WOW! I inhaled this in less than 6 hours since I downloaded which is completely unheard of from me 😭

I don’t even know where to begin. From the world building to the scenery to the characters this was a masterclass in fantasy writing. The prose was sublime, I felt so immersed in this world with gods, and I could see this book playing out as a movie in my head.

“heavy dreams make for heavy burden”

I have highlighted so many different quotes from this book, each one has such special meaning behind it, I found this boo not only magical but also relatable. This book is for us dreamers who always wished to find hidden doors and secret passageways that leads to a new adventure. Almost reminded me of a arnica in that sense,

I adored violet and how she wanted to find her missing mother, she reminded me a lot of Addie from The Invisible life of Addie La Rue, all in all this was such a mystical read that I couldn’t recommend enough.

Thank you so much to netgalley, the publishers and Georgia Summers for my arc in exchange for an honest review!

"The City of Stardust" is a standalone fantasy written by Georgia Summers, here at her debut.

The Everlys are a cursed family. For centuries, the brightest member of each generation has been taken, vanishing without a trace, as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor is a mysterious woman named Penelope, who never ages, never gets sick and never forgets a debt. Ten years ago, Marianne Everly, the designated member of her generation, abandoned her child, her family, in search of a way to break the curse, walking away on a stormy night to never return. Violet, Marianne's daughter, grew up with her uncles, confined within the family's old, dilapidated estate in an attempt to keep her hidden from Penelope. Until Penelope discovers her existence and shows up at her uncles' house. Because a debt is a debt and an Everly is owed to her. In a desperate attempt to take more time, the uncles make a deal: ten years to find Marianne and turn her in, or Penelope will take Violet instead. Now, almost running out of time, a grown Violet, aware of the situation and tired of the many lies, decides to search for her mother herself. The hunt soon leads her into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry academics, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. And into the path of Penelope's quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted yet to whom she finds herself undeniably attracted.


What a wonderful read! "The City of Stardust" is an enchanting, dark and bewitching novel full of magic, curses, keys, doors, stars, unknown worlds, fickle gods and vengeful monsters. It is a book about abandonment, betrayal, revenge, obsession, anger, envy and power hunger, but at the same time it is a book about courage, sacrifice, loyalty, love and strong family ties. A praise for books, stories, fairy tales, dreams and imagination.  A story that made me a little bit of a child again, when I wished that the door to a closet, basement or room could lead somewhere else. In my opinion it is not a perfect novel, I perceived several flaws, but in the end I do not care. It managed to absorb me totally, moving me a lot, so for me it's awesome!

The writing is wonderful! The author has a refined, sophisticated, delicate, evocative and lyrical prose that gives an almost dreamlike nuance to the whole story. The strongly descriptive style influences the narration, giving it a rather slow pace, which in my opinion is nevertheless smooth, thanks also to the presence of short chapters.

I liked the characters a lot! The story features several povs, all in third person, the most important of which are those of Violet, Aleksander, and Penelope. Violet, the protagonist, is a girl with a strong imagination, who loves stories and dreams of adventure. A determined, loyal, stubborn and somewhat naive young woman, pressed by a curse for which she is not to blame and tormented by the absence of her mother. Aleksander is Penelope's assistant, a boy obsessed with study and knowledge, marked by a troubled past and strong inner conflicts. And then there is Penelope, the mysterious villain of the situation, capable of truly despicable and cruel actions, with a long and complex past. These are extremely interesting characters, but in my opinion they lack some depth. 

Overall, in my opinion, "The City of Stardust" is a novel enveloped in a cryptic, mysterious atmosphere that provides little clear information and even fewer precise answers. It is a choice that one may or may not like, depending on personal taste, but I personally liked it and found it coherent with the dreamlike atmosphere that hovers between the pages.

All in all, this is a book that I deeply loved, featuring evocative writing, an enchanting setting and excellent characters!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Generations of the Everly family have been plagued by a curse which requires the sacrifice of one of each generation. Violet Everly has lived in the protection provided by her uncles,Violet's mother Marianne who was the chosen one, disappeared in her childhood to find a way to break the curse. Now Violet is stood to suffer in her place, so sets out out to find her and the answer to who she is.

Violet is a fantastic protagonist and the character of Penelope is an excellent villain I would love to read more of her story.
An engaging read from start to finish and I was hooked from the first page. I did find that the end was dragged slightly and while enjoyed the subplot of Violet and Aleksander, I wasn't particularly invested in it. Reminiscent at times of Celia and Marco in the Night Circus.

It has been such a long time since a book captured me from the furst page. I have been reading this for 2 hours so far and I only put it down to go for a wee and write this. I will be recommending this to my students as inspiration for their final major project!

Thank you to NetGalleyUK and Hodderscape (Hodder & Stoughton) for an eARC of The City of Stardust in return for an honest review.

I adored the first 50 pages of this book. I fell in love with the poetic writing style, and the intrigue of the story of the Everly family. Unfortunately, as the story progressed so did my confusion. I felt that there were chapters of beautiful writing that described very little of the plot or character progression, but not enough description of key moments in the book, where I was left confused and wanting more. This book also contained one of my least favourite tropes; lack of communication. If the characters had been more honest with one another then we wouldn't have needed half of the story.

I think this book will be brilliant for readers who want a book that's all vibes (the writing was stunning!), but I'm sad to say, that as a reader who loves a strong plot line, that this one wasn't for me.

* Trigger warning for violence towards children in this book * (I wish I'd have known this before reading a copy of the ARC. Hopefully it is added in for the fully published version)

I read this one in 3 days flat – 04-Sep-2023 to 07-Sep-2023 and even now months on, as soon as I read the first line of the blurb (The Everly Family is cursed) memories of reading it come flooding back.

In this book we follow the story of Violet Everly and the Everly curse. Violet’s mother left her when she was younger, vanishing one night. In doing so the curse on her falls to Violet and we see Violet’s journey to discover and ultimately break the curse across universes – her own in a contemporary middle American setting, and the magical world of Fidelis, with gods, monsters and scholars.

The City of Stardust is a wonderfully written book. The prose and the world building is fantastic and I could picture everything that the author was describing along the way – from the Everly Mansion to Fidelis itself, to the coffee shop that Violet meets Aleksander in. However, there was so much of the rest of the world unexplained. I don’t think I fully understand the magic system (other than “Cos Penelope made it so”) or the where and the why of the existence of Fidelis. Its background, its story, its system, its purpose. The way of using the flashbacks throughout the book and writing in 3rd person, felt disjointed to me and meant that we knew what was happening in some instances before the person it was happening to. Aleksander was such a compellingly written character, that I wanted to know more of his tortured experiences and understand what he was feeling. Violet on the other hand less so – I found her the least intriguing character written in the story and she felt like a vessel or afterthought to carry the story along rather than the story being about her.

Overall this felt like a story about a curse and a concept not a person or a world and it lacked slightly due to that. I would love to see what this author could do with more words, pages and solid characters.

This was a 3* read for me

A world full of magic, mistery and dark secrets.
A girl seeking for adventures, A family with a curse.
Violet Everly is willing to do anything to discover the truth.

The potential was very high. Unfortunately, The City of Stardust wasn't for me.
This book has an amazing atmosphere and the writing is magnetic. I loved the setting of Fidelis and the world-building general concept, but beyond the wonderful landscapes and the impressive descriptions there is a story that doesn't entirely convince me.
As i said, the potential was high but I feel that Georgia Summer focused too much on creating the setting than on developing the story and characters.
The story is very linear and predictable, the characters lack depht. The world-building is too vague and by the end the reader has more questions than he had at the beginning.
Other than that, I didn't like the ending.

Long story short: too many ornaments, too little substance.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

4 stars

The synopsis says that "this is a story about a woman who descends into seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters." Which is theory is all correct, however do not go into this story to believe that this is dark and seductive fantasy (although some parts of it is dark, especially gore-filled). So my expectations were slightly off, when I read it.

The general story is still intriguing, with a secret world, interesting magic (stardust) and gods. The plot was also good (not generally fan of "lets not tell the main character something that affects them directly), but I did not fault this too much.

However my problem was the main mystery. We had a lot of POVs, so we figured the mystery out very fast (literally you are shown it straight from the beginning; or told in short stories), so I felt no stakes or interest to figure out the mystery (when the main character tries to figure it out). I think deleting some POVs would have helped ALOT.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are, as always, my own.
Edit Review

This book was all about the vibes for me which were great, I loved the whimsical descriptive prose especially the history switchbacks told like fairytales. But I didn't overly get invested with the main characters they just felt a bit flat and repetitive. I much preferred the proposed villain and the astral side characters they felt more vivid even with bit parts. I wanted so much more from this because I was loving the writing style and the plot had so much potential. There were some great scenes then rushed chunks that needed a bit more depth. I did thoroughly enjoy it I just wanted to 5 star adore it, but I'm excited to see what comes next from this author!
Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the arc in return for an honest review.

The City of Stardust is an adult fantasy standalone and follows the life of Violet Everly as she's on a quest to track her mother that left mysteriously in the middle of the night and break a curse that holds over her family though nobody can remember why.

Firstly I want to say that the premise is so intriguing and magical whilst being a little dark at the same time. I love the world despite forgetting that it was set within the modern world. And can be appreciate how beautifully written this book is? I'm in completely awe. The atmosphere was chefs kiss. The world that Georgia Summer creates is breathtaking.

So why wasn't it a five stars read? The story at times felt like it was slow to develop and the pacing was slow in a few places. Like I wished that we got more to Marianne's story, we don't know much about her apart from what we are told through everyone's point of view. While I liked the romance, I do feel as if it was more an afterthought then anything as there's not much. I also felt as if this could've been more marketed as either young adult as there's nothing to really give the impression that it's an adult fantasy apart from the fact that Violet is in her early twenties.

I do recommend this book especially if you're looking for a standalone with fantasy and mystery intertwined. This book did not disappoint and think it was a wonderful debut author. I am looking forward to reading future books by Georgia Summers.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Georgia Summers and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an ARC.

I absolutely loved this story! Violet Everly's journey to break her family's curse is a whirlwind of mystery, magic, and a touch of romance that had me hooked.

It's got power-hungry scholars, quirky gods, and revenge-thirsty monsters – a mix that keeps you guessing. And then there's Aleksander, the mysterious assistant. You know he's trouble, but there's something magnetic about him...

If you're into fantasy, mystery, and a sprinkle of romance, "The City of Stardust" is a must-read. It's the kind of book that transports you to another world and leaves you eagerly anticipating the next chapter!

I really enjoyed this and appreciated Violet's fairytale-style hunt to understand her family curse and the otherworldly magic. My only criticism is there was a bit of a feeling of a lack of meat on the bones of the character's stories for me - the uncles never fully explained, Violet being kept at home at all times then roaming the world with ease, Marianne disappearing and little explanation for her lack of return. The resolution for Marianne in particular was unfulfilling for me. I finished it and enjoyed it, but was left a little wanting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

4.5 stars rounded to 5

I absolutely loved the world lore in this book - hidden cities in distant worlds, magical doorways and keys, fallen gods, a family curse haunting the Everlys. While the start was a little slow to pick up, by 20% in I was entirely hooked and completely invested in the story.

I found Violet Everly an easy to read FMC - she was pretty straight forward in her motives, brave and resourceful. I do wish we'd had more time focusing on her travels while searching across the globe for her missing mother, but I guess it would have had to be a duology to fit it all in. As its a standalone, we have a lot of time skips and flashbacks to fill in gaps that might have been built on more if it was a series.

If my only complaint is that I wished it was longer, I think that speaks volumes to how much I enjoyed the book.

Aleksander, the MMC, and Penelope, the antagonist, were both interesting characters as well, and it was great to get to see the story from their POV as well as Violet's - it made things feel much more rounded out.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark fairytales, adventure stories, strong-willed MCs and dreamy prose.

The City of Stardust is a beautifully written whimsical story with similarities to The Starless Sea and Laini Taylor's books. It is an engaging story which leaves you eager to continue reading.

I went into this book entirely blind, it was a cover request. Turns out it was a lucky choice, because it has fast become a favourite - I absolutely love the vibes this book puts out, and I think it will be extremely popular when released. This is the kind of book that you either gel with, or don't... I hope more people are able to gel with it, because it is honestly fantastic.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this one, I loved it.

*Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Generations of Everlys have been taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers. Their tormentor, Penelope, never ages and never forgives. Violet Everly was a child when her mother disappeared on a stormy night to try to break the curse, resulting in Penelope giving her 10 years to find her or take her place. Violet delves deep into the magical underground on her mission to break said curse. Does she have an ally in Penelope's assistant Aleksander? Violet will search the world for her mother and the key to the city of stardust where it all began.

The ominous prologue sparks the intrigue that follows us through this tale. Embellishments to the writing are like the lyrics to a pensive song. Figurative speech that is charismatic in the images it conveys, a whisper of gothicness. A narrative that promises adventure and breathes wisps of otherworldly.

Violet and Aleksander are connected in bittersweet melancholy, both feeling they have something to prove. Violet's determination is admirable. Meanwhile, Penelope is a ruthless, enjoyable villain, delightfully devious as are most of the scholars. The mythology of the scholars is compelling and intricate, as is the fantastical world beyond today's world.

There are frequent changes in POVs, sporadically even on the same page, making the storytelling more interesting, sometimes exciting, others disjointed and the changes are jarring. The plethora of details may heighten the descriptions though every so often they burden them. There are parts that are confusing but when the story finds its groove it is elegantly immersive.

Fate. Redemption. Revenge and how soul-consuming it is. These are a few noteworthy themes that enrich the narrative. This is a story of wonder and awe, enchanting in its imagination, of journeys and quests and returning home, in more ways than one.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Hodderscape for sending me this Arc!
Unfortunately I had to DNF at the 30% mark. I really tried to get into this book. Now the reason I found it difficult was there were many POV switches, all of which were written in 3rd person. Which seems not only unecessary (one of the joys of 3rd person is we get multiple POV's at once) but also made it hard to keep up.
One thing I think readers will really enjoy about this book is the writing style. It's very whimsicle and reminiscent to me of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue which is also a book that I struggled with. I just think the writing style is not for me but will be a hit with a lot of people.
I do not usually give star ratings to books I DNF as I think it is unfair so the rating below is a reflection of the experience I had with the 30% I read.
Goodreads review will be available once goodreads is back up and running.

Part mystery, part fantasy, The City of Stardust is a compelling fantasy adventure, with a unique magic system. Slightly slow starting, the reader uncovers the mysteries of Fidelis at the same time as Violet Everly, a young woman, abandoned by her mother and brought up in isolation by her Uncle's. With her mother off on an adventure, Violet desires to follow in her footsteps, without fully understanding the history of gods, magic, curses and cruelty that has plagued her family for generations.
Enter Aleksander, a student of gods-metal, and a servant sent to prise Violet's secrets from her. Distinctly grey, Aleksander can never quite be trusted, even as his feelings for Violet start to blur the lines between his loyalty to her, and to his mentor, Penelope. Penelope has a vested interest in Violet's family, and as we uncover the reason's why, they are chilling.
I very much hope to see more stories set in this world, as there are plenty of mysteries left to uncover!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC of this book!

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this one, but it has a great storyline with a lot of interesting elements. Somehow they didn’t quite come together for me - I felt like the ‘action’ of the book never quite arrived, and there wasn’t a huge amount of progression to the story.

I think I saw another reviewer saying this is a ‘vibes’ book and I definitely agree with that. It was very much like an Erin Morgenstern, particularly The Starless Sea, but this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me, unlike Morgenstern’s books. I feel like the story has SO MUCH potential, but there was too ‘much’ - I think the actual story and the worlds described were amazing but not very fleshed out, and the romance aspect to the story also left me wanting it to have developed into something more.

Overall I did really enjoy this! It did take me a few weeks to read, in between other things, which I feel for me is a mark of struggling my way through a book a bit, but now I’m finished it was definitely worth persevering.

This is a charming read with wonderful prose, that to me was very reminiscent of The Starless Sea, The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue (although I haven't finished that one), The Thousand Doors of January, and a little bit of the magic we see in The Chronicles of Narnia.

Set in a lush and magical world, sadly the story itself is watered down by the heavy descriptions. I'm a very character driven reader and felt like both the plot and characters were, overall, lackluster. Still, it is a book with immense potential that left me excited to see what the author can do next.
If you are someone reading for *vibes* this one will probably be for you!

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook Books for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review :)