The City of Stardust Book Review

The City of Stardust is Georgia Summers’s stunning debut work of fairytale and fantasy. This portal-quest novel is an exciting and thrilling read, following the journey of the smart and inquisitive protagonist, Violet. The City of Stardust is a stunning debut: accomplished and compelling.

Following the life of Violet Everly on her quest to find her mother Marianne, The City of Stardust blends classic fairytale tropes with the grander worldbuilding of the fantastic. Living with her two uncles, Ambrose and Gabriel, Violet doesn’t understand why her mother left her. For centuries, the Everlys have seen their best and brightest 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 to break the curse, and never returned. Now Violet must find her mother, or she will be taken in her place.

Her hunt leads her into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods, and monsters bent on revenge. And into the path of Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted—but to whom she finds herself undeniably drawn.

Tied to a very literal deadline, Violet will travel to the edges of the world to find her mother and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.

Initially sheltered from the reality of this deadline set by Penelope for Violet Everly’s blood, The City of Stardust begins as any classic fairytale would. Ambrose is fiercely protective of Violet, homeschooling her. This is to her detriment: Violet has no formal qualifications to attend university or pursue education further. Working in a café at age 21, Aleksander steps into her life after the two initially met as children. Aleksander is Penelope’s assistant, obedient and willing. Befriending Violet to gain her trust, Aleksander reports any information on the missing Marianne Everly that Violet knows. The genuine trust and care in their relationship is haunted by Penelope and her determination to find Marianne or kill Violet in her place. The third-person perspective is introspective: the reader gains insight into each character’s motivations whilst maintaining a certain distance from the action. This was the perfect structural choice made by Summers: it added to the mystery of the fairytale setting.

Plunged into this vast undiscovered world, determined to find her mother, Violet’s journey is a play on the traditional portal-quest narrative. This typically refers to a protagonist who enters a secondary world (a world that is unfamiliar to the reader, often created by an author’s imagination) from their primary world (i.e. the world as we know it) to embark on a series of challenges. Violet’s main challenge from the offset of the quest is to find her mother. Summers effectively deploys this traditional quest trope to build the aspects of her secondary world effortlessly. You would not know The City of Stardust is a debut from reading it alone.
Summers’s writing style is nicely balanced between description, speech, and action. Each new scene is richly detailed but not just there to add to the glitter of the whole novel. Every scene and each character is strategic, gently pushing the plot forward. As a result, the pacing is cautious but thoughtful, reflecting how Violet carefully navigates her way through the underworld and investigates undiscovered information about her mother and herself.

With all fairytales, the gory action or subtext defines the plot. The City of Stardust is the same: Violet is avoiding at all costs being used as Penelope’s sacrifice, who is trapped from her people as a result of the Everly curse. Violet is bent on breaking this curse. However, unlike Angela Carter’s gruesome depictions of bodily violence, Summers’s scenes of gore are brief but impactful. It is a constant reminder to the reader of the threat that poses Violet if she is unsuccessful in her quest.

Whilst this novel is exquisite in so many ways, I found the ending anti-climactic. Predictable even. Whether that’s why readers are fond of fairytale-esque stories because of the ‘happily ever after ending’ or because Summers wanted to neatly wrap up the story, I personally disliked it. Compared to the steady worldbuilding of the rest of the novel, it felt rushed. However, the ending does not detract from the rest of the text: I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fantasy/fairytale fix with nuanced characters and delectable worldbuilding.

The City of Stardust draws you in addictively. It is a stellar debut novel.

4.5/5.