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comebymoonlight's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
This book is difficult to review because I feel very differently about the first hundred pages compared to what follows.
Part 1 of the book is painfully slow. Almost nothing happens in the main plot, and even the nothing that is happening feels disjointed and unimportant, constantly glossed over with time skips or interjected with short chapters of (for now) completely unrelated snapshots of things happening elsewhere. Rather than break up the tedium they just made the nothing drag on. This author desperately needs to learn better pacing.
Parts 2-5 I thoroughly enjoyed. All those unrelated snapshots finally pulled together, the pacing picked up, and I happily read the last 200 pages in a single sitting. I am a sucker for good world building, and this was excellent, though darker than I expected. That said, it wasn't the book I thought it was when I picked it up. I was expecting a sort of Theseus-descending-into-Hades adventure which it very much was not.
[Spoiler-light thoughts on the conclusion]There were a couple unanswered questions throughout the story that I kept feeling would be ruined by almost any answer we were given, and I was pleasantly surprised that they were left as questions. Similarly, I was pleasantly surprised the will-they-won't-they romantic subplot didn't magically end up with a happily-ever-after that would have strained my suspension of disbelief.
In the end, I really enjoyed the 240-page story that started at Part 2. Do I think reading the first 100 pages to get there is worth it? I don't know.
Part 1 of the book is painfully slow. Almost nothing happens in the main plot, and even the nothing that is happening feels disjointed and unimportant, constantly glossed over with time skips or interjected with short chapters of (for now) completely unrelated snapshots of things happening elsewhere. Rather than break up the tedium they just made the nothing drag on. This author desperately needs to learn better pacing.
Parts 2-5 I thoroughly enjoyed. All those unrelated snapshots finally pulled together, the pacing picked up, and I happily read the last 200 pages in a single sitting. I am a sucker for good world building, and this was excellent, though darker than I expected. That said, it wasn't the book I thought it was when I picked it up. I was expecting a sort of Theseus-descending-into-Hades adventure which it very much was not.
[Spoiler-light thoughts on the conclusion]
In the end, I really enjoyed the 240-page story that started at Part 2. Do I think reading the first 100 pages to get there is worth it? I don't know.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cannibalism
bookish_hollyx's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
callistag1's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death and Gaslighting
Minor: Genocide
kestrel_of_the_pages's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A gothic globe-trotting urban fantasy with elements of horror and mystery.
Parts somehow both whimsical and horrifying? Think Pan's Labyrinth vibes, but also completely different. The whole book is a vibe, moody and dark and pushing for answers. Violet struggles, realistically so, after spending a life sheltered and safe. She bumbles stubbornly through her deceptions, navigating secret society, unknown magic, and a family curse on the brink of fruition. This tale is saturated with betrayal, haunted with Violet's childhood memories, but also so full of hope and determination. The world is just a key-turn away. The romance is pretty good too, right person wrong time with a dash of enemies to lovers. I can't really say more without spoilers!
I listened to this via Libro.fm and immediately looked up what other books this narrator has done- this was the first. I'm so excited to hear what projects Kitty Parker does next, her different intonations for each character were SO GOOD. Sexy evil for the big bad, brooding and cautious as Aleksander, challenging and strong willed as Violet, and the poor exasperated and exhausted brothers.
Parts somehow both whimsical and horrifying? Think Pan's Labyrinth vibes, but also completely different. The whole book is a vibe, moody and dark and pushing for answers. Violet struggles, realistically so, after spending a life sheltered and safe. She bumbles stubbornly through her deceptions, navigating secret society, unknown magic, and a family curse on the brink of fruition. This tale is saturated with betrayal, haunted with Violet's childhood memories, but also so full of hope and determination. The world is just a key-turn away. The romance is pretty good too, right person wrong time with a dash of enemies to lovers. I can't really say more without spoilers!
I listened to this via Libro.fm and immediately looked up what other books this narrator has done- this was the first. I'm so excited to hear what projects Kitty Parker does next, her different intonations for each character were SO GOOD. Sexy evil for the big bad, brooding and cautious as Aleksander, challenging and strong willed as Violet, and the poor exasperated and exhausted brothers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
kiwij96's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I genuinely have no idea what the plot is to this story and I have read it. It was just 340 pages of nothing which is so disappointing because the concept for it was so interesting.
Essentially, after finding out that her family (nore specifically, Violet) is cursed, Violet spends a year of her life running around the world trying to find her mother who ran away when Violet was 8. She befriends a scholar who is about as interesting as drywall, and encounters Gods (one of which Gabriel later tries to fight off with a chair, an event that genuinely made me consider DNFing for the 8th time but it was 100 pages from the end so ) and friends of her mother who do absolutely nothing to progress the story or help her understand anything.
Everyone in this story hides the truth from Violet and is super vague about everything, but somehow Violet knows where to look after conversations that hold about as much weight as air. The only tolerable character is Caspian who gets about 5 pages. The only character who has a set nationality is Yury (and honestly I don't love the fact that the Russian character is written as what is essentially a terrorist ).
Fidelis is definitely, 100% based on Velaris from ACOTAR with it being a City of Stars (granted it is Stardust instead of Starlight). A city which is visited maybe 3 times total and not for very long each time it is mentioned. The city is but a vague promise to the reader in the greater scheme of things, especially when the majority of the story takes place somewhere in the world.
There is some absolutely gorgeous writing and scene-setting in this book for sure. The sentence structure is genuinely stunning. The chapters are short and easy to get through without issue. However, the pacing is just so weird and at times I felt like I was missing context for what was happening and why.
I genuinely have no idea what that book was and I am massively disappointed with it. I should have saved myself the time and energy and DNFed.
Essentially, after finding out that her family (nore specifically, Violet) is cursed, Violet spends a year of her life running around the world trying to find her mother who ran away when Violet was 8. She befriends a scholar who is about as interesting as drywall, and encounters Gods (
Everyone in this story hides the truth from Violet and is super vague about everything, but somehow Violet knows where to look after conversations that hold about as much weight as air. The only tolerable character is Caspian who gets about 5 pages. The only character who has a set nationality is Yury (
Fidelis is definitely, 100% based on Velaris from ACOTAR with it being a City of Stars (granted it is Stardust instead of Starlight). A city which is visited maybe 3 times total and not for very long each time it is mentioned. The city is but a vague promise to the reader in the greater scheme of things, especially when the majority of the story takes place somewhere in the world.
There is some absolutely gorgeous writing and scene-setting in this book for sure. The sentence structure is genuinely stunning. The chapters are short and easy to get through without issue. However, the pacing is just so weird and at times I felt like I was missing context for what was happening and why.
I genuinely have no idea what that book was and I am massively disappointed with it. I should have saved myself the time and energy and DNFed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Abandonment
Moderate: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
purplepenning's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Undoubtedly beautiful prose and an interesting fantasy premise that blends a modern setting with an old world dark fairytale vibe (via portal doors). Overall, however, the story, pacing, and character development just didn't click for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Alcohol
embee007's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
“Do you really believe the curse isn’t real? That the divine never touches you? That the wheeling cosmos is but an abstract of chemicals? Do you not hear the stars sing, little dreamer?”
The proooooose 😍
"She is glory. She is devastation. And she is hungry."
If you loved the imagery of The Starless Sea or wished The Starless Sea had a plot? This is the book for you.
"What joy it will bring us to see you undone."
This was a cover buy, & I have zero regrets, but ½ a point off because I once again fell into the quicksand trap of a gothic book & took nearly a week to read it 🫠
"From nothing, to nothing.”
The proooooose 😍
"She is glory. She is devastation. And she is hungry."
If you loved the imagery of The Starless Sea or wished The Starless Sea had a plot? This is the book for you.
"What joy it will bring us to see you undone."
This was a cover buy, & I have zero regrets, but ½ a point off because I once again fell into the quicksand trap of a gothic book & took nearly a week to read it 🫠
"From nothing, to nothing.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
mirificmoxie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Abandonment
lilifane's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
WTF did I just read?
I was really expecting something totally different but was pleasantly surprised by this book.
The writing is so beautiful, lush, sensual and the atmosphere it creates reminded me immensely of The Starless Sea (which might be my favorite book of all times, so I was pretty biased once I noticed the similarities). They have some plot points, themes and imagery in common, but it's mostly the vibes I'm talking about. Mainly, the no plot just vibes attitude.
I did enjoy the plot, it felt like a dark fairy tale, and it went darker places than I expected. There were pacing issues, though, and a lot of conveniences and weird character decisions. Speaking of the characters, since the focus is mostly on the vibes and the fairy tale story structure, the characters were not as flashed out as I usually like. Especially Violet, the protagonist, felt one dimensional. Secondary characters like Penelope and Aleksander were way more memorable than Violet, and their motivations were more nuanced and intriguing.
But again, the way the atmosphere and the vibes were making me feel... I was longing for this feeling since I've read The Starless Sea for the first time. And it's really hard to find, so I'm just happy to have experienced it again with this book. And despite it not being a perfect book, I loved it with all my heart.
I was really expecting something totally different but was pleasantly surprised by this book.
The writing is so beautiful, lush, sensual and the atmosphere it creates reminded me immensely of The Starless Sea (which might be my favorite book of all times, so I was pretty biased once I noticed the similarities). They have some plot points, themes and imagery in common, but it's mostly the vibes I'm talking about. Mainly, the no plot just vibes attitude.
I did enjoy the plot, it felt like a dark fairy tale, and it went darker places than I expected. There were pacing issues, though, and a lot of conveniences and weird character decisions. Speaking of the characters, since the focus is mostly on the vibes and the fairy tale story structure, the characters were not as flashed out as I usually like. Especially Violet, the protagonist, felt one dimensional. Secondary characters like Penelope and Aleksander were way more memorable than Violet, and their motivations were more nuanced and intriguing.
But again, the way the atmosphere and the vibes were making me feel... I was longing for this feeling since I've read The Starless Sea for the first time. And it's really hard to find, so I'm just happy to have experienced it again with this book. And despite it not being a perfect book, I loved it with all my heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Gore, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Also on Snow White Hates Apples.
I’ve been incredibly excited to read this standalone fantasy since many of the Hodder & Stoughton titles I read have been utter delights. Sadly, this streak is now broken by The City of Stardust .
Although it has a very intriguing premise and a fascinating magic system where special keys can open doors to anywhere in any world, the execution is lacking. For a standalone, too many aspects of the world-building are left unexplained. Sure, I got the gist of how the world works but it could’ve been more lush, more alive. There were moments when the imagery did this, only to retreat and let the too-detailed actions or conversations of the characters take centre stage instead.
Moreover, it really doesn’t help that there’s a strong lack of urgency despite the literal deadline. The first part of the book is set during the time Violet was kept in the dark regarding the Everly curse — which is practically her entire childhood and a part of her young adulthood. Truthfully, I don’t see the necessity of this first part because much of the information could’ve been interwoven elsewhere.
The second part is where the pace picks up, but it isn’t ideal either because there are only three months left before the deadline and that’s a big difference from the first part’s meandering 10 years. Even worse? As the story progresses, the pacing gets clumsier and the plot convenience gets more and more obvious. Violet wastes a lot of precious time doing unnecessary things like being with a boy she clearly shouldn’t be falling for. Like, hello? For someone who wants to break the curse, the legit deadline for when you get disappeared like the other Everly’s doesn’t seem much of a priority for you??
Staying interested in the story whenever the focus was on Violet was a struggle, largely because she’s no more than a plot device. I love that she’s a bibliophile and I found her inner and outer struggles well expanded. However, she’s just so dull, so painfully naive and fragile despite receiving the all-powerful Main Character Buff that I irrevocably felt that Penelope and Aleksander hard carried the book. Both of them created much-needed tension and moved the plot forward whereas Violet’s simply being led by the plot.
Furthermore, the romance between Violet and Aleksander felt too tryhard at convincing that it isn’t underdeveloped, particularly when shown through Violet’s perspective. It was also difficult to root for them because their characterisations weren’t strong… In fact, all of the characters suffer from weak characterisation at varying extents. The many side characters weren’t even memorable and it was hard to keep track of them.
Other than that, while I normally appreciate things coming to a full circle, the last two parts of the book make everything that came before it feel convoluted. I liked all the different iterations of the fable between the astral and the mortal. I liked the thin line between gods and monsters as well. But, all that isn’t enough to make up for everything else.
All in all, The City of Stardust has so much promise that it’s such a shame that it fell short.
I’ve been incredibly excited to read this standalone fantasy since many of the Hodder & Stoughton titles I read have been utter delights. Sadly, this streak is now broken by The City of Stardust .
Although it has a very intriguing premise and a fascinating magic system where special keys can open doors to anywhere in any world, the execution is lacking. For a standalone, too many aspects of the world-building are left unexplained. Sure, I got the gist of how the world works but it could’ve been more lush, more alive. There were moments when the imagery did this, only to retreat and let the too-detailed actions or conversations of the characters take centre stage instead.
Moreover, it really doesn’t help that there’s a strong lack of urgency despite the literal deadline. The first part of the book is set during the time Violet was kept in the dark regarding the Everly curse — which is practically her entire childhood and a part of her young adulthood. Truthfully, I don’t see the necessity of this first part because much of the information could’ve been interwoven elsewhere.
The second part is where the pace picks up, but it isn’t ideal either because there are only three months left before the deadline and that’s a big difference from the first part’s meandering 10 years. Even worse? As the story progresses, the pacing gets clumsier and the plot convenience gets more and more obvious. Violet wastes a lot of precious time doing unnecessary things like being with a boy she clearly shouldn’t be falling for. Like, hello? For someone who wants to break the curse, the legit deadline for when you get disappeared like the other Everly’s doesn’t seem much of a priority for you??
Staying interested in the story whenever the focus was on Violet was a struggle, largely because she’s no more than a plot device. I love that she’s a bibliophile and I found her inner and outer struggles well expanded. However, she’s just so dull, so painfully naive and fragile despite receiving the all-powerful Main Character Buff that I irrevocably felt that Penelope and Aleksander hard carried the book. Both of them created much-needed tension and moved the plot forward whereas Violet’s simply being led by the plot.
Furthermore, the romance between Violet and Aleksander felt too tryhard at convincing that it isn’t underdeveloped, particularly when shown through Violet’s perspective. It was also difficult to root for them because their characterisations weren’t strong… In fact, all of the characters suffer from weak characterisation at varying extents. The many side characters weren’t even memorable and it was hard to keep track of them.
Other than that, while I normally appreciate things coming to a full circle, the last two parts of the book make everything that came before it feel convoluted. I liked all the different iterations of the fable between the astral and the mortal. I liked the thin line between gods and monsters as well. But, all that isn’t enough to make up for everything else.
All in all, The City of Stardust has so much promise that it’s such a shame that it fell short.
Thank you so much Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review! The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers is available at all good bookstores.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting