I received a copy of this book as part of my subscription to FairyLoot.
"The City of Stardust" follows Violet Everly. As an Everly, Violet is part of her family's penance for a crime no one remembers. Each generation, an Everly is called upon and disappears because of Penelope. Penelope never seems to age or become sick. Violet's mother left one night in the hopes of breaking the curse, but she has not been heard from since. Now Violet has to figure out how to break the curse, or she will become the next Everly to disappear.
This was a really fun and quick read. The writing is equal parts magical and approachable. I really appreciated that the magic was not complicated, and that all of the characters were enjoyable to read from.
This story felt very high stakes, but not in an obnoxious way. I did not feel like the author was constantly reminding the reader of what would happen if Violet failed, and when it was brought up, it was not thrown in the reader's face.
I recommend this story to anyone who wants an easy to consume, mystical story. 

A gothic globe-trotting urban fantasy with elements of horror and mystery. 

Parts somehow both whimsical and horrifying? Think Pan's Labyrinth vibes, but also completely different. The whole book is a vibe, moody and dark and pushing for answers. Violet struggles, realistically so, after spending a life sheltered and safe. She bumbles stubbornly through her deceptions, navigating secret society, unknown magic, and a family curse on the brink of fruition. This tale is saturated with betrayal, haunted with Violet's childhood memories, but also so full of hope and determination. The world is just a key-turn away. The romance is pretty good too, right person wrong time with a dash of enemies to lovers. I can't really say more without spoilers!

I listened to this via Libro.fm and immediately looked up what other books this narrator has done- this was the first. I'm so excited to hear what projects Kitty Parker does next, her different intonations for each character were SO GOOD. Sexy evil for the big bad, brooding and cautious as Aleksander, challenging and strong willed as Violet, and the poor exasperated and exhausted brothers. 

WTF did I just read?
I was really expecting something totally different but was pleasantly surprised by this book. 
The writing is so beautiful, lush, sensual and the atmosphere it creates reminded me immensely of The Starless Sea (which might be my favorite book of all times, so I was pretty biased once I noticed the similarities). They have some plot points, themes and imagery in common, but it's mostly the vibes I'm talking about. Mainly, the no plot just vibes attitude. 
I did enjoy the plot, it felt like a dark fairy tale, and it went darker places than I expected. There were pacing issues, though, and a lot of conveniences and weird character decisions. Speaking of the characters, since the focus is mostly on the vibes and the fairy tale story structure, the characters were not as flashed out as I usually like. Especially Violet, the protagonist, felt one dimensional. Secondary characters like Penelope and Aleksander were way more memorable than Violet, and their motivations were more nuanced and intriguing. 
But again, the way the atmosphere and the vibes were making me feel... I was longing for this feeling since I've read The Starless Sea for the first time. And it's really hard to find, so I'm just happy to have experienced it again with this book. And despite it not being a perfect book, I loved it with all my heart. 

 I received this book for free from Redhook in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.  

The City of Stardust is a magically haunting debut novel, reminiscent of Grimm fairy tales. I have seen that other reviewers considered the novel to be quite slow, but I personally was hooked from the very beginning of the novel and never wanted to put it down. The City of Stardust opens with a mysterious woman smelling of vanilla seemingly snatching children from their unsuspecting parents. Reading how distraught the parents were, I was immediately shook by the possible intentions of such a woman and what she did with the children she referred to as, “little dreamers.” Readers then come to know of the Everly family, who seem not only beholden to this woman, called Penelope, but also to a family curse, which has taken a member of their family for generations.

 

 

Violet Everly, the youngest member of the family, finds herself next in line to fulfill the ancient curse, as her mother, Marianne, skipped town years ago to circumvent being taken herself. To save herself, Violet leaves the comfort of the only home she’s ever known to hunt for her mother and for the secrets of which Marianne holds the key. Along the way, she is both assisted and thwarted by the conflicted assistant of Penelope, the handsome Aleksander, who has goals of his own.

 

In any other novel, I feel like the back and forth nature of Aleksander and Violet’s relationship would have annoyed me. But in The City of Stardust, the author manages to make their doomed attraction to one another feel both captivating and inescapable. I enjoyed experiencing the two navigating their complex feelings for one another and discovering the implications that their bond has for their survival. However, other readers may definitely find their inability to stay away from one another, even in the face of such catastrophic consequences, irritating. 

 

 

I also couldn’t help but to feel that though their relationship was complex, Violet and Aleksander themselves were more on the one-dimensional side. Aleksander was definitely more fleshed out than Violet, who seemed to become flatter as the novel progressed. Instead of having dreams of her own, Violet’s sole purposes for existing seemed to be solving the mystery of the curse and her mother’s disappearance. While her preoccupation with escaping the curse is understandable, as Violet wants to live, other characters are more archetype than actual complex characters. For example Violet's uncles, the biggest side characters, do not not exist much outside of their relationship with Violet or seem to have lives of their own. 

 

I found The City of Stardust to be so mysterious and interesting. The prose of the novel is lovely, but it doesn’t feel over-the-top or flowery. Without being too purple or nonsensical, The City of Stardust creates such a magical atmosphere with its descriptions. And even after reading the entire book, I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of the world-building and its endless possibilities. Though the novel was on the darker side, with themes such as torture, kidnapping, murder, disfigurement/maiming, child abuse, and more, it never felt overbearingly dark, still managing to keep its enchanting feel, with help from Violet’s constant sense of wonderment. 

 

 

Though I really enjoyed the story and found it to be quite unique, I must say that I think the narrative could have used a bit more fine-tuning. Parts of the novel did not have as big of an emotional payoff as they should have due to the order in which things were revealed. I also think that parts of The City of Stardust didn’t make a whole lot of sense. If the Everly family curse just required an Everly, why did

Penelope wait for Violet to grow up and not just take her uncles when her mother disappeared? Yes, supposedly Violet fit Penelope's requirements more than them, but for someone who was so desperately struggling without the payment of the curse, why wait? This was further demonstrated  later on by how little Violet was necessary to the breaking of the Everly curse at the end of the actual novel, which made Violet's struggle all seem a smidge pointless.

 

And though I found the world-building and magical systems to be very unique, they were kept very vague. The talent of certain individuals to manipulate a magical material, known as reveurite is the reason for “magic,” but we are never shown exactly how this talent is turned into skill or honed or anything. Likewise, though Aleksander, and Violet to a lesser extent, so desperately want to be scholars, I never quite came to understand exactly what was so great about being one. Finally, I was also not entirely satisfied with the ending of the novel. Though it fits with the mysterious nature of the novel and everything surrounding Violet’s mother, I couldn’t help but to wish for more closure. 

 

Ultimately, I think The City of Stardust is bewitching debut novel, showing a ton of promise for the new author. I really enjoyed the unique world-building and the magical atmosphere that pervaded the book, along with its lovely prose. Though I think some things could have been improved upon, such as character development and the execution of the story, I would welcome the ability to return to this world again. I would love to know more details about everything, such as Violet’s mother, the magical system, the astrals, the secret society of scholars, and everything else. I'd recommend this novel for fans of Alix E. Harrow.

 
 

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