When Violet Everly discovers that her family owes a blood debt to an immortal, she must venture into a hidden world of magic, gods and monsters to break the curse – no matter the cost.
Curses are made to be broken.
For centuries, generations of 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, determined to break their curse, and never returned. Now Violet must find her mother, or she will be taken in her place.
To do so, she must descend into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. She must also contend with 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 the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began . . .
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.
(P) 2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Curses are made to be broken.
For centuries, generations of 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, determined to break their curse, and never returned. Now Violet must find her mother, or she will be taken in her place.
To do so, she must descend into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. She must also contend with 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 the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began . . .
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.
(P) 2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
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Reviews
In opening The City of Stardust, you enter a Gaiman-esque otherworld of scheming scholars and soul-stealing gods, where a daughter's quest to understand her mother's absence is as compelling as her fight against an ancient curse. The ghost of the city undone by pride and a broken promise haunts every page of this memorable and accomplished debut
A story as darkly wondrous as midnight. Summers brilliantly takes our yearning to open doors to magical new worlds, and twists it into a seductively vicious dream of darkness, blood, and winged horrors. When monsters must be satiated, there is no escaping the choices between love and betrayal; survival and sacrifice. Enthralling to the last page
Georgia Summers's fascinating debut, The City of Stardust, draws readers into a compelling story full of magic, curses, keys, and stories. It asks what we would do to break a curse, to close a door, or to open one. Readers who loved The Starless Sea or The Ten Thousand Doors of January will also love this darkly magical book
The City of Stardust opens with a haunting prologue that weaves as enchanting a spell as any of the terrible and wonderful magic in the book, and it just gets better from there. Summers' debut is a dark, gorgeous tale of curses, gods and monsters, with the love and loyalty of family at its heart
A starry tale of curses, gods and scholars that glitters with magic. Beautifully spellbinding. I never wanted to leave the City of Stardust!
A spellbinding and mesmerising tale intricately crafted with writing that glitters. The City of Stardust is like reading V. E. Schwab for the first time - and it's a story that will stay with me for years to come
An intoxicating story redolent of Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Erin Morgenstern's The Starless Sea
In this darkly gorgeous tale of yearning and curses, Summers explores the terrible and wonderful power of love in its many forms - enduring, loyal, selfish, toxic, destructive - and what happens when betrayal and survival are but two sides of the same coin. Utterly mesmerising
A dark dream of a novel, Georgia Summers's debut is like a sweet shop - an elegant, mysterious one - full of all my favorite things: a grand old house, strange magic, deep lore, a family curse, a cabal, a globe criss-crossing heroine, otherworldly beings, and a new mythos that feels both timeless and original. Welcome to The City of Stardust. Enjoy - and also beware. This fairy tale is deadly
A stunning clarion call of a debut novel that dwells in curses, magic, and gods as it explores the effects of love and betrayal
There's a young girl fighting an ancient family curse, a tremendously chilly villain, and the gothicky atmosphere of corridors and libraries is invigorated by a sweeping trans-continental narrative. Want more? How about monsters, magic, a quest and a mystery? A hugely promising debut; beautifully written as well
A fantastic slice of escapism that you will not be able to stop yourself from gobbling up - it is an absorbing, stunning, beautifully written book with a magic and dark undercurrent
The City of Stardust is a love letter to every reader who has ever seen the monsters and betrayals of a fantastical land, but still felt the pull of desire in their heart to go there. It is a story which indulges this urge on every page, rewarding curiosity, and exploring what happens when we follow the best - and worst of our imaginations
Full of twists and turns, you can hear the uneasy tick of the clock counting down your days with each page of this deliciously dark and dangerous debut. A spellbinding trip into the world of fantasy
Whether Georgia Summers' next book is set within the same universe or an entirely new world, if it's as beautifully written, intricately plotted and atmospheric as this one, it'll be another work of pure magic
An ambitious debut
Descend with Violet Everly into an underground land of fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge in this Neil Gaiman-esque debut from Summers
A compelling story... It's a powerful tale, and you feel Violet's frustration at the unfairness of it all. It's full of the messiness of real life too, with betrayal and abuse and forgiveness and no easy answers
