A review by libraryofthieves
The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

3.0

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The premise was so interesting and promising but it ultimately fell flat for me. I really like how whimsical and magic the whole concept was but I feel like it never panned out and it could have used a lot more world building. I think part of this was the third person narration, which gave the story a really fairytale feel, but also distanced the reader from it and never allowed me to feel really invested in the story or its characters.

The writing also suffered from some pacing issues. Some parts of the story moved very quickly and jumped perspectives so I often felt lost and like I was missing so much. It really could have used some time to immerse the reader in the world and the characters to give the story some stakes. I was never invested in the outcome of the plot or the characters and especially the relationship. I never understood why they even liked each other or how much they knew each other because we don’t see any of the buildup.

Ultimately the ending was unsatisfying and I was still left with a lot of questions that I felt were never really explained/explored. It wasn’t a terrible book, but it could have used a lot more development and just didn’t work for me. It has a lot of promise and someone else might enjoy it more.