This story gave me strong Addie LaRue vibes which was also a 3 star read for me, which may explain my enjoyment of this book. Unfortunately I had trouble connecting to the characters and the story felt a little disjointed at times. The writing style was very majestic and perfectly articulated a unique world and was a quick easy read.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was fantastic; a generational curse, a missing mother, magical keys that unlock doors to other worlds, gods, a mysterious villain. All the elements for a great story were there, but the execution unfortunately fell very flat for me.

The world seemed so interesting, and I wish more time had been taken to explore and explain it. I wanted to know how the keys and the magic worked in more detail.

The plot failed to grip me and the pacing was inconsistent, with the story jumping all over the place. The characters were one dimensional, and I couldn’t connect to any of them or bring myself to care about their fates.

I found the conclusion underwhelming, and overall, this is not a book that I’d recommend. However, the writing was, at times, very beautiful. I will consider reading something in another genre by this author in the future.

this book has lots of potential however it fell flat for me. there is a lack if structure and incificant world building and to be honest half the time I didn't know who was seaking until they said there name.
The arc formatting wasnt done correctly and it was rather confusing. there were several time I had to re read a chapter of sentences, as there is no indicator that the POV had changed this was really off putting.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC for an honest review!

I love stories about hidden cities and was immediately drawn in by The City of Stardust's beautiful cover art and alluring premise, where a family legacy follows Violet Everly into a world of magic and mystery, with her family name at the helm. Georgia Summers weaves magic into her words, bringing images to life with a scent, a taste, and a feeling alongside them. I also found myself enamoured by the more minor details in the book, such as the coffee shop, the Astrals and the world's version of tarot cards; they each added another layer to the deep worldbuilding and rustic atmosphere.

This book would be an excellent fit for most, but unfortunately, I couldn't find that within myself. There were points where it dragged on, most seen in the ending, with each page feeling like the last. I also found that the multiple POVs stretched beyond what it should have focussed on: Violet, Aleksander and Penelope (another positive to be found here as I found the inclusion of Penelope's perspective fascinating, especially as we slowly learn her story through the other characters).

Regardless. I recommend The City of Stardust to anyone who yearns for other worlds, ones that come alive with the night and read like a fairytale. If you love The Night Circus or the Starless Sea, this one is for you.

What a stunning debut novel!
I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book.
I am a big fantasy reader, and both the premise and the cover drew me in. The world building was lighter than what I am used to, but I am guessing that fleshing everything out in detail would have taken way more pages and I took it as being limited by the same knowledge that the main character has in a way. The characters make mistakes and are far from perfect, I didn't love any of them, but at the same time I appreciated their nuances.
I will be keeping Georgia Summers in my radar as an author and I hope to read more from her in the future!

Late ARC review
4 stars
I actually loved this and the less positive reviews are baffling me.
The prose was beautiful, the Astral pantheon/system was cool, the way the whole world & scholar system worked, was wonderful.
Penelope is actually scary, Violet is endearing and Aleksander is equal parts adorable and infuriating.

Overall, a lovely standalone book for fans of Addie LaRue and other whimsical magical realism.

For centuries there has been a curse on the Everlys: Penelope takes one of them away each generation, never to been seen again. The story starts as Marianne Everly leaves her daughter and brothers, in search of a way to break the curse.
The story follows Violet, Marianne's daughter. Since Penelope could not take Marianne, she wants to take Violet. Now Violet has only a little time left to find her mother or find a way to break the curse herself.

The story is somewhat confusing as here are some time jumps and random flashbacks. The story started out very interesting but it lacks worldbuilding. Also the sidecharacters are a bit flat, the 3 main characters are the only ones with a decently worked out personality. The romance in the book is expected but not very interesting. The astrals were intriguing, I wish we could read more about them.

In the book we follow Violet on a wild goose chase to find Marianne. While the story has a wrapped up ending, I am very disappointed in Marianne's story line. That was it? Really?

Penelope was much more interesting. If they ever make this book into a movie, the only acceptable casting for Penelope is Eva Green. She is perfect for the role!

Unfortunately, the book copy that I received did not have proper formatting, which made it more confusing to read than it should have been.

So as a summary: while the story started out very mysterious and full of potential, it fell flat at the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton (Hodderscape), for the copy that I received. This is my honest review.

I don’t know why but it takes me so long to finish this book. I find it very slow for me and the amount of description just sometimes makes me uninterested in what I’m reading. Though I have to say the premise of the book was very intriguing but I guess I had a very high expectation for this book and it did not meet it.

Violets mum disappears in the middle of the night leaving her to be cared for by her uncle who protects her from the world of magic scholars and Penelope. Throughout the story, Violet is running from Penelope who is part of her family curse in which means violets got to find her mum before the curse does and she’s taken instead

Intriguing, well plotted, original. An excellent story about portal to other worlds featuring great characters.
Fun to read, entertaining, compelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The City Of Stardust by Georgia Summers

Immersive portal fantasy with unique world building.

For centuries, the Everly family has been burdened by a mysterious debt that no one can understand or remember. When Violet Everly's mother disappears while searching for a way to break the family curse, Violet finds herself next in line to bear this burden, even though it's not hers to bear. Determined to find her mother and end the curse for good, Violet must journey into a magical underworld filled with powerful scholars, unpredictable gods, and vengeful monsters. Along the way, she must also navigate her feelings for Penelope's assistant, Aleksander, whom she knows she shouldn't trust but feels drawn to. With time running out, Violet embarks on a quest across the world to find her mother and unlock the secrets of the city of stardust, where the Everly family's story began.

The writing is simply to die for, beautifully lush and unique. The characters never stayed in one place for too long so there's a lot of adventure. If you love dreamy main characters, celestial angry gods, family curses and mystery, you will love this. It's written in 3rd POV through different perspectives and that just keeps you on edge for what's going to happen next. The chapters are perfectly short too.

Violet, our female main character was simply brillaint. She was true to herself, a curious bookworm with a fierce sense of survival. I loved her relationhip with her uncles who have taken care of her since her mother's departure. Aleksander, on his own, was a really interesting character I felt complicated feelings for; sympathy and annoyance. At the start of the book, I rooted for the romance blooming between them but towards the end it started to give nothing and found myself rooting of them as friends instead. His multifaceted dynamic with Penelope added an interesting element to the overall plot. That being said, the romance is a subplot that doesnt take away from this enchanting story. Casper, was a side character I always looked forward to seeing and would have perhaps been a better romantic option for Violet but I digress.

Penelope, our villain was the backbone of this enchanting little tale. She was simply evil but of course she has her reasons. I loved her role in the story and how her motivations and backstory were revealed and just how vengeance eats one up. However, given that Violet's mom was part of the driving force of the novel, I was disappointed with how the story is left off with no resolution. Overall, it was good but I found it to be forgettable read.

In summary , it is a beautiful whimsical story. You will feel the magic radiating from each page. I do recommend it to those looking for a unique dreamy story with whimsical settings as you travel with the characters and a captivating plot.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 stars rounded up

This is the first book I've come across that uses Erin Morgenstern as a comparable author and then actually delivers on it - which is to say there is a fascinating world of magic metal and celestial gods and sometimes you don't have a clue what is happening.

Things I loved: the prose was GORGEOUS; the speculative elements were original and interesting; a family curse!; the antagonist is *bad news*; dreamy, ethereal vibes.

Things I didn’t love: the pacing was a bit uneven, especially towards the end, and when I put it down I could easily not pick it up again for weeks at a time; the particular balances of elements didn’t give me as much character work as I prefer (which I suspect is why I wasn’t massively invested) eg. the main character Violet had a interesting dilemma to internally wrestle with but her personality wasn’t sufficiently deep and engage for me to really find engage with her; the romantic subplot was… fine; the ending and epilogue was… also fine.

THE CITY OF STARLIGHT was a whimsical, heartfelt, and beautifully written debut which I fell in love with from the first page. With its charming atmosphere reminding me of Stephanie Garber’s CARAVAL trilogy, and elegant writing reminiscent of THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE, there was no way I wouldn’t love this book. Summers excelled at crafting a story with striking characters, who I couldn’t stop thinking about. Violet and her desperation to find her mother was so vivid to read, and I loved how this book didn’t shy away from the complicated nature of Marianne’s abandonment. Character relationships are truly where this book shines—Violet and her uncles, Penelope and Aleksander—all of them really stood out to me as a reader.

DNF at 50% - have retried to read/listen to this a few times, and it just doesn't hold or stick with me.

I'm really struggling to remember much about the plot beyond what I learned in the first chapters - Violet (there are so many Violet's as main characters, I swear I've read at least four or five in the past few months), is next in line to be a tithe to the baddie Penelope in place of her mother who has disappeared. Violet wants to find her. There is also a boy called Aleksander who is somehow bound to and an apprentice of(?) Penelope. Not sure about what exactly Aleksander's role is, and I can't tell you really anything about Violet except to say she wants to find her mother, that seems to be both her driving motivation and a replacement for personality?

Disclaimer: I have become, I think through Covid removing all my energy, a complete mood reader, so this rating and my progress may be entirely beholden to my mood while trying to get the plot of this book to sink in, but having said that, I've tried other books such as The Principle of Moments, which isn't my usual genre, and I wasn't really in the mood for, and found myself intrigued enough to keep turning the pages. The City of Stardust has kept me at a distance. The narration of the audiobook is quite neutral and formal, which works to some extent, and is usually my preferred style of narration, but I struggled to hold onto who was speaking or when, the story jumps around quite a bit, and sometimes, if I zoned out, I found myself completely lost as to what was happening. I always give one star to my DNFs, because, let's face it, my star rating is based on enjoyment rather than anything else, and if I DNF a book, I just haven't been enjoying it at that time.

This has got some great reviews, and comparisons to other books that I love, so I do hope to give it another try and will update this review if I finish it, when, hopefully, my opinion will change, it's always gutting to abandon a story part way through, not knowing what I'm missing, but I have so many books calling to me, I need to be running through them, not trudging. So, for now, I am leaving this one behind.

I regretfully had to dnf this book after around 20% of reading it. As much as I tried, I was unable to relate to any of the characters in this book. It has a good premise actually, but the execution could have been better.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this arc.

Synopsis: The surname Everly is a curse in itself. Violet Everly is the youngest Everly heir , who has to either break the curse or succumb to it. She embarks on a quest uncovering some of the darkest secrets of the world.
What I loved: This is an adult debut fantasy with dark elements. The best thing about the book is Georgia Summers' prose. It is alluringly beautiful, drawing the reader into the world. There is a mystery/suspense she maintains throughout the story evident even in the epilogue. The premise of the story is quite promising and would be intriguing to people who love dark fairy tales. I loved the beginning and the end and would have had been one of my all time favourites, if not for the following:
What could have had been better: The female main character is shown to be talented/gifted but what her gifts are remain unexplored till the very end. Though she is valiant and adventurous, she is portrayed as dumb. I mean , who falls for a person who is treacherous just because he is unfairly handsome and talented? This might be the
reason why I felt that the romance in this was lacking depth . The magic system could have had been explored better, instead of the romance. The middle portion was being dragged a lot with unwanted elements.
Inspite of the above I would be definitely waiting for her next book, since I feel she is an author with immense potential and hauntingly beautiful writing. So my rating is 3.6/5

A beautifully written debut from Georgia Summers about family curses and eternal redemption. The worldbuilding is very accomplished and the characters are wonderfully presented. Violet and Aleksander are both flawed and single-minded yet intricately involved.
With shades of Starling House and His Dark Materials, this is a fantastic read. Keep an eye on the author – I predict that she’s going to be hugely successful.

This was incredibly intriguing from the very offset of the prologue with children vanishing seemingly into thin air. The author also has incredibly beautiful prose that added to the atmosphere and was perfect for this magical, whimsical world. That being said, it was quite a dark story, with much more gore than I was expecting. I have to say that I don't entirely know what happened in this book; I couldn't really tell you how it ended or what happened to Penelope or Violet or Alexsander. The characters of Violet and Penelope really stole the show; Penelope was a very multi-faceted villain and I really enjoyed the scenes with her, she brought a whole new dimension to the story. There was a lot about the world that I wanted answers to that I just felt we didn't get (unless I completely missed it). For example, the question that lies behind the entire premise of the story... didn't get answered? Which was quite disappointing. However, I still feel really taken in by this world and this author's writing, and I really enjoyed reading this - I'm very excited to see what the author brings out next!

Sadly I had to dnf this one. I didn't feel like i was connecting to any of the characters at all, and it just made me want to not read anymore.

I'm sure it will appeal to other people, but I couldn't get past the first 20%.

The first thing that struck me was the quality of the writing. Summers is a talent – her poetic, vivid prose wound through me and had me immediately rooting for Violet. Though for me to continue to be impressed, I needed to also bond with the story – over the years I’ve read far too many books where glorious writing stood in for a plot worth the name. It wasn’t the case here. Violet’s sense of anger and grief at her uncle’s refusal to tell her what was going on is palpable.

We also have Penelope, the antagonist who is threatening the Everly family. It was impressive just how her cruelty and malign presence pervades the book, as it is Violet’s desperate search for her mother and the supposed solution to the curse blighting the Everlys that powers the narrative drive throughout. I was a tad worried that when we finally discovered Penelope’s reason for hounding the Everly family that it would fall a bit flat. It didn’t. Summers manages to depict the haunted individual at the heart of the curse with both compassion and a clarity that doesn’t mask his terrible cowardice. It takes serious writing chops to bring that off.

I loved this spellbinding tale that pulled me in to experience Violet’s quest with all its desperation and sadness as well as the excitement and anticipation. I look forward to reading what else Summers produces – she is a talent to watch. While I obtained an arc of The City of the Stardust from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10