The narrator did a great job. It’s just a shame that I was invested in the story at all. It’s a real shame as I’d really been looking forward to this book it just fell flat for me. I’d definitely say this book is more YA than adult. I don’t agree with the romance tag

3.5 stars

This is going to be someone's favourite book. A magical tale reminiscent of The Ten Thousand Doors of January in its style & scope.

For me it was lacking a little drama; I wanted the villain of the tale to be scarier, the sense of threat more heightened, the love story (not at all central to the plot) to be more passionate. It was a soft tale woven beautifully, but missing something to drive me to need to pick it up.

The narration was solid & easy to follow.

One of my favourite elements was the addition of the fairytales between parts.

If you like winding, picturesque, magical tales, with a slower pace then give this one a try.

*I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I listened to this on audiobook so my review and opinions will be based on this medium.

I really enjoyed the reading experience of this audiobook. The narrator, Kitty Parker, was engaging and believable. The story was a little slower paced (especially at the beginning) but then the action speeds up considerably.

The themes of family and curses; the vibes and atmosphere of this story are reminiscent of Alix E Harrow or Erin Morgenstern. I think fans of these authors will greatly enjoy 'The City of Stardust'.

3.75/5

I've been very excited to listen to the audiobook of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers, and I've been very grateful that I've gotten the audiobook arc, courtesy of Netgalley and the Publisher.

First of all, the cover is absolutely gorgeous, @micaelaalcainodesign did an amazing work. That was what had caught my eye and pulled me to this book.

In short, unfortunately it wasn't for me, but I'm sure it will find its audience.

In this story, we follow Violet Everly and her struggles to pick apart and understand the family curse. There's magic and dark academia vibes, and a lot of secrets. The book is very whimsical, in fact too whimsical for me. I've been kind of invested and the pacing was good, but the vague way of storytelling was putting me off. I think the writing was objectively really good, but the fact that it was told in present tense didn't really click with me.

For the reasons above, I couldn't connect with any of the characters, and I've started two other books in the meantime as, unfortunately, this story didn't keep my attention. The romance and ending were anticlimactic and also not for me.

I'm really conflicted about The City of Stardust, as I really appreciate the way it's told, and I'm really disappointed I didn't enjoy it more. My rating is ⭐⭐⭐, as I feel that the story itself was good, it's just that I've learned that I prefer a more direct and less flowery and dramatic writing. It could have been five stars for me, if only it was written in a different way. If you enjoy the works of Erin Morgenstern, this book might be perfect for you.

All of that being said, I'd give myself two stars for that review, I'm sorry, I'm still learning to write reviews and it's the first one after quite some time. 😅 I've got scrambled eggs for a brain at the moment as I'm in the process of moving and unpacking, so I apologize if I didn't convey my point clearly.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc.

4 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this arc!

The writing in this book was beautiful and I loved the start of the book so much. The worldbuilding & descriptions were vivid and creative, and I would happily read several more books set in this world. For the first and last thirds of the book, the plot was very engaging, but it felt slow in the middle - the story could have been more enjoyable if some of this had been cut out. I enjoyed the way it flitted between characters, but despite being one of the main characters, Violet felt a little underdeveloped. I also would have loved to find out a bit more about Marianne by the end.

The audiobook was narrated well, in a clear and expressive manner which enhanced the story without distracting from it.

Overall an enjoyable read, which I would recommend for people who enjoyed Addie LaRue, His Dark Materials & Starling House - I look forward to reading more of Georgia Summers’ work in future as I really loved her writing style ❤️

Wow what an absolutely wonderful surprise this book was, Georgia Summers has created a gorgeously atmospheric fairytale esque tale, it fully immerses you, consumes you- I finished this book in a few hours I couldn't put it down.

The Everly's are a cursed family, a curse that calls for one from in each generation to be sacrificed! Violet Everly is a dreamer who has been kept safe by her scholarly uncles but as she starts to find her way in the world she is plunged in to a fairy tale and a quest reliant on unpicking her familial history.

I adored the way that we discovered the world along with Violet we were right there with her as she unpicked the clues and peeled back her family history, the world was so complicated and sprawling however Georgia Summers makes it so uncomplicated. The writing is so poetic and yet so accessible it read beautifully.

The villain in this book is truly exceptional, I though the exploration and development of this character was so good. One of the other aspects that I really enjoyed was the exploration of the mother-daughter relationship and this set against the truly heartwarming relationship Violet had with her uncles felt quite different.

This book has dark elements and as the story develops there are some violent and gory scenes so please check content warnings,

I thought that the audio narration was wonderful Kitty Parker was fantastic- I listened along as I read the book which is probably my favourite reading experience and it was great- I listen at 2 x speed and there was no loss of clarity at all! I do feel that the pauses between chapters was slightly too long and I think that will probably be picked up in the final edits and obviously took nothing away from the performance.

I am not a massive fan of standalone books mainly because if I love them I miss the characters but also because there's sometimes that feeling like the story is wrapped up very quickly at the end but this book is well paced and wraps up in I think the most perfect way, it was the ending I needed.

I've seen this described as perfect for readers who loved The Starless Sea and Ten Thousand Doors of January and I would definitely agree it has that whimsical and at times almost Ethereal style, for me I also had a lot of the feelings I got when I read Ink, Blood, Sister, Scribe,

I like the book. The reading experience was made better by the narrator of the audiobook. The beginning of the book was slow but the pace did pick up. There were some elements that felt predictable for a fantasy book but I did not mind it.  Although the proses are beautiful, the characters are forgettable. It has an atmospheric feel about it which is a plus but it's just that.
2.5/5
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review :)

2.5⭐️ - This would probably really work for some people, but it didn’t work for me.
If you like slow atmospheric books, similar to a Starless Sea, you might love this one. But for me it took too long to hook me into the story, and the characters felt underdeveloped.

January 3, 2024
This book had so much promise, and I absolutely loved parts of it, but it overall felt lacking. There were definitely points where it felt Un-putdownable, and i was thinking about it even when i wasn't reading and the prose was beautifully written. The story was well told. I love the concept and the overall plot. The plot was set up to be dark but in the end felt like a typical HEA, and the ending was very anticlimactic. This book should have been fleshed out with more of the world and the realities of the different places which spunded amazing and like they deserved a lot more time devoted to them. If this had been extended into a duology which detailed more about the scholars and how felaris came to be and the different side characters who were all intersting, I think this could have been a 5 star read. Instead, it was rushed lacking and overall a not great execution of a brilliant concept.

I absolutely adored the premise of this story! I thought it was so original compared to others I’ve picked up recently - I loved the dark element to it and was compelled to keep listening to find out where the story was headed.

The audio narrative was great, it was engaging and easy to digest and the fantasy elements were all easy to follow.

I really enjoyed the complexity in the dynamic between Violet and Aleksander. I thought Penelope was an exceptional villain - I loved the exploration of her character.

Overall this was a compelling story, filled with magic, intrigue and I just loved the mystery of it all.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my audio copy of this book.

I'm loving the audio book very much .
highly captivating and atmospheric , love the narrator really helps you feel like you're in the story .
i would even read along with the book gives you a better sense of what is happening and will make you feel like your one of the characters

as i had read the book i knew what was coming but this made it 100 times more amazing .

I'm giving this amazing spellbinding 5 stars

The City of Stardust is a beautifully written dark tale and the high stakes of Violet’s life had me gripped until the very end. The prose is lyrical, reminiscent of The Night Circus and the world-building was filled with a soft magic system. Georgia wrote a captivating antagonist who was rationally violent and immoveable that makes it so easy to feel terrified of. I adored the relationship Violet had with her uncles, a relationship seen infrequently in fantasy books.

Kitty Parker gave a solid and straight performance of the book. However I hope the final edit of the audiobook will shorten the silence between the end of a chapter and the beginning of the next. These silent pauses are too long and many times I have found myself checking the app to see if I had accidentally paused the audiobook.

Overall, I had adored The City of Stardust and look forward to reading it again.

This book was the perfect standalone. It sucked me right in to a world of keys, stars and gods. I was engulfed into a world of keys and stars, and the push and pull between the main character and a mysterious enemy. Her quest to save her family and herself made for the perfect voyage and fantasy story. I can’t wait to for what Georgia Summers writes next!

Kitty Parker narrated the audiobook exceptionally well. She brings the characters to life, is clear, expressive. Her delivery enhances the story, making the audiobook a captivating experience.

All in all a great book with a great audiobook.

Summary: Violet Everly, facing a family curse, searches for her vanished mother in a magical realm, confronting gods, scholars, and a mysterious assistant.

Reading this book made me feel like a dreamy spectator of everything that unfolded throughout. The plot and world building were beautifully written; there's something of a soothing quality that makes this really nice to read before going to sleep.

The story itself is quite lukewarm - it has a steady pace but no major highs or lows and the characters aren't very memorable - but overall it's still quite beautiful.

If you like your stories sombre, wistful and magical while driven by hope then you'll probably like this!

Written like a dark, academia fairytale this trancing book will take you into a world of stars, cities, and a family that have a dark mystery to solve. This spellbinding will take you on a journey to discover watch each key holds. For those who love a mystery and academia novel this is definitely one of the 2024 books. You need to add to your pre-order list immediately.

It didn’t grip me as much as I hoped it would, I think I was expecting a bit more fantasy and magic (hence still 5 star as that is a personal preference not anything from the book) but it turned out to be more mystery and academia which, to be honest, if you do like that kind of book 100%, this is definitely a book you need to read.

Narrated by Kitty Parker ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Story by Georgia Summers ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wow! For a debut novel the world the author has created is absolutely beautiful and cruel!

This book gave me some serious 'Circe' by Madeline Miller feels so if you love that book you will absolutely enjoy this.

I can't wait for Georgia Summers next book! I think she is going to be an author to watch closely.

I will absolutely be recommending this book to people and have in fact pre-ordered this book for my best reading buddy.

The book had a promising plot with different magical worlds held at the doorways to be unlocked by magical keys. With each passing chapter, I was engulfed in the story to know how the protagonist plans to escape the befallen misfortune and find her mother. An entanglement with a mysterious boy has only added to her troubles, making it strenuous to solve the mystery at hand.

The plot is absolutely devouring, the instant pull and push of attraction and repulsion in our protagonist's love life comes next. What's missing however is a lingering effect of the story that keeps you wondering after the book is over. Overall, it was an enjoyable but not that memorable kind of read.

Thank you @netgalley @hodderbooks @ge_summers for the Digital ARC

Genre: #magic #fantasy #ya
Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

The story is told in 3rd person, and is told in different character perspectives but with how is written its more seeing than feeling. But this isn't a big issue because you do end up feeling due to the descriptions and you start to understand the characters. It had his dark materials (by philip pullman) vibes (one of my favourite series). Georgia writting is very whimsical, flowing with details.
I was listening to the audiobook and the narrator was clear, energetic, engaging and make listening easy and just obsorbed the story that was being told.
I rather enjoyed this and its one i would reread. Therefore cant wait to the book to be released January 2024 so its on myshelf for a future reread.

Thank you to Netgalley and and the publishers for providing me with advance audiobook copy, in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book though I did wish it had been Fantasy instead of Urban Fantasy as I wasn't expecting that from the cover or promotion I'd seen. That's on me though! I really enjoyed the magic system and the concept of the gods but something about the plot and characters kept me from fully immersing into it so it was just an enjoyable read and not a new favourite. I'd definitely read more by this author in the future though!

I wish I had read this instead of listening to it. The reader didn’t have a lot of emotion and didn’t really hook me into the book as I would expect for a fantasy.
The Everly’s are a cursed family, and Violet is determined to break that curse. Along with her uncles she uncovers a world of scholars, gods and monsters.
A great standalone fantasy, the writing is beautiful I just struggled with the audiobook. Will definitely grab a paper copy to reread.