Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

45 reviews

marleens's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

4.5


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brookesinfinitebooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

 The City of Stardust is a tense, thrilling adventure perfect for fans of Erin Morgenstern and Alix E. Harrow. When Violet Everly learns the truth about a family curse and a mysterious woman named Penelope, she's thrown into a lush, dark world of scholars, doorways to other worlds, and fickle gods. A world that has been kept secret from her all her life, and that her mother disappeared into ten years ago. Violet will search the world to break her family curse alongside allies she's never quite sure she can trust.

I was enthralled by this dark fantasy centered around bargains and sacrifice. Violet was a compelling character who did not let naivete make her stupid; rather she spends every moment learning more to reach her goals. The astrals were a horrifying concept of divinity that I could not get enough of - but beware content warnings for gore, child death and harm, and cannibalism/vampirism. The brutality of this novel was pitched just right for the stakes Violet is up against; it was a truly harrowing experience as she tries to free herself and her family.

Summers' writing soared in its ability to show the complex relationships Violet builds. Love, betrayal, and trust all are subject to questioning. Violet's feelings about her absent mother and the very present Aleksander were nuanced, the frequent conflicts they created propelling the story forward.

An incredible debut. I cannot wait to see more for Georgia Summers.

Thanks to Redhook for providing an eARC via NetGalley. 

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alexis_nicole's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Slow to start, but I'm elated I pushed through. A beautiful book, expertly told, with elements similar to Lock & Key and The Golden Compass.

Just enough mystery and intrigue and interesting framing to keep me engaged and turning the next page.

What a book to begin the year. The rest on my list will have trouble following in its wake.

I hope you take a chance on this book, little dreamer.

#IndigoEmployee
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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gaby_readsbooks's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

This book had so much potential and some beautiful writing at times but I just could not get into it. I think my main issues were the structure, lack of world building and the 3rd person narrative. This is a story about a woman who is trying to end a curse on her family and there’s a magical world. Sounds super cool, like it would have lots of adventure and an exciting pace to end the curse by a timeline. But I found myself bored a lot of times and the pacing would speed up and slow down a lot when it should have been ramping up.  The characters didn’t really feel fleshed out and would sometimes do something that didn’t make any sense or we would hear about something they did off page. I couldn’t get invested in any of the characters at all, the world was interesting but not explained in an understandable way. I think if the structure of the book had been tweaked a bit it could have made a difference. While this has beautiful descriptive writing and an interesting concept and magical world it didn’t quite succeed in creating the magic of The Night Circus or Addie LaRue which it has comparisons to. I’m sad because it did have some cool concepts that I haven’t seen in other fantasy books but it just didn’t deliver for me,

Thanks to NetGalley and Redhook Books for granting me access to the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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thisbrittreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Do you not hear the stars sing, little dreamer?

*Netgalley ARC review*
Wow. I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. What an absolute treasure of a debut for Georgia Summers. 
This book had it all and it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. It’s got magic, mystery, adventure, love, betrayal, family, a curse, keys and doors to new worlds, and a really good (bad) villain. This book is dark. Definitely evokes a very Grimm’s fairytale vibe at its heart, very dark with myths and lore and stories passed down of gods and truly dark monsters. Violet Everly was such a compelling main character and I loved watching her finally get the adventure she’d always dreamed of, even if it was more dark and twisty than she’d imagined. The side characters that pop in and out of the story are perfect and add so much flavor. This is a gorgeously written and beautifully crafted story that weaves its own fairytale among the different threads within its pages. An excellent standalone novel that grabbed my attention from the very start and never let go. 



Thank you so much to @netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

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craftshley's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-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? Yes

3.5

The City of Stardust is a perfect read for fans of Erin Morgenstern, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by VE Schwab, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, and Lore by Alexandra Bracken. It’s great for readers who half hope some door will open into a fantasy world. I found myself enchanted by this world, though it was sometimes hampered by character development and poor pacing. 

There is a sense of urgency instilled when Violet is told that she is running out of time. When she’s a kid, Penelope promises to take Violet as compensation for a curse as a stand-in for her mom, who has disappeared. That urgency quickly falls away because years pass and nothing happens. We don’t even get insight into Violet’s growth and change. Then it’s a year until the curse is due to complete and still nothing seems to happen. Violet is exploring the world and talking to scholars, learning more about Fidelis and her mother, sure. But she’s not achieving anything with regards to the curse and the time flies by, with the reader getting little insight. Had the story gone into further depth, described what Violet was seeing even in the less important moments, I feel it would have felt deeper and more immersive. Also, it seems that Penelope won’t collect on the curse until Violet is older and yet Violet doesn’t get to leave the house all the same? Penelope knows about Violet and knows who she is, yet Violet’s uncles keep her in the house. She could have gone to school, had a life outside of the house, and Penelope would have ignored her. It was never said that if Penelope saw Violet again, she would just take her away. Why did she have to live such an insular life? And then Violet doesn’t resent her uncles for this isolation, at least not in any proper kind of way.

I loved Aleksander the most and very much enjoyed his point of view. I feel they added much needed depth to Violet and the worldbuilding, as told through the eyes of someone who is quite used to the magic and yet still finds it astounding. He latched onto Penelope like she was a mother, though she was anything but, and he suffered for it. And yet he still kept coming back. He didn’t know better and turned a blind eye to her evil doings, preferring to seek the title of a scholar and all the respect that title would gain. His story and motivations were much easier to understand and empathize with that Violet’s.

We are thrown into this world of magic and gods, but given little explanation for how they exist or who they are. I feel the layout of the universe needed more explanation early on in the book, rather than at the end, when it felt like things began to actually come together and make sense, but in an almost too little, too late kind of way. 

I will be keeping an eye out for more books by Georgia Summers. I feel with time, her writing can only improve. 

 

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jbsoutiere's review against another edition

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Baby murder.

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cneighbors36's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book and the world and characters the author was able to create! The main things I enjoyed were the writing style and the aesthetic the author created. The book is beautifully written with a strong focus on the details. The characters' backstories were well thought out and explained in detail. Violet's journey and growth along the way were executed very well, and I felt her mistakes were realistic, given her upbringing. The beginning of the book was slow; however, it helped to understand the characters' backstories and thought processes and the world for the rest of the book. I would have liked for Violet to interact more with the world of the scholars. The world was very interesting and could have been explored more in the book. Another area that could have been explored more was Marianne's story. As a reader, I felt we did not get any closure on this part of the story, and it could have been wrapped up a little better. If you are going into the book wanting a romance book, you will probably be disappointed as it is more of a fantasy book with a minor romance subplot. Overall, I look forward to seeing what this author does next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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chezler24's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

"What else is a curse but this? Love, stretched and warped beyond all meaning." 

A story filled with mysterious curses, seductive magic, family secrets, and a smattering of dark intrigue. I absolutely loved this book. Once I started reading, I didn't want to put it down. Georgia Summers's descriptions and world-building are so enthralling that you want to hang on to every word. It was so exciting being on the fringe of understanding and having things slowly revealed to you depending on which character's POV you were reading. If a book was written to talk more about the astrals, Fidelis, and Elandriel (basically anything fantastical mentioned in this book), then I would eat it up. This book just makes you want to dream and long for adventure. Please grab a copy of this when it comes out at the end of January 2024. 

(Advanced Reader Copy)  

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milli__'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Thoughts and Feelings

What I loved... the prose in this story is almost like a poem at various points. The magic of the book is in the detail of the world building, the descriptions of people and the world allow the reader to be transported into the book.
The concept of the book was brilliant with the characters slightly cliche'd. Violet is our naieve, never travelled main character who longs to see the world (honestly can it be a cliche if many people feel this way?). She is mostly likeable if not a little boring at times.
Curses are made to be broken. I love this, I love the idea that a curse has haunted a millenium and this main character is going to break it. The overall story was good.

What I didn't love...the story was good however I felt the ending was lacking - I won't spoil it for anyone but the last 10% of the book felt very flat - even if there was some "Trigger warning" content flung in to increase the stakes.
The romance element of the book was very shallow, this isn't a terrible thing as fantasies don't always need it but the romance felt forced.
Diversity was needed in this book - it felt lacking at parts - given this was a story across worlds - there was so much opportunity for this. The side characters in the story could have been given more depth as the scenes they were in were good. 
I've finished this book with many questions that the author didn't answer and I think some of them were necessary for me to give this book a better rating.

Audiobook: This was my first audiobook - I'm not convinced it was the right pick for an audibook as I felt I would of liked to go back and reread some of the prose to capture some of the "big" moments again.

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