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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
Got 60% of the way through and it just seemed to be lagging. Might have been because I was only listening in short segments.
The writing was so beautiful, but that's mostly it.
The plot was ok-ish, but the characters barely had any progression. They felt really flat. The whole idea of traveling through portals around the worlds was really fun and it gave a really whimsical vibe to the book, but the magical abilities the scholars were supposed to have weren't put through some filters and they seemed a bit ambiguous. In addition, the most interesting parts of the plot felt overlooked while others got too much attention.
Other than Penelope's backstory, the story felt like it was done with the flow and very few things were actually foreshadowed or even mentioned for a reason. For example, Penelope's vanilla scent could have been such a cool trait that was just forgotten after a while. Another example of that could have been Violet's wardobe that she kept hiding in when she was small. It was mentioned at least three times and it held barely any relevance to the plot.
I really wanted to like Aleksander, but he kept fumbling over and over. Contrary to most fantasy books from recent times, the characters weren't acting too 'mature' for their age, but the opposite. From my point of view, Aleksander's actions would have been more excusable if he were a teen. Maybe I'm the problem because I'm used to a different kind of mmcs in fantasy books. Or maybe, if he had a reason to be that attached to Penelope, he'd be easy to understand.
All in all, the writing definitely saved this book and also the few chapters about the way the curse came to life at the beginning of each part. I really enjoyed thoes and, to be honest, I would have liked more of that plot instead of the repetitive supid actions done by Aleksander.
- 3,8☆
The plot was ok-ish, but the characters barely had any progression. They felt really flat. The whole idea of traveling through portals around the worlds was really fun and it gave a really whimsical vibe to the book, but the magical abilities the scholars were supposed to have weren't put through some filters and they seemed a bit ambiguous. In addition, the most interesting parts of the plot felt overlooked while others got too much attention.
Other than Penelope's backstory, the story felt like it was done with the flow and very few things were actually foreshadowed or even mentioned for a reason. For example, Penelope's vanilla scent could have been such a cool trait that was just forgotten after a while. Another example of that could have been Violet's wardobe that she kept hiding in when she was small. It was mentioned at least three times and it held barely any relevance to the plot.
I really wanted to like Aleksander, but he kept fumbling over and over. Contrary to most fantasy books from recent times, the characters weren't acting too 'mature' for their age, but the opposite. From my point of view, Aleksander's actions would have been more excusable if he were a teen. Maybe I'm the problem because I'm used to a different kind of mmcs in fantasy books. Or maybe, if he had a reason to be that attached to Penelope, he'd be easy to understand.
All in all, the writing definitely saved this book and also the few chapters about the way the curse came to life at the beginning of each part. I really enjoyed thoes and, to be honest, I would have liked more of that plot instead of the repetitive supid actions done by Aleksander.
- 3,8☆
The book was too everywhere and confusing. The plot was not very interesting.
So I read 7 chapters and so far nothing much happened. No plot, no characters description let alone any development nothing. Some random secrets were teased in a very boring way, what seems to be the main character aged 9 years and oh oh oh had an incredibly unrealistic "development" (which was that her whole life she was not leaving the house she lived in, only knowing her uncle for social interactions and then worth 20 all of a sudden was allowed outside to go work as a waitress in a café... where she just... normally interacts with all the people? We know how realistic that is after covid.)
The writing is either bland or completely over the top lyrical, without any reason to be, without making any sense, honestly sounding just pretentious and cringe, and so defying its whole purpose.
I can't believe that the author and the whole editing thought yesss let's tease random secrets for 1/6 of the book with absolutely nothing else happening in the meantime, the people will be hoooooked.
I stopped after I read the following, because it gave me the final push to end this:
"'Strastwujte Yurij', she said in fluent Russian, ''we haven't seen each other in a while". She said one word. In fluent Russian. A word that you say only while being polite, so not towards a friend, but a contact. That you would never say in combination with only the first name of a person, but also needing to add their father's name.
Where is that Russian fluency now, huh. It's been 2024. You did not only have the whole internet to your disposal in research, you even had chatgpt.
I did not even get to anything remotely close to the city of stardust. Not even just stardust.
I can't do this anymore.
Spoiler
Lol I just read the first 5 ratings of the book on this app, and I'm so happy I stopped reading. The main secret teased right in the start of the book was that we don't know where the mother of the main character is and what she is doing. The whole main plot of the book then revolves around finding the mother. So... apparently they never find her and it's never explained why or what this whole thing was about and it seems totally non consequential... so... just...what..?
The writing is either bland or completely over the top lyrical, without any reason to be, without making any sense, honestly sounding just pretentious and cringe, and so defying its whole purpose.
I can't believe that the author and the whole editing thought yesss let's tease random secrets for 1/6 of the book with absolutely nothing else happening in the meantime, the people will be hoooooked.
I stopped after I read the following, because it gave me the final push to end this:
"'Strastwujte Yurij', she said in fluent Russian, ''we haven't seen each other in a while". She said one word. In fluent Russian. A word that you say only while being polite, so not towards a friend, but a contact. That you would never say in combination with only the first name of a person, but also needing to add their father's name.
Where is that Russian fluency now, huh. It's been 2024. You did not only have the whole internet to your disposal in research, you even had chatgpt.
I did not even get to anything remotely close to the city of stardust. Not even just stardust.
I can't do this anymore.
Spoiler
Lol I just read the first 5 ratings of the book on this app, and I'm so happy I stopped reading. The main secret teased right in the start of the book was that we don't know where the mother of the main character is and what she is doing. The whole main plot of the book then revolves around finding the mother. So... apparently they never find her and it's never explained why or what this whole thing was about and it seems totally non consequential... so... just...what..?
Spoiler alert
So this book was interesting and I love that Violet stood up to help her future family not go through the same as she did but I thought the entire point was to find her mom so what happened to her mom? Where is she? The ending was disappointing especially since the entire point was to find Marianne. Seems like there should be another book but I guess we'll never know what happened to Marianne.
So this book was interesting and I love that Violet stood up to help her future family not go through the same as she did but I thought the entire point was to find her mom so what happened to her mom? Where is she? The ending was disappointing especially since the entire point was to find Marianne. Seems like there should be another book but I guess we'll never know what happened to Marianne.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I am absolutely baffled how this isn’t a series
What
What was the point of Yury?
Where is Marianne?
Where is the child?
What’s Gabriel’s job??
What’s the third option??
Edit
I did give this 3.5 but when you deep it we actually get told nothing
So much stock putting into finding Marianne that I genuinely thought past page 200 we must be getting a sequel
No, Marianne actually just doesn’t give a shit
What
What was the point of Yury?
Where is Marianne?
Where is the child?
What’s Gabriel’s job??
What’s the third option??
Edit
I did give this 3.5 but when you deep it we actually get told nothing
So much stock putting into finding Marianne that I genuinely thought past page 200 we must be getting a sequel
No, Marianne actually just doesn’t give a shit
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I feel as this book could have been way better, the writing was beautiful. It was an easy and quick read but I feel like we did nothing in this book. First part no Violet can't leave the house and then all of a sudden she is working at a cafe like what!!! Then we travel a lot in this book but I feel like nothing gets done and then at the end people die in a non-climatic way and Alex and he go their separate ways. She was chasing her mother down where they had 10 years to find her and they don't other than just missing her multiple times and then at the end we get two small paragraphs of ooh there's a women who looks like Marianne but it might not be her. Anyways great debut novel but something I wouldn't read again.
I really wanted to love The City of Stardust, but unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me. The pacing was painfully slow, and the first half of the book felt like it dragged on without much happening plot-wise. I kept waiting for things to pick up, but by the time they did, I wasn’t fully invested anymore.
My biggest issue was with the protagonist—I never felt truly connected to her, and her journey didn’t pull me in the way I had hoped. The story glosses over an entire year of her searching for her mother, which could have been an opportunity to show more of her research and travels. Instead, we skip ahead, losing what could have been a compelling part of the narrative.
The ending, unfortunately, was just as underwhelming. After slogging through the slow buildup, I was hoping for a more satisfying conclusion, but it left me feeling unfulfilled. By the time I turned the final page, I was just relieved it was over.
My biggest issue was with the protagonist—I never felt truly connected to her, and her journey didn’t pull me in the way I had hoped. The story glosses over an entire year of her searching for her mother, which could have been an opportunity to show more of her research and travels. Instead, we skip ahead, losing what could have been a compelling part of the narrative.
The ending, unfortunately, was just as underwhelming. After slogging through the slow buildup, I was hoping for a more satisfying conclusion, but it left me feeling unfulfilled. By the time I turned the final page, I was just relieved it was over.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A