“Once upon a time, in a magical city on a distant shore, lived Ever Everly.”

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers is a fast-paced fantasy novel that centers around a family curse, magic, fairytales, and monsters.

On the surface, The City of Stardust has everything I want in a fantasy novel–a strong female protagonist, magic, monsters, and a decent villain. However, in the end, I felt the novel was a letdown.

Violet Everly grew up in seclusion, kept secret from the world, with no explanation. At the age of 10, her mother leaves, and her uncles Ambrose and Gabriel take over her care. Slowly, Violet becomes aware of the family curse, and the reasons for her mother’s departure.

While the family curse is ultimately explained, in my opinion, it still left a lot of gaping plot holes. Throughout the story, we find Violet following the trail left by her mother Marianne, and this is also a huge letdown. Although I suppose the door is open for a follow-up novel that tells Marianne’s story.

For a novel with magic at its center, we see very little of the magic. The story focuses on the Everly curse and the search for the City of Stardust. The magic is almost an afterthought, which is too bad.

Thanks to NetGalley and Redhook Books for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own. Links in this review are affiliate links, and I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.