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A review by heartbrekker
The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I was FINALLY able to finish this book after accidentally leaving it behind at my childhood home in January. WHOOPS.
Luckily, the anticipation to get back to it actually helped this story in the long haul. I was not engrossed at all within the story when I read those first three chapters. Upon returning to my childhood home, I began reading where I left off because I remembered most of the chapters. I did reread the prologue, and it immediately snagged my attention, especially after knowing what happens in those first few chapters. I ended up marathoning the rest of the book over two days. The only reason I put it down the first day was because of an early morning for work the next day. A switch was turned in my head, and I could not get enough of this book.
Now is this perfect? No—just look at my rating. It's a wonderful debut though, and I cannot wait to see Georgia Summers write more novels in the future. Her writing is pure magic when it comes to descriptions and weaving together a sentence. The comp titles I think of (writing and plot both) are The Starless Sea, Pandora, and The Binding, so those writing styles compare well to The City of Stardust. If you're a big fan of flawed character driven stories with a loose world building, then this is the book for you. I was able to turn off my big fantasy brain while reading this, and because of my slumpiness, it was much more enjoyable because I could just experience the plot and vibe.
The world building is incredibly fascinating—albeit could use some more explanation and details. There's the regular human world and then one called Fidelis. Fidelis is only reachable by magical keys made of reveurite (god's metal), which create doorways anywhere you've been between earth and Fidelis. There used to be more worlds besides Fidelis, but an old fairytale speaks of a craftsman breaking those doors in the pursuit of keeping his life and stopping an astral (angel-like gods) from returning. Readers just have to accept the fact that reveurite is magical metal/rock and that the gods brought it from their world to ours. That's the most explanation we get. Personally, I was fine with it. I don't always have to have incredibly detailed magical systems. Sometimes it is not explainable because the individuals themselves don't even understand it.
The part of the magic system where I get confused rests with the scholars. The craftsman I mentioned before is allegedly the first human to work with reveurite (at least that we know of). He is given this knowledge supposedly form the astral he makes a bargain with, which is why he should lose his life but ultimately postpones said bargain by breaking the doors and all that. My question lies for the scholar society and astrals as a whole. Where did their abilities come from? We are forced to assume that Astriade, the astral tricked in the bargain, taught all of these "talented" (the word used to describe humans with the ability to manipulate reveurite) humans to be scholars. For a fact she built the society of Fidelis. She tries to destroy is even at the end of this book. Did the opening of worlds first give humans this ability? Erriel and Tamriel (two other astrals locked away in scholar society) never explain their own reasons for being on earth and not going back. Tamriel has a somewhat Lucifer vibe to him with the "he fell from grace" inferences. I'm just confused overall with their connection to this world. I need more knowledge about the astrals and their influences on humans besides the tyranny of Astriade. Since our two leads are humans, we never get answers, and I just wish Georgia could have thrown us a bone via more world building to the magic system and gods. The final few chapters take place in a wholly new setting, and I wish readers got more information about it. We were left in the dark, and it took away from the immense intrigue of that plot twist.
Shifting to the characters, Violet Everly is massively flawed. Plenty of reviewers cannot stand her, but I found her to be extremely... human. She is painfully naïve for about 50% of this book, and while you'll want to bang your head against a wall at her decision making in those moments, I remind myself that she is blinded by her feelings and idealizations. She's been sheltered her whole life, so of course, she would not have street smarts about betrayal. Speaking of betrayal, our other lead is Aleksander. Where Violet is boisterous and outgoing, Aleksander is reserved and perceptive. Both leads have one thing in common—a passion for magic and knowledge. It's what draws me to them so much. They show their passion in completely different ways because of their background.
They both also have extremely complex futures ahead of them. Aleksander wants to become a scholar in Fidelis; he works for Penelope, the top scholar, but he is not accepted in Fidelis society. He's not from an influencing family, rather he was an orphan in the human world that Penelope stole one fateful night. He could either lose everything or become everything he's ever dreamed of. Violet is very opposite. She met Aleksander and Penelope when she was very young due to a debt her mother/family owes Penelope. Besides seeing Aleksander work reveurite once, she knows nothing. Ultimately, she finds out that her life is in danger because she must give it over to Penelope due to this lineage curse tha't lasted centuries. Violet is also incredibly talented and could've been a masterful scholar. It's the fact that her uncles/mom hid her away that led to her being outed from Fidelis. Overall, I loved this dichotomy between the two leads because both characters are outsiders in totally different ways and also not. It's the underlying tone of each character in their unique circumstances throughout the book.
Did I see the end coming? Yes, but also no. I believed the certain character may be alive, so it was not a plot twist since the character's possible history was mentioned many times throughout the course of the story. I also saw the hints to the true identity of certain characters, but this did not take away from any of my enjoyment. It only made me more intrigued because I wanted to learn more about Ever Everly (I know for a fact some readers will despise this name tho bahaha) and Astriade. They're honestly the most interesting aspects of this story, so I just wish we could've collected as much lore as possible. In the way this ended, it feels almost like a first book. I want to learn more about those possible doorways that were destroyed or the world of Elandriel (the stronghold of reveurite workers once) in general. [Aleksander is trying to fix these broken doors in the end and has even left Violet to pursue this interest. It isn't until the epilogue that he returns to Violet in their cafe, but we are left wondering what he came to say since it ends without them talking.
The last thing I want to mention is Marianne Everly, Violet's mother. She leaves Violet behind with her brothers to set off and find answers about this Everly curse. We learn that she sacrificed her hand to Erriel at Prague to step through a doorway to another world. Erriel also told Violet that she could never return back through this doorway because it is only one-way. This leads Violet, her uncles, and readers to believe Marianne intentionally left them behind to deal with Penelope. Where my confusion comes in is the second to last chapter where Georgia Summers gives us a snippet POV of Marianne in another world and listening to a whisper on the wind. This moment feels just out of left field. I'm curious if this is to show readers that she intended to come back, or maybe she's finally realized that the threat is gone. The Everly family is angry at Marianne for leaving them and taking the essentially cowardly exit. I want to know why this scene was left in, what does it mean. Will Georgia write a sequel? Who knows. I wouldn't be opposed to one. The scene just felt out of place.
Thank you to Orbit Books for the review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Luckily, the anticipation to get back to it actually helped this story in the long haul. I was not engrossed at all within the story when I read those first three chapters. Upon returning to my childhood home, I began reading where I left off because I remembered most of the chapters. I did reread the prologue, and it immediately snagged my attention, especially after knowing what happens in those first few chapters. I ended up marathoning the rest of the book over two days. The only reason I put it down the first day was because of an early morning for work the next day. A switch was turned in my head, and I could not get enough of this book.
Now is this perfect? No—just look at my rating. It's a wonderful debut though, and I cannot wait to see Georgia Summers write more novels in the future. Her writing is pure magic when it comes to descriptions and weaving together a sentence. The comp titles I think of (writing and plot both) are The Starless Sea, Pandora, and The Binding, so those writing styles compare well to The City of Stardust. If you're a big fan of flawed character driven stories with a loose world building, then this is the book for you. I was able to turn off my big fantasy brain while reading this, and because of my slumpiness, it was much more enjoyable because I could just experience the plot and vibe.
The world building is incredibly fascinating—albeit could use some more explanation and details. There's the regular human world and then one called Fidelis. Fidelis is only reachable by magical keys made of reveurite (god's metal), which create doorways anywhere you've been between earth and Fidelis. There used to be more worlds besides Fidelis, but an old fairytale speaks of a craftsman breaking those doors in the pursuit of keeping his life and stopping an astral (angel-like gods) from returning. Readers just have to accept the fact that reveurite is magical metal/rock and that the gods brought it from their world to ours. That's the most explanation we get. Personally, I was fine with it. I don't always have to have incredibly detailed magical systems. Sometimes it is not explainable because the individuals themselves don't even understand it.
The part of the magic system where I get confused rests with the scholars. The craftsman I mentioned before is allegedly the first human to work with reveurite (at least that we know of). He is given this knowledge supposedly form the astral he makes a bargain with, which is why he should lose his life but ultimately postpones said bargain by breaking the doors and all that. My question lies for the scholar society and astrals as a whole. Where did their abilities come from? We are forced to assume that Astriade, the astral tricked in the bargain, taught all of these "talented" (the word used to describe humans with the ability to manipulate reveurite) humans to be scholars. For a fact she built the society of Fidelis. She tries to destroy is even at the end of this book. Did the opening of worlds first give humans this ability? Erriel and Tamriel (two other astrals locked away in scholar society) never explain their own reasons for being on earth and not going back. Tamriel has a somewhat Lucifer vibe to him with the "he fell from grace" inferences. I'm just confused overall with their connection to this world. I need more knowledge about the astrals and their influences on humans besides the tyranny of Astriade. Since our two leads are humans, we never get answers, and I just wish Georgia could have thrown us a bone via more world building to the magic system and gods. The final few chapters take place in a wholly new setting, and I wish readers got more information about it. We were left in the dark, and it took away from the immense intrigue of that plot twist.
Shifting to the characters, Violet Everly is massively flawed. Plenty of reviewers cannot stand her, but I found her to be extremely... human. She is painfully naïve for about 50% of this book, and while you'll want to bang your head against a wall at her decision making in those moments, I remind myself that she is blinded by her feelings and idealizations. She's been sheltered her whole life, so of course, she would not have street smarts about betrayal. Speaking of betrayal, our other lead is Aleksander. Where Violet is boisterous and outgoing, Aleksander is reserved and perceptive. Both leads have one thing in common—a passion for magic and knowledge. It's what draws me to them so much. They show their passion in completely different ways because of their background.
They both also have extremely complex futures ahead of them. Aleksander wants to become a scholar in Fidelis; he works for Penelope, the top scholar, but he is not accepted in Fidelis society. He's not from an influencing family, rather he was an orphan in the human world that Penelope stole one fateful night. He could either lose everything or become everything he's ever dreamed of. Violet is very opposite. She met Aleksander and Penelope when she was very young due to a debt her mother/family owes Penelope. Besides seeing Aleksander work reveurite once, she knows nothing. Ultimately, she finds out that her life is in danger because she must give it over to Penelope due to this lineage curse tha't lasted centuries. Violet is also incredibly talented and could've been a masterful scholar. It's the fact that her uncles/mom hid her away that led to her being outed from Fidelis. Overall, I loved this dichotomy between the two leads because both characters are outsiders in totally different ways and also not. It's the underlying tone of each character in their unique circumstances throughout the book.
Did I see the end coming? Yes, but also no. I believed the certain character may be alive, so it was not a plot twist since the character's possible history was mentioned many times throughout the course of the story. I also saw the hints to the true identity of certain characters, but this did not take away from any of my enjoyment. It only made me more intrigued because I wanted to learn more about Ever Everly (I know for a fact some readers will despise this name tho bahaha) and Astriade. They're honestly the most interesting aspects of this story, so I just wish we could've collected as much lore as possible. In the way this ended, it feels almost like a first book. I want to learn more about those possible doorways that were destroyed or the world of Elandriel (the stronghold of reveurite workers once) in general. [Aleksander is trying to fix these broken doors in the end and has even left Violet to pursue this interest. It isn't until the epilogue that he returns to Violet in their cafe, but we are left wondering what he came to say since it ends without them talking.
The last thing I want to mention is Marianne Everly, Violet's mother. She leaves Violet behind with her brothers to set off and find answers about this Everly curse. We learn that she sacrificed her hand to Erriel at Prague to step through a doorway to another world. Erriel also told Violet that she could never return back through this doorway because it is only one-way. This leads Violet, her uncles, and readers to believe Marianne intentionally left them behind to deal with Penelope. Where my confusion comes in is the second to last chapter where Georgia Summers gives us a snippet POV of Marianne in another world and listening to a whisper on the wind. This moment feels just out of left field. I'm curious if this is to show readers that she intended to come back, or maybe she's finally realized that the threat is gone. The Everly family is angry at Marianne for leaving them and taking the essentially cowardly exit. I want to know why this scene was left in, what does it mean. Will Georgia write a sequel? Who knows. I wouldn't be opposed to one. The scene just felt out of place.
Thank you to Orbit Books for the review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.