Welcome friend! Every month, I try to read at least one new release. My January pick was The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers, a cover that appealed to me the moment I saw it. A standalone fantasy novel, this is the story of a young woman’s mission to break the curse on her family. Little does she realize how true the fairy tales are and the enemy is a God yearning for home. I was excited to dive into it and overall, it is a good debut. Here is what the book is about:
The City of Stardust
Georgia Summers | Goodreads
A young woman descends into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge to break her family’s curse in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy debut.
For centuries, generations of 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, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick – and never forgives a debt.
Violet Everly was a child when her mother left on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. When Marianne never returns, Penelope issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find her mother, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer. Unless she can break it first.
To do so, she must descend into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. She must also contend with Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted – and yet whose knowledge of a world beyond her own is too valuable to avoid.
Tied to a very literal deadline, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.
The City of Stardust– Review
The Many Stories of The City of Stardust
The City of Stardust is a number of stories, some with multiple interpretations. Here are some of what I gathered: There is a curse on the Everly family, a God demanding one from every generation as payment for a crime generations old. A set of siblings, done with their fate, anticipating the loss of their brightest, make a pact to end their line. Unknown circumstances lead to Marianne giving birth to Violet, spelling doom for another generation of Everly. A daughter’s quest to find her mother who has been on the run for decades, with the hope to together, finally, end the curse for once and for all. Along with the history and situations with the Everly family, there is also Aleksander, a nobody wanting to be someone. The magical world of Fidelis is portrayed to be full of intrigue, cut throat competition and a life of knowledge. But the cost, some, including Aleksander, consider too high.
The Central Plot
The City of Stardust weaves all these tendrils into one captivating book. Most of the point of view is that of Violet, written in third person. She has had a sheltered life, brought up by her one uncle, showered occasionally with attention, gifts and advice from her second uncle, yearning for her mother every day. Marianne used to tell her stories of Fidelis and Violet wanted them to be true. She is ten when Penelope first comes to take her. The encounter of significance is more between her and Aleksander because he opens her eyes to magic.
Over the years, Violet is dissatisfied with her life. She has been caged away to be protected but without a formal education, she cannot pursue any career. Eventually, events led to Violet leaving in search for her mom, as the debt owed to Penelope comes due.
The World
There is so much to the world! Getting to places using keys, the magic of a city apart from our modern world, existence of gods and interactions with them, boons and curses… The City of Stardust creates a rich picture of magic. The frustrating part was that while Violet was discovering the magic world, she learned things off the page with little context for me on what they mean or how she came to that information. Maybe the story moved too fast for me or it was too disjointed at times. Occasionally, perspectives of other characters like Penelope and Aleksander added more sides to the story. Sometimes, there was also the perspective of Yury who only led to more questions and confusion for me.
The First Half
Some aspects of the world are half painted elements that blur the plot rather than add to it. The book is divided into five parts and each begins with a new perspective on a legend. It’s the story of the god, Astriade, the one who brought the elements of gods, reveurite, to this world, and her doomed romance with a craftsman. I liked these but it took me a long time to connect how this legend was related to the Everly family because I could not relate the goddess, the lover, Violet, Marianne, Penelope and Aleksander.
The first half of the book reminded me of many amazing stories:
- The beginning has Percy Jackson and the Olympians feel. I liked the world of magic, especially through the eyes of young children.
- The reveurite, element of the gods, and scholars reminded me of Babel. Though the scholars aren’t fleshed out enough and sounded more like politicians.
- The ruthlessness of gods and godspawn reminded me of Strange the Dreamer, one of my all time favorite series.
- The tarot card readings and the suspense elements reminded me of The Cloisters.
The Challenges in the Middle
By mid-book, I was exhausted. I was loving all the individual pieces – the world, the characters, but the intentions and the threads connecting them together were flimsy at best for me. I had too many details to keep track of and then there was added frustration with the path Violet was choosing. She was immature at a number of points in the book and while I had loved the young girl, I found the older woman not that interesting. She lost her love for magic along the way and maybe I would have understood better if proper insights had been provided on the information she learned about Penelope and Fidelis. She was one of the main perspective after all.
The Last Half
A little further in the book, the disillusions Violet and her family had been harbouring for years about how great Marianne was, finally broke and the rest of the story went better. Some of the details of the world from the first half of the book became unnecessary and though I felt good to not have to keep track of them, I felt sad that they were not utilized better. Penelope and Aleksander held the second half of the book together for me. I continued to like her gravity. She is sinister and her narrative shows her to be powerful, haughty and demanding. Aleksander, on the other hand, comes face to face with his morals and what he cannot do. He has to make a decision on what he is willing to stand for and I liked how he grew. He went through hell and he survived.
Quote
It’s an honour, Violet Everly, as much as it is an obligation.
Elandriel, Chapter Thirty-Four, The City of Stardust
Rarely do quotes from a book get stuck in my head. As I prepare for a trip to India, experiencing the Indian winter for the first time in ten years, I didn’t imagine a Fantasy novel summarizing the quest I am about to go on. To be loved by people is an honour. To be remembered. To be missed. But sometimes, those bonds take us outside our comfort zones. That’s when the actions are duty feel like an obligation. It doesn’t matter how we see it. What has to be done, has to be done.
If you are looking for a fast paced standalone fantasy with a rich world, give this a read! As you can tell, I struggled with some parts of it but overall, The City of Stardust was interesting at many different levels. I was intrigued and wanted to know what happened next. Add it on Goodreads.
Many thanks to Orbit for a copy of the book for an honest review. Quote has been verified with a finished copy.
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