I received a free copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Beginning with a chilling mysterious abductor, you are soon sucked into the fabled city that is delicately and intricately built. Both this and the darker decisions of some of these characters rather overshadow the protagonist and romance though they avoid being far too vanilla. Everything about this book is cold and beautiful.

Grippingly intense book, that is a beginning for new tables.
I really enjoyed this read and finding out how or even if the main character would be able to break the curse that's followed her family through countless generations.
Pure escapism and steam punk fantasy set in brilliant locations.
I recommend this book as a page turning tale.

The City of Stardust is an atmospheric story with riddles and scheming through the book. The curse element and the way the worlds were linked by doors has been my favorite part of it. The POV switches was not my thing, I always like to see other characters POV’s, but it felt distracting.

However, I felt a bit lost in the story, while it was beautifully written, I found it slow and confusing at some points. I felt like we had a lot of unresolved plots, the importance of scholars, the existence of magic. I couldn’t understand the political system nor the magical one, so it felt like I was navigating from afar.

Overall, the story was a nice read with a lot of mystery surrounding our characters and the concept was quite good, but the execution didn’t follow. The author did a great job with the mysterious atmosphere she created, and the writing was perfect.

Thank you, NetGalley & the publisher, for approving me to read this arc and write this review.

I was pretty torn on whether or not to award this book 3 or 4 stars. I LOVED the second half of the book - once Violet uncovers the truth of her family's curse and the implications it has on her own life.

What did I like:
The concept of the worlds linked by doors
The curse element
Aleksander's tortured soul
The fact romance wasnt the main plot

However I felt the build up to this point was beautifully written but slow and confusing. Besides letting us know that her mother had abandoned her and introducing Aleksander, the sections showing Violet as a child felt uneccessary.

As do many of the sections with Penelope. I know that her sections were intentionally vague so that we slowly learnt about her identity and her involvement with the Everly family but there were points in the earlier chapters where I felt like putting down the book because I wasn't sure what was going on.

I loved the premise of the world - but wasnt really sure what the "scholars" were doing. Yes they were established by Penelope - knowledge in return for a stream of lifesource but um.. what do they do?

I would love to see. Sequel where violet explores more of the worlds out there because there is so much more potential than what we got.

The City of Stardust is a very atmospheric read. We get riddles and scheming to rival The Inheritance Games, a world building reminiscent of Erin Morgenstern‘s fantasies, and a quick-paced plot that took me back to my teenage days when my favourite book was Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

I loved the vibes and the atmosphere. The plot kept me hooked as well, but what really stood out was the character development of both Violet and Aleksander. I liked how layered their relationship was and how much they wanted to trust each other but put their individual goals first anyway. The slow-burn romance and betrayals and confusion were all developed very well and their emotions were shown very clearly, at least to the reader.

My major point of criticism for this book is that there are so many plots that remained unresolved.

What was the point of Violet having talent for magic? It never made a difference to the plot. Neither did the existence of magic in general, honestly, because no conflicts were resolved by magic. Yes, Penelope had to be magical, but her immense power was explained by something other than just magic anyway, so what was the need for introducing reveurite? In my opinion, either make the magic an integral part of your story, or do your world building in a way that it can do without. If Aleksander had showed Violet any other trick in the beginning, and I had read over the part where talent for reveurite-manipulation made Violet glow golden, the story would have worked out much the same way.

Why was the Marianne subplot never really resolved? That epilogue was so random. I can’t be the only one who wanted some kind of resolution to the whole leaving-your-child-to-die thing??

And also, the ending went way too fast for my liking. There was a super random changing of mind involved that wasn’t elaborated on at all, just so that Violet wouldn’t have to sacrifice herself. Plot hole much? Picking up my previous point, I would even have preferred if it was Marianne who did the changing-of-mind-stuff and came back to sacrifice herself for her daughter. That would have been dramatic but heroic. And also, it would have made her appear waaaaay less selfish.

I would recommend this to those readers out there that didn‘t enjoy The Starless Sea because „it‘s just vibes, no plot“ - The City of Stardust felt very inspired by Erin Morgenstern‘s worlds while at the same time following a straight-forward plot.

4/5 stars

To all those who grew up wishing for a world that was more than it was; waiting for someone to come and take them on a magical adventure, this book was meant for you.

Violet Everly is raised by her uncle Ambrose in the Everly house after her mother left her when she was 10. Growing up, Violet always felt like there was more to the world, like a magical adventure was constantly calling out to her. One day, when she finds out why her mother left and soon she gets dragged into this magical world of curses, gods and monsters.

This book had the foundations of being so great, a book written for all those that have just wanted more than what the world has to offer and for the first part of the book that is how it made me feel. However it just fell really flat.

My first issue was the world building. We get told details of the world through snippets of conversation and we have to deduce it from there. This just meant that for the entirety of the book, I actually didn’t understand the magical system, the political system, anything.

The book did have a really good start, it was creepy, intriguing and atmospheric. However, once Violet found out the truth about her mum and started her adventure trying to track her down it just got boring. There wasn’t any sense of adventure, thrill or urgency which is crazy given that Violet was on a mega time crunch to find her mother.

I also found the way the book was written to be so confusing. We would jump between POVs constantly (literally between short paragraphs). On top of that the author also chose to insert different versions of the Everly story within those POVs. So one minute you were with Violet, then Aleksander then suddenly a random fairytale story about the first Everly. It made it so hard to follow and get into the book.

Also the ending was anticlimactic and we never get a full answer to the Everly curse or at least I didn’t feel like we did.

Despite all of that, the book was an easy read and I did really enjoy the first 25/50% of it where there was still a lot of mystery surrounding the Everlys. It had a really good concept but overall execution wasn’t too great.

Wow, this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is difficult to believe this is a debut novel. Beautifully written and hard to put down once you have started to read. Violet is such a great leading character. I will be watching Georgia Summers career with great interest. I would give it more than five stars if I could.

At the beginning the story seemed to follow through quiet smoothly however at time it felt like the characters were a bit flat. I still enjoyed the story and I'm definitely getting a physical copy of it but I'm looking forward to reading more of this author

Thank you for letting me read an early copy of it

The blurb of this book immediately had me interested but unfortunately I think this novel wasn’t for me. The premise was interesting and probably my favourite thing about this book but I didn’t love how it was executed.

Also, probably the biggest issue I had was the writing style. Although I can appreciate that it was unique, I ultimately found it a bit tiresome and slow. I can however see how others who enjoy elaborate writing styles would really like it.

Overall, I was a bit let down by this book. I think the story had real promise but I personally didn’t love how the author carried the story out.

When I read the blurb,it sounded like the perfect book for me the plot sounded like it would be intriguing and exciting. However, when I actually read it, I found it the pace to be quite slow and I found myself getting bored. I also wasn’t a fan of the POV switches, usually I don’t mind, but it was quite distracting when they happened in the middle of a chapter. I did think the prose was beautiful and the worldbuilding was done nicely. Overall, I just don’t think this book was for me unfortunately.

I loved how magical this book felt through the whole story, it really gave it a whimsical atmosphere. This sort of storytelling normally isn’t what I would reach for but the authors writing had a way of gripping me into the story from the beginning and I loved the journey.

I loved how developed Violet was as a main character and as a reader I could truly feel her fear and longing to find out the meaning behind the curse so she doesn’t fall into the same fate alongside finding out where her own mother is.

Nearly every reader would say the same thing but I live a book that has anything to do with books and this definitely fulfilled that need. I adored the atmosphere that was created throughout the whole story with this in mind.

Violet was brought up in an environment where she was slightly coddled which made her a small bit naive, which I normally prefer strong female characters, but I found that the author did this in the right way where her naivety didn’t become annoying and ruin the tempo of the book. It was done really well and I found myself relating to Violet.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for an e-arc of this book

I enjoyed this YA fantasy novel, it reminded me of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials with similar world travelling vibes, not knowing who to trust or which side is good or evil, or just a combination of the two.

While this isn't my usual genre, as I tend to go for books with more of a romance element, I still enjoyed the storyline and the worldbuilding. I did get a little confused at times as the characters moved through doorways into other worlds, but I sometimes struggle to follow this kind of thing when I listen to audio so it may have just been the format!

I loved the pacing and the switching through time periods, I felt it was easy to understand which character you were following, while keeping enough mystery to keep you guessing as the plot unraveled.

There is no clear divide between good and evil, which I found very interesting. There are definitely people doing bad things, but not necessarily through a conscious choice to be evil. The story is more about balance, and the corruption of power.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes academic fantasy/mystery, with a hint of romance. Particularly if you enjoy stories involving god's/celestials and travelling between worlds.

4.5*
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The City of Stardust is about Violet Everly, last of her bloodline, as she sets out on a magical and whimsical quest to find out what happened to her mother, who disappeared when Violet was a child to look for a way to break the Everly family curse. Violet finds herself in a world of magic, looking for answers to both what the curse actually consists of, and to the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.

The plot started out in a very intriguing manner, with just enough information (or lack thereof) for me to be super curious about the world and the magic system off the bat. However, it did sort of cool down pretty quickly as the book went on. I actually really liked that it wasn’t on-the-edge-of-my-seat thrilling but rather sort of pragmatically atmospheric, but it ended up feeling ever so slightly underwhelming. The ending was absolutely perfect for the story, but I didn’t feel as much for the characters as I would have liked, and there were certain plot elements that didn’t get anywhere even though I expected them to.

I really liked both Violet and Alexander as characters, but I think that they, and especially their dynamic, would have benefitted from being more fleshed out. I ended up way more interested in Caspian (the most interesting character) and his relationship to Violet, as well as the dynamic between Violet and her uncles.

The writing style is my favourite aspect of this book. It’s wonderfully poetic and descriptive, and manages it really well without coming off as pretentious. It is, especially style wise but also in terms of the content, very reminiscent of Gallant or The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, as well as (and I don’t say this lightly) the only book compared to The Night Circus I’ve read that has actually been similar to The Night Circus. There is something about the way the story is told through separate events, like little snippets working together to create a bigger narrative. It also ended up being much darker than I expected, which contrasted in an interesting way to the otherwise whimsical vibe.

In general, I really enjoyed this book, it was entirely up my alley with the exception of a few details. I think it’s very good for a debut, however, and I can’t wait to read more works by this author!

The City of Stardust sounded like the perfect book for me, the plot sounded intriguing and exciting. But I think this is a book where the execution didn't match my expectations, the plot was slow and I found myself getting bored. I was expecting a lot more tension and excitement for a book about secret worlds, revenge plots and star magic.

The start of the book is intriguing and sets up the world nicely while leaving enough questions but the urgency tailed off once Everly was trying to solve the curse and she just sort of meanders from place to place. The writing was really pretty but lacked depth, I feel like I have a great idea of what Fidelis looks like but no idea why the scholars exist and what their goals are, why do they all follow Penelope for example? Maybe I missed it but it just seemed to not be fully fleshed out.

I found the switch in POV quite offputting too, the changes happen mid-chapter rather than each chapter being a different character. We'd be following Everly then suddenly it would be Aleksander even though they were quite literally worlds apart.

I'm sad I didn't love this one more, there's so much potential but it just wasn't quite right for me.

(3.75 stars) I'm still getting into third person books, so this book was a bit harder for me to read at first. However, after I finally started understanding the back and forth between POVs, I REALLY enjoyed this author's writing style! The magical world was incredibly, and the overall mood of the book gave me relaxing rainy day vibes (if that makes sense). 100% would recommend this to fantasy lovers!

Thank you to Net Galley and Hodder and Stoughton for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

The City of Stardust is one of the best written books I've read in a while. The prose is truly beautiful and really makes you savour each and every word. I found the plot to be very interesting and different to others which I've read in similar genres.

As the story begins, Violet's mother disappears one night, never to be seen again. Violet is left in the care of her uncles and shielded from the world of magic, scholars and Penelope. Throughout the story, Penelope is the "big bad" which Violet is running from. Penelope is part of her family curse and she does not break promises. Violet has only a certain time to find her mother, otherwise she'll be taken instead.

While I did enjoy the book, it did take me a little bit to warm up to the pace of the story and how it was being told. The story is told through third person which I find can be slightly less immersive and while it was nice to have a different perspective on certain elements of the story I think I would have preferred if it was directly from Violet's POV. I felt a bit disjointed to the characters due to this which is a shame.

I did also struggle with the overall pacing of the story. I feel like the story could have benefited with another book to fully flesh certain lore and back story, particularly at the end of the story. I really wanted to explore more of the plot at this point (without giving any spoilers!), I found it ended a little bit too quickly and the characters we were introduced to weren't given full justice of development in my opinion.

That being said, I really enjoyed this book and I'd wholeheartedly recommend this for any reader wanting a book of fantasy shrouded in mystery with a lot of magic and beautiful writing.

"She believes in curses like she believes in stories. For a curse is just another kind of story, dark and toothy and razor-edged. 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."

Violet Everly is twelve when her mother Marianne walks away into the night, leaving her daughter to try and break the curse facing their family. But her disappearance means Violet is in danger, for a monstrous goddess wants her tithe, and if she can't get it from Marianne, she'll take Violet instead.

Violet's uncles ask the goddess – Penelope – for a ten-year reprieve in which to find Marianne. But even a decade isn't long enough and a year before time runs out, Violet's uncles come clean with her. So, she heads out on her own, trying to find her mother. This leads her to the edge of the City of Stardust – Fidelis – where secretive scholars, like Marianne once before, serve Penelope. Alongside Violet is Aleksander, Penelope's assistant, someone she can't help trusting, despite her strongest misgivings.

I really loved this gorgeous urban fantasy about adventure, magic, familial love, truth, lies, and betrayal. I would have liked a little more resolution around one of the central mysteries, but overall I liked how the story unravelled. This is a stunning debut and if this is what Georgia Summers is capable of, I hope to read more from her in future.

Wow. The city of stardust is a beautifully written book, it is a book you will not want to put down
Highly recommend

"The City of Stardust" - A Mesmerizing Blend of Greek Tragedy and Magical Realism

The plot of the book stands out for its originality, offering readers a refreshing take on the blending of magic, romance, and the resonance of ancient Greek narrative that carries a distinct Greek tragedy vibe, evoking a sense of inevitability and emotional resonance. The author's ability to create a world that feels both fantastical and rooted in a certain classical charm is commendable.

One of the strengths of "The City of Stardust" lies in the author's skilful storytelling. The narrative is structured in a way that keeps readers consistently engaged, unveiling layers of the plot that are both surprising and thought-provoking. The careful balance of mystery, fantasy, and emotional exploration contributes to a story that lingers in the reader's mind long after the final page is turned.

In addition to the compelling plot, the characters play a pivotal role in making this book a standout. The side characters, in particular, are finely crafted with attention to detail, each contributing a unique thread to the tapestry of the story. Their individual stories and connections add depth and dimension, creating a world that feels alive and interconnected.

"The City of Stardust" is a testament to the author's ability to create a narrative that is both fantastical and deeply rooted in human experience. It successfully combines elements of magic, romance, and Greek tragedy, making it a must-read for those who appreciate a well-crafted and immersive story. Overall, the author's adept storytelling and the novel's unique blend of genres make it a memorable and enchanting literary journey.

3.75 / 5 🗝️✨

This book had absolutely stunning writing and prose which brought the setting to life. It's a book you don't want to put down but also want to slow down and savour every minute of it. I loved the characters and the plot was such a unique premise. I read this entirely in 2 sittings and it was so good and for a debut that's actually incredible. My favourite though was the setting, the stars, the subtle magical elements. I mean anything with magic keys to other worlds, sign me up. The main world being full of stars absolute perfection. I also love how easily this book was told over the 10 years. Despite how much I loved it, I feel like something was missing and I can't put my finger on it. But nonetheless, it certainly was a magical ride and adventure.