The City of Stardust

By: Georgia Summers

Narrated by: Kitty Parker

Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

A young woman descends into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge to break her family's curse in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy debut.

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, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick–and never forgives a debt.

Violet Everly was just a child when her mother Marianne vanished on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. And when Penelope cannot find her, she issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find Marianne, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer from the curse. Unless she can break it first.

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 whose knowledge of a world beyond her own is too valuable to avoid.

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.

©2024 Georgia Summers (P)2024 Redhook

Critic reviews

"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."—Sangu Mandanna, bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

"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."—Shelley Parker-Chan, Sunday Times bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun

"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."—Lucy Holland, author of Sistersong

Absolutely Unforgettable

Attention Fantasy Lovers:

I love reading new authors. A debut book often sparkles with new ideas or fresh and imaginative ways to revisit and retell old tales. I just finished The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers. I will be thinking about this book for a long time. When it comes to world building the author has painted the scenes so vividly I feel like I could walk alongside many of the characters.

Following this books goddess, I believe Ms. Summers should create her own Pantheon. I would read each future tale with the same hunger with which I devoured this.

Fabulous.

I LOVED this book!! what an amazing first book! Modern magic and mystery, doomed romance and adventure!

perfect if you liked The Night Circus, Stardust, or Caraval :)

Holy crap, this book is excellent!

This book had me hooked from the very beginning. I listen to audiobooks all the time and the story and performance were fantastic. 5 stars!

Who ever set the chapter times should lose their job

If your trying to find the beginning of a chapter based on where the chapter markers are good luck, the chapters change no where near where audible says they do making figuring out where you are in the book difficult

The synopsis was a better book...

The synopsis had me expecting more, but I was ultimately disappointed. Maybe it was supposed to feel dreamlike and surreal but I was mostly just bored.

I wouldn't personally recommend it unless you like slow books where next to nothing happens.

Narration was fine.