Book Review: The City of Stardust is NOT for Everyone, but It Could Be YOUR New Favorite Read
We’ve all picked up a book because of a gorgeous cover. But it’s always a treat when the actual story matches the gorgeous exterior. It’s been a while since a book has captured the same feeling of tragic romanticism like that of The Night Circus (one of my all time favorite books). The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers is a gorgeous story that I’m afraid won’t resonate with everyone. I made the mistake of looking up the Goodreads ratings before I started was shocked when I saw how low they were (last I checked 3.38!). It definitely made me question if I should prioritize reading it, but as I’m still working my way through my goal of reading or DNFing and unhauling physical books in my collection that don’t bring joy this year, I figured it might be a quick one. What I got was an unexpected delight: an enchanting read. I LOVED this book. If I were to compare, it’s reminiscent of Erin Morgenstern, Neil Gaiman, a touch of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, or His Dark Materials, and this is going to sound really weird, but bits of The Davinci Code. It could be categorized, as Booktok likes to put it, “vibes only.” However, there is most definitely a plot, it’s just told in a way that readers aren’t used to coming across: short, non-linear vignettes. So you might absolutely love this book like I did, or you might hate it. But let’s get into it.
P.S. I gave it 4.5 stars, but rounded up on Goodreads, because it deserves to find its readers! Are you one of them?
Things to Know:
Standalone
Romantic subplot
Portal Fantasy
Dark Myths and Fairytales (gods and monsters)
Beautiful writing
Non-Linear story told in vignettes
Multi-POV in 3rd person
TW: Anakin massacre scene
“In Paris, a child goes missing.”
The first line of this book has me by a chokehold. Who is this child? Why were they taken? Who’s just abducted them? Do they have magic? WHAT is going on?
As I sit down to write this, it’s honestly hard to explain what this book is about, because there are several stories at play here. Summers really drops you right into it, and there’s immediately an element of mystery and danger. We meet the Everlys, a family who have apparently been under a curse for a millennium. There’s no real explanation for it except a woman comes for one of them every generation, and they’re never seen again. Violet is now the youngest Everly, and her mother has run away to escape this woman: Penelope. WHAT A VILLAIN. Honestly, she was an incredible character because you really loathe her. She has that quiet sort of evil that’s about to explode, but simmers just under the surface. And wow, does she do some truly heinous things. We, the readers, also discover more about her before the rest of the characters do, so that also creates some tense moments.
Violet meets Aleksander, Penelope’s young assistant when they are both children, and he shows her something that should be impossible: magic. She learns of Scholars, magic keys, and doorways to other worlds, including a magical city called Fidelis with a school for those with ‘talent’. He weaves in and out of her life, and it’s pretty clear she can’t trust him. But there’s an inexplicable connection between them.
The Everlys are also given a deadline: 10 years to find Marianne, Violet’s mother, or else Violet will be the one taken. I spent most of this book being, like Violet, really mad at her mom for abandoning her with zero information.
Then there’s a character that reminded me so much of Silas in The Davinci Code, but I won’t say more here without spoilers.
In the midst of all this, we’re also told throughout the book, various versions of a fairytale where a daughter of the stars falls in love with a mortal man. Some are beautiful and romantic, and others are dark and tragic. But which is the true version?
Are you lost yet? I meant what I said when it was a meandering, non-linear story. So this brings us to the style. This book is told in chapters of short vignettes. They’re in third person, which I personally enjoy because it gives off more of that fairytale vibe. You have to almost think of each chapter as its own little short story. And eventually, they’ll all weave together at the end to form a cohesive story. I also feel like because of this, there’s a purposeful lack of depth and detail on some of the characters. It’s definitely one of those books that make you go back and think about everything you just read when you finish, because it allows the reader to fill in the ‘skips’.
There were a couple of things that kept it from perfection for me: Violet was a little too naive at times, which was irritating, and a plot hole or two that could have used a bit more worldbuilding to really bring it all together. However, I loved the book otherwise, so these didn’t bother me too much.
I would recommend this book to people who like a story that meanders through time (and worlds), and has a dark, but whimsical, otherworldly feel. If you’re looking for a straightforward plot and journey with super fleshed out characters, this probably isn’t the read for you.
Quotes:
“There is a cost to survival, Violet Everly. It is just a matter of fine-tuning the price.”
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“She says that we were once nothing more than the dream of stars. Then the stars moulded us from clay, and gave us shards of themselves so we might create in their honour. And we were happy, for a time. But, even though we have our feet on the earth, every time we close our eyes, we dream of being stars again.”
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“Do you not hear the stars sing, little dreamer?”
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“Maybe just this once, she’ll take the fairy tale.”
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