic system involving the star gods, or astrals, was fascinating and I loved it. At the same time, the worldbuilding could've been explained better, as it left me with many questions , which probably won't be answered since this is a standalone. The writing style was my favourite part. It goes very well with the vibes. It was reminiscent of (but not as good as) Laini Taylor or Erin Morgenstern's books. It also gives off major fairytale vibes, and stories play a big role in this, and I'm all here for it. The narrative feels very disjointed and takes frequent time skips and pov jumps, which didn't really bother me, but it's something to keep in mind while going into this. The characters themselves, especially Aleksander, weren't very memorable, but honestly, I enjoyed reading this just for the writing and the atmosphere. My least favorite part was the climax, which felt too rushed. The ending left me wanting more. Overall, I liked the book and would recommend it. The City of Stardust was a great debut and I'm looking forward to whatever the author writes next!

“The Everlys go into the dark with death beside them—and they do not return. She will not return.”


The Everlys have been cursed, taken by punishment for a crime no one remembers, by a woman named Penelope, who never ages..

Violet Everly is only a child when her mother, Marianne disappears through the night, without a trace determined to break the curse. But she never returns and the Everlys must pay their debt so when Penelope returns she offers an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find her mother or she’ll take her place.

Will Violet find a way to break the curse before her time runs out?

“Your faithless ancestor betrayed me. Your mother escaped me. But you—I will have you,”


“The City of Stardust” is a beautiful world of magic, stardust, and monsters with unexpected twist!


⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed the first half of the story and the magical world of “The City of Stardust”!
There was so many unexpected twist and heart-stopping moments that I loved.

I did have a difficult time with the pace of the storyline and had a hard time connecting with the characters. But the ending was what got me and had me wondering and questioning…


Thank you so much to NetGalley, author Georgia Summers, and Redhook Books for the amazing opportunity to read “The City of Stardust” in exchange for an honest review!

A really original story that pulls on your heart -strings. It is a story about a girl who was hidden away so that she would not fall prey to the curse on her family line and be fed to a demon when she comes of age. Her mother ran, travelling worlds, seeking a way out but really - it turns out - she ran to save herself. Violet is left to find her strength and her power to face the demon once and for all and end the curse. A gripping tale of love, betrayal and the ties that bind.

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers was an interesting read and I really liked it! It was super interesting and I loved it!

This is an interesting, well written book. The prose is poetic and evocative - you can easily imagine the world that Summers is writing about. The characters are also clearly defined & well rounded.

"It’s the unspoken tale singing its way through her family history: once a generation, an Everly walks into the dark, compelled by the shadow beside them."

This is one of the most beautiful books I have read this year. It is full of atmosphere, mystery, poetic writing, flawed characters, and convoluted twists of worlds full of magic hidden behind doors that can only be opened by specific people with specific materials. The City of Stardust is a story about a curse placed on the Everly family that has lasted for thousands upon thousands of years. Violet Everly's mother has disappeared, on an adventure, scouring the world to find a way to break the curse and save her and her daughter's life. But time is running out, Penelope - the curse-giver, is impatient and she is willing to skip a generation and take Violet in place of her mother. So Violet does what her mother would do and leaves on her own adventure to try break the curse, but in doing so she uncovers truly horrifying things, gets swept up into an underground world of hushed secrets told at opulent parties, and experiences love, friendship, betrayal and loss.

This book is an intricately woven scavenger hunt, a mixture of fairy tale, myth and terrible truths, all tied together in the most gorgeous prose I have read in a long time. Georgia Summers' writing is absolutely exquisite throughout, it truly captures the mystical atmosphere of the worlds she is building and draws you in with tantalizing foreshadowing, switching POVs revealing breadcrumbs that keep you guessing but also reveal harrowing information, and poetic pieces that will have you highlighting quotes in every chapter. I truly felt like I had been swept up into another world and I didn't want to leave it behind when the story finished. This is a world that Summers could expand upon for years to come in spin off stories, and if she did I would happily read them all.

There were a few small parts that I had issues with, mostly due to the pacing and the characters. This book is only 350 or so pages long but it felt longer, there were times when I would think I was half way done and then check my progress and realize I wasn't. In ways this really serves the story because it forces you to slow down and focus on what is happening, and meant that I understood some of the more complex parts more easily because I was already taking it slowly. But in other parts it dragged a little bit, sadly. The characters were also another strange point for me, Penelope and Aleksander are both wonderfully written, detailed characters and I enjoyed every scene where they were present, but some of the other characters fell just a little bit flat. The main one being Violet. The majority of the story is told from her eyes but through the third person perspective and because of that it felt like we were shown a lot about what she was seeing but not as much about what she was feeling, or even something as simple as describing her appearance. I could imagine Penelope and Aleksander, the worlds described and adventures she traveled so vividly but when I try to envisage her she is nondescript, she could be anyone, she could look like anything, I think maybe she has brown hair and square hands?

Overall though, this was a truly outstanding read and one I highly recommend. If you prefer something slightly more fast-paced then it might not be the one for you but if you enjoy immersing yourself in a fantastical fairy tale like worlds wrought with curses, magic, gods who walk among us and wreck destruction, questions of morality and a heart-warming but also heart-wrenching romance - then this is story for you. I am very glad to have read it. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

City of Stardust is an exciting read that kept me engaged for long spells. The world building was excellent and the author created a sense of mystery and wonder around the Everlys and the magic which Violet craves to know more about. Violet is a tenacious and interesting character who I found myself rooting for throughout. For me, the romance aspect was a bit of a let down as it didn’t hugely advance the plot or contribute much to the finale, much like the initial overarching plot point that is set out from the beginning - the point advanced the story but I would have liked for it to come full circle before the ending. Overall, definitely an interesting, fun read full of magic, suspense and mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For centuries, Everlys have seen their brightest and best disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor is a woman named Penelope, who never ages, never grows sick - and never forgives a debt. Ten years ago, Violet Everly's mother left to break the curse, and never returned. Now Violet must find her mother, or she will be taken in her place. Her hunt leads her into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods, and monsters bent on revenge. And into the path of 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 to the edges of the world to find her mother and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began . . .

Violet is a character I definitely enjoyed reading. She’s determined, she’s tenacious, and she’s, above all else, feisty. Just my kind of girl. I really liked the journey Violet went on in this story. In the beginning, she was a girl desperate to find her mother after so many years apart and she ended as a young woman seeking her own path in life.
Aleksander is a bit of an enigma. He’s desperate to achieve his dream of being a scholar, wanting to repay those who took him in. But he also doesn’t want to put others in danger, in the firing line. We get to know him more as the story progresses but I really wish that we could have gotten to know him a little bit more - especially with how he plays such a big part in Violet’s story. I found myself left with a few questions at the end.

Going into reading this book, I’d heard some pretty good things about it so I had high hopes. And I was no disappointed! The plot literally sweeps you away on this journey that spans many years, but it never feels long or gruelling to get through. The flow is fantastic and coupled with an engaging storyline, my time reading this story flew by. The characters are all fleshed out and we get to know quite a lot of them well which is great. I love getting to know a backstory. There was very little romance in this book, the main focus being Violet and her quest. I do enjoy a good romance but just having some sparks and a lot of longing before the angst came in was enough for me in this story! The ending felt a little bit rushed for me but I think, overall, it was a very solid conclusion to this book.

Overall, The City of Stardust is a story I certainly recommend to those wanting to be swept away on an adventure.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you again to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy of this book. Review will be live on my blog on release day.

I inhaled the first half of this book, a well drawn out world and plenty of intrigue and mystery. But then it felt like there were suddenly a lot of ends to tie up and some of them got a little lost.

Pros:
- page turning writing
- great world building
- the first half had a good pace to it


Cons:
- the romance 🥴
- it just felt so long and drawn out
- the ending was a bit disappointing
- feel like it needs a good editing
- Marianne. All that build up. Then just meh.
- kid killing just shouldn’t be a plot device

That said, it kept me reading, and it’s an impressive debut.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book..
And the world building but I really couldn't get past the writing style. It's not bad, it has a poetic feel to it but it just doesn't suit my reading preferences. It felt like chapters would end before they were finished. And the characters didn't have a lot of depth so it was hard to invest in them.

I found this book a little slow to start with but it all paid off in the end. After it gets going this book just doesn't stop and everything happens pretty quickly and i couldn’t put it down

A cursed family who have no idea why they are cursed or how to fix it are trying to find a way to break this curse that has been on them for hundreds of years.
Great characters and character development.

A thoroughly enjoyable tale of magic, mystery, and the fragility of memory. 4 out of 5 stars.

I found this book a little slow to get going, with a lot of teasing, but it all paid off in the end. After it gets going this book just doesn't stop and drags you down path after path trying to find the truth long since buried in the past.

A cursed family who have no idea why or what to do about it are desperately trying to find a way to break this curse that has been on them for hundreds of years. Violet was a fantastic main character, unwilling to just accept her fate and determined to do whatever possible to stop it. She was a fun person to follow around the world as she picked up clue after clue, going from a very sheltered young lady to one determined to succeed no matter what. Every single character was well developed and often frustratingly human, with fear and desire clouding judgement and making you want to shake sense into them.

The aspect of this book I enjoyed the most was the way it played with truth and memory and the reasons for the curse. Which story is correct? Which version is the real one? Does it even matter in the end? A truly fascinating look at the myths and stories we surround ourselves with and the paths these can lead us down.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape and Netgalley for the arc of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

The City of Stardust is described as an adult fantasy that will attract lovers of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Starless Sea and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. There is no question that this debut weaves elements of all of these including the prose, the atmosphere and most definitely the plot.

Unfortunately for me, it felt like a jigsaw picture created from the pieces of other jigsaws but, despite this I still tried to love this book. One of the reasons for this we’re the protagonists in the story, in particular Violet. I like Violet, she’s detectó the point of obstinate, she’s naive but insightful and clever, she doesn’t suffer fools and defo holds a grudge - I loved how human she feels. I really felt for Aleksander, his life has been hard, his turn of the cards rarely turns out well but, despite this there is something endearing about him, and Penelope is a great villain.

There is an element of mystery and discovery to the story but, it is soon uncovered as you progress through the story, unveiled across many characters and perspectives, I was hoping for a little more intrigue.

There’s a lot to love about this book, the world building - dark academia crossed with monstrous actions, multiple worlds across dimensions and travel but, I was sad not to explore more…although there are a plethora of opportunities for more books from this world.

The ending itself is strong and fast, shockingly so but, against the pacing of the book it felt unsettling.

Overall, I would say that The City of Stardust is one of those books you can read slowly, it holds beautifully written prose, a deftly handled romance that doesn’t overpower the plot and I’d be interested to see what Georgia Summers brings next.

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers is a magical tale, expanding worlds, family curses, and memory. I was immediately intrigued by the premise of the book, and I'm grateful to Hodder & Stoughton for sending me an e-arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Violet was an interesting character, and I was constantly rooting for her - even when she was making silly decisions. I can't tell you the amount of times that I screamed down at my screen for her to stop being so naïve, she kept making the same mistakes over and over again! She was too trusting - I suppose it's not the worst quality someone could have and you can't fault her for wanting to see the good in people. I also think that Summers did a good job at showing why Violet was inclined to make these decisions (like how she was left in the dark for so long, she clung to the first person who gave her a way to find answers). So, it felt authentic and realistic and I like how Violet grew throughout the story.

I really loved the whole concept of keys, hidden worlds, and secret societies. It was incredibly intriguing and I loved learning more about it all, I think the world-building was very good. I do think some parts of it could've been better and had more depth to them, but for the most part, I think Summers did a very good job at building up this world.

Aleksander is a character whom I have more complicated feelings toward. I think he was an incredibly interesting character with so much depth to him, yet sometimes it felt like Summers dropped the ball with him. I'm not sure exactly how to put it into words - but he sometimes felt like an accessory to the story when he very much was central to it.

I did not really like the romance. I initially did, but as the book went on I felt a sheer lack of chemistry between them. I also felt that after all that they had been through together, it didn't really seem like they should end up in a romantic relationship? However, and I don't want to spoil it, things did end on more of an ambiguous note that I was pleased with. I thought Violet had a lot more chemistry with Caspian and was not-so-secretly hoping for a romance to spark between them!

The ending wrapped this book up well, but I feel like it could've been better. It's one of those weird endings where it felt slow to get there, and then all of a sudden all this stuff has ended, there's some sort of time jump, and now the book is over. I have pondered if perhaps this book would have worked better as a duology, but with how some aspects of this book were slow I worry that stretching this into two books would've been too slow.

Overall though, I did quite like this and I think this was a brilliant debut novel from Summers. I am interested to see what she writes next.

Reads like a love letter to book lovers.

The city of stardust is a magical whimsical tale perferct for anyone looking for an escapism read. I loved everything about this. The world building. The aesthetics. The characters. Literally everything. Im actually mind blown by how much I enjoyed this, it is such a perfect reading gem perfect for winter, when you can curl up next to the Christmas tree, near the fire with this cozy tale.

The stakes are high but it somehow doesn't take away from the comfort this book brings.

The Everly family is cursed, one from each generation is taken away, never seen again. Violet's mother left, determined to find a way to break the curse and stop herself and her daughter becoming the next victims.

The City of Stardust is a mix of fairytale, hidden worlds & secret societies. The story feels both whimsical & dark; Violet desperately traversing the world, looking for any clue to the location of her mother, a way to break the curse and for a hint of other worlds. In doing so, Violet gradually gains entry into the world of the scholars- it feels both magical & wondrous, clandestine & sinister.

I enjoyed a lot of the book - the writing was the perfect level of dark whimsy, I felt I could imagine the different places well. Violet was a decent main character, developing from a sheltered dreamy girl to an adventurous, tougher adult. The more interesting character, however, is Aleksander - Penelope's abused assistant who develops a complicated relationship with Violet. His struggles with undertaking the tasks set by Penelope, the woman who rescued and educated him, along with his increasing awareness of who she really is, are much more compelling.

Although this was a fairly quick read, there was something slightly off with the pacing - it seemed the ending was nearing and then it would continue. I'd have also liked a little more of Violet's year learning how to follow clues and getting into the scholar's world rather than timeskipping ahead to her being competent at it.

I don't know if there's another book planned, but there's certainly enough dangling threads left to allow it and I'd be interested in exploring more of the world.

[ARC provided by NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review The City of Stardust.]

Rating: 5/5

Overflowing with magic and secrets, The City of Stardust is a stunning standalone fantasy that will enchant you until the very last page. Georgie Summers has written an absolutely beautiful book. Stories like these that completely sweep you off your feet don’t come along often and I’m so happy to have been able to read an early copy. If you love fantasy wrapped in mystery with characters that will pull on every heartstring then this is a book you have to check out.

Perfect for fans of Alix E. Harrow, Erin Morgenstern and Ava Reid, The City of Stardust takes the reader on a twisting journey led by Violet Everly, a young woman who will do whatever it takes to break an age-old curse that has haunted her family for generations, a curse that takes away the brightest and most talented Everly’s. When Violet’s mother vanishes into the night searching for a way to break the curse, a bargain is made and Violet is left with ten years to either find her mother or be taken in her place by their eternal tormentor, Penelope, a woman who never forgets a debt.

As her deadline draws near, Violet embarks on a journey to the edges of the world in search of her mother and the key to the city of stardust where their family’s story began. As secrets unravel and new information comes to light, Violet must learn everything she can about this new, seductive underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and cities lost to time. It’s a turbulent adventure wrought with highs and lows but nothing will stop Violet from doing everything that she can to keep her family safe.

Violet is a brilliant FMC who is very much a product of her upbringing. Having spent a lot of her childhood in isolation, she has a very naïve understanding of how the world works making her a frustrating narrator at times. As a reader, it can be easy to tut and roll your eyes when a character does something that you don’t agree with but the author does a tremendous job of reminding us of why Violet is the way that she is. It would also be easy to think that Violet is too trusting, too hopeful and too ambitious in this dark world, but personally I can’t imagine her any other way. Her hopeful nature drives the story forward, and even when that becomes difficult, her tenacity and bravery will take your breath away.

There are so many amazing elements to this story. Violet is such a rich and vibrant character but I could also spend a long time explaining my love for the incredibly complex Alexsander – assistant to Penelope and a character that dealt with his own extremely complicated circumstances. I could also go on about the beautiful prose that pulls you into this magical world where anything seems possible if you have the right key, or the strong bonds of family that are as fragile as they are unwavering. To put it plainly, there’s simply no end to the beauty contained within The City of Stardust, and I think that this makes it all the more magical.

This is a story for the dreamers, for people who will always strive for the best outcome even when all hope is lost. This is for anyone who believes in the magic of adventure, and who understands that the idea of good vs. evil is much more complex than it may seem. I’ve no doubt that I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time and will absolutely be keeping an eye out for future stories from this author.