The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers is a wonder. This book was not on my radar at all, but I’m glad it fell into my waiting arms. It’s brilliant and tragic and had me in absolute despair. But Violet Everly, our leading lady, would not let me wallow, and she forced me to follow along on her journey through the real and unknowable places between stars.
A mother says goodbye to her daughter and purposefully strides into the night away from her ancestral family home. A pristine woman with a sharp smile steals a lonely boy and brings him into her care. These decisions will shape and shatter two young lives and rattle the stars. The girl, Violet, will grow up isolated and blissfully ignorant of the curse suffocating her family, while the boy, Aleksander, will become immersed in a magical world where he knows much but never enough. Violet and Aleksander are part of a magical scholar society, one that lives adjacent to a lost world. Celestial gods once lived among scholars and artisans who melded the stardust that fell from the sky into magical keys, but a tragic love story doomed the once grand city. And as the door to that world remains closed, sacrifices must be made. Violet’s curse and Aleksander’s obedience will collide as both seek to unlock the secrets of their mysterious and malicious magical society.
I would describe The City of Stardust as plot-driven, but Summers did a great job characterizing Violet and Aleksander through their subdued thoughts and actions within the story. The relationships and feelings between characters did not have much of an impact, but I appreciate how much I was able to learn about them without much dialogue or time devoted to exploring their emotions on a deeper level. Violet is brave and self-assured as evidenced by her actively trying to take fate back into her own hands. Aleksander is the inverse of Violet and has a more soft, sensitive nature. When Violet pushes forward, Aleksander is more prone to shy away. Neither character concedes to the other, and it’s nice to see them stay so true to themselves and their goals while orbiting around each other.
The world-building was not in-depth but it suitably supported the plot. The lore surrounding the celestial gods and the magical scholars felt vague and shallow, but we don’t truly need to know these elements intimately to understand Violet’s plight. It’s a fast-paced book, often relying on vignettes to give the reader doses of information but only enough to give us the shape of the story before carrying on. This is not a complaint but merely an observation, and despite leaning more toward character-focused stories I was delighted by The City of Stardust. It reminded me that books can be light on dialogue and emotion but still create devastation in how the events unfold and utterly fail the characters.
The book has an ever-present foreboding theme of powerlessness. The Everlys are cursed due to no fault of their own, and though they fight against their fate, there is nothing and no one who can help them. I loved that the story leaned into a darker fairy tale vibe and made your hope sputter out like a candle in the wind each chapter. Violet is a tenacious protagonist with a sad and lonely story because she has to find a way to save herself. No matter how strong her family is or how helpful the people are on her journey, at the end of the day Violet only has herself to either cure or face the curse on her family. This realization was both upsetting and freeing in a way, and I love that Summers doesn’t give Violet any easy way-outs.
Much like a star shooting across the night sky, The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers was completely unexpected, mysterious, and a wonder to behold. It’s an enticing dark tale that effortlessly creates devastation and awe. I highly recommend you grab a copy and become inspired by Violet’s strength and tenacity like I was.
Rating: The City of Stardust – 8.0/10
-Brandee
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The thoughts on this story are my own.
