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thedarklibraryofleah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The City of Stardust has left me feeling really conflicted about how I feel about it. There are elements of the story that I loved and other elements that I just did not like as much.
Let's start with the positives, I really loved the lore as I found it super interesting and it was quite complex. The world building was also super great and it was really fun exploring the world through Violet in the story. I also really loved the prose used to describe the world building and lore as it gave it a very whimsical feeling.
Now for the more negative aspects of the story which I felt brought the story down a bit. Firstly, thr character choices were really frustrating, except for Violet it felt none of the other characters (especially Aleksander) really evolved. They just kept making the same mistake again and again without learning anything. Speaking of Aleksander, i really disliked him which is strange for me as I tend to like darker, morally gray characters like Caspian but he came across not evil just naive and dumb. I really was not a fan of the romance between Aleksander and Violet, there just no chemistry between them and I much preferred her with Caspian. I also felt that there was too much going on with the plot, that it just lead to the characters making questionable decisions that actually damage their progress to what they were trying to achieve (looking at you Penelope).
Overall, it was a whimsical read which I enjoyed but also got frustrated at.
Let's start with the positives, I really loved the lore as I found it super interesting and it was quite complex. The world building was also super great and it was really fun exploring the world through Violet in the story. I also really loved the prose used to describe the world building and lore as it gave it a very whimsical feeling.
Now for the more negative aspects of the story which I felt brought the story down a bit. Firstly, thr character choices were really frustrating, except for Violet it felt none of the other characters (especially Aleksander) really evolved. They just kept making the same mistake again and again without learning anything. Speaking of Aleksander, i really disliked him which is strange for me as I tend to like darker, morally gray characters like Caspian but he came across not evil just naive and dumb. I really was not a fan of the romance between Aleksander and Violet, there just no chemistry between them and I much preferred her with Caspian. I also felt that there was too much going on with the plot, that it just lead to the characters making questionable decisions that actually damage their progress to what they were trying to achieve (looking at you Penelope).
Overall, it was a whimsical read which I enjoyed but also got frustrated at.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicide, Blood, and Abandonment
wnderwuman's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Grief
sara_reads_and_wines's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I wanted to love this book, and it fell so flat for me.
Violet Everly's family is seemingly cursed. A debt to be paid for a deal made so long ago. A world of magic doors and keys, scholars and star metal, all kept secret from Violet by her Uncles' in an attemptto protect her. But as time runs out on her ten year deal, Violet runs away looking for answers, straight into the arms of Aleksander. But what are his true intentions? What secrets does he keep? Will Violet break the curse in time, or will Penelope, her hunter, win once and for all?
This story had so much promise, but everything lacked depth. The characters needed to be fleshed out more. Many of their actions made little to no sense. The pacing of the story seemed off. And the resolution felt rushed and confusing. This was just not one for me.
Violet Everly's family is seemingly cursed. A debt to be paid for a deal made so long ago. A world of magic doors and keys, scholars and star metal, all kept secret from Violet by her Uncles' in an attemptto protect her. But as time runs out on her ten year deal, Violet runs away looking for answers, straight into the arms of Aleksander. But what are his true intentions? What secrets does he keep? Will Violet break the curse in time, or will Penelope, her hunter, win once and for all?
This story had so much promise, but everything lacked depth. The characters needed to be fleshed out more. Many of their actions made little to no sense. The pacing of the story seemed off. And the resolution felt rushed and confusing. This was just not one for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Murder
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
emilyhillreads's review against another edition
Once I got to the part of the mystery reveal that involved child sacrifice I was done.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Cannibalism
frido73's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
madscientistcat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, and Murder
creatureof_nature's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, and Kidnapping
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
katelynbirge's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, and Kidnapping