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A review by jenellereads
The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
2.0
I just kept waiting for something to happen. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Then it did. And it was anticlimactic.
Somehow I was both gripped and bored. And I have so many questions. Why do we get no closure about Marianne? What is the point of the scholars? What do they do?
My big thought for this book was “everything could’ve been avoided if…” because there was no fantastic, powerful, dynamic ending that left me satisfied. It just…ended.
And then I realized why.
The characters.
They are so flat and impossible to connect with. I’m not sure where or why I thought this had a romance aspect but don’t be misled, it does not. And romance aside (or lack there of), the characters had no personalities. Violet had the basic tenets of a fantasy FMC: brave, stubborn, curious. But so does my toddler’s Llama Llama red pajama book. And Aleksander, gosh. COWARD. Spineless, useless MMC. Kick him to the curb.
I did enjoy the CONCEPT, not plot, but concept. I felt like the idea was there and just poorly executed. The whole book left me curious and wanting more which is why I gave it 2 stars (it was going to be 3) but just ultimately unsatisfied at the end.
Also. GOSH READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS PLEASE. My mom heart almost DNFd. That was ROUGH! Like DARK fantasy I wasn’t expecting.
Somehow I was both gripped and bored. And I have so many questions. Why do we get no closure about Marianne? What is the point of the scholars? What do they do?
My big thought for this book was “everything could’ve been avoided if…” because there was no fantastic, powerful, dynamic ending that left me satisfied. It just…ended.
And then I realized why.
The characters.
They are so flat and impossible to connect with. I’m not sure where or why I thought this had a romance aspect but don’t be misled, it does not. And romance aside (or lack there of), the characters had no personalities. Violet had the basic tenets of a fantasy FMC: brave, stubborn, curious. But so does my toddler’s Llama Llama red pajama book. And Aleksander, gosh. COWARD. Spineless, useless MMC. Kick him to the curb.
I did enjoy the CONCEPT, not plot, but concept. I felt like the idea was there and just poorly executed. The whole book left me curious and wanting more which is why I gave it 2 stars (it was going to be 3) but just ultimately unsatisfied at the end.
Also. GOSH READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS PLEASE. My mom heart almost DNFd. That was ROUGH! Like DARK fantasy I wasn’t expecting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Kidnapping