Publication: 25th January 2024 – Hodderscape
Filled with magic, stardust, and a shockingly dark heart, this is a stunning standalone fantasy perfect for fans of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Starless Sea and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
For centuries, Everlys have seen their brightest and best disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor is a woman named Penelope, who never ages, never grows sick – and never forgives a debt.
Ten years ago, Violet Everly’s mother left to break the curse, and never returned. Now Violet must find her mother, or she will be taken in her place.
Her hunt leads her into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods, and monsters bent on revenge. And into the path of Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted – and yet to whom she finds herself undeniably drawn.
Tied to a very literal deadline, Violet will travel to the edges of the world to find her mother and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began…
City of Stardust is a beautifully-written spellbinding debut novel about a young woman’s search for the truth between magical worlds and curses.
Violet Everly’s mother has been missing for ten years and her uncles have kept her hidden from the world, keeping secrets to protect her. But Violet yearns for adventure and when she discovers the truth about the family curse that dooms one Everly of every generation to be taken into another world, she also discovers a world of scholars, magical keys, and astrals. As time is running out, Violet embarks on a search for her mother, hoping to break the curse once and for all, but who can she trust?
I really enjoyed this novel, completely immersed in the beautiful descriptions and the enthralling and dark plot full of curses, magic worlds, gods and immortal creatures, and stories of monsters and survival. The story is told in third person from different perspectives, Violet’s point of view prevailing over the others as she navigates a world unknown to her, often accompanied by a young man who’s spent all his life trying to prove his worth, but knowing only loss, loneliness, and no love. Violet can seem a bit naive at times, but I liked her determination and inquisitiveness.
City of Stardust is a compelling and fascinating debut and I am already looking forward to reading the author’s next work!
A huge thank you to Hodderscape and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.
Georgia Summers is a half-British, half-Trinidadian writer. She spent most of her life living across the world, including Russia, Colombia, the USA, Scotland, and briefly Switzerland. She is still bad at languages.
She has previously worked as an editor, a bookseller and rare books student librarian, so you could say she’s seen the entire lifecycle of a book.
When she’s not doing bookish things, she enjoys embroidery, playing piano, and painting, among various other crafts. She currently lives in London, but she dreams of one day living in a haunted château with cats and a ghost that cleans.
She can be found at georgiasummers.co.uk or on Twitter @ge_summers
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