"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, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick - and never forgives a debt. Violet Everly was a child when her mother left on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. When Marianne never returns, Penelope issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find her mother, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last ...
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"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, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick - and never forgives a debt. Violet Everly was a child when her mother left on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. When Marianne never returns, Penelope issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find her mother, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer. Unless she can break the curse first. 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 - and yet to whom she finds herself undeniably drawn. With her time running out, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began."--Provided by publisher.
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Add this copy of The City of Stardust to cart. $2.69, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milwaukee, WI, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Redhook.
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Fair. Book is considered to be in acceptable condition. The actual cover image may not match the stock photo. Book may have one or more of the following defects: noticeable wear on the cover dust jacket or spine; curved dog eared or creased page s; writing or highlighting inside or on the edges; sticker s or other adhesive on cover; CD DVD may not be included; and book may be a former library copy.
Add this copy of The City of Stardust to cart. $3.84, good condition, Sold by Seattle Goodwill rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Seattle, WA, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Redhook.
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May have some shelf-wear due to normal use. Your purchase funds free job training and education in the greater Seattle area. Thank you for supporting Goodwill's nonprofit mission!
Add this copy of The City of Stardust to cart. $5.00, very good condition, Sold by Bookoutlet rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bridgeton, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Redhook.
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Very good. Ships Within 24 Hours M-F-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Has a publisher overstock mark. Item is in Good Condition. Clean Copy With Light Amount of Wear.
Add this copy of The City of Stardust to cart. $7.25, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Redhook.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of The City of Stardust to cart. $9.00, very good condition, Sold by Magers and Quinn Booksellers rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Minneapolis, MN, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Redhook.
Add this copy of The City of Stardust to cart. $9.42, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Redhook.
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Add this copy of The City of Stardust to cart. $10.27, new condition, Sold by Book Outlet rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Jefferson City, TN, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Hachette Book Group.
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Add this copy of The City of Stardust to cart. $11.59, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Redhook.
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I was excited to read The City of Stardust as the idea of a new fantasy tale sounded like a great start to my January reading list. The story focuses on Violet Everly whose family have been cursed - once a generation a family member is taken by a mysterious woman, never to return. Can Violet break the curse and find her missing mother?
Although The City of Stardust is quite a short read for a fantasy story, I actually found it really hard to get into and felt like I had to force my way through to the end which wasn't ideal. Part of this is the fact that I don't think as a reader you really truly get to know, or empathise with Violet as the main character. She very much is a person that things just happen to, and she changes motives and trusts people who have betrayed her so often that it was really hard to sympathise with her. The story also jumps perspectives and timelines quite often which led me to become very confused with what was happening.
The plot itself is very jumbled and I must admit I had no idea what was going on at various points. I didn't understand why Penelope had given an arbitrary deadline to find Violet's mother, or Violet would be taken, I also didn't understand why she couldn't have just taken Violet's uncles, as they had the same bloodline. I really didn't understand what Penelope wanted with Violet anyway, it was portrayed as a world ending event they were trying to fight, but then at the beginning of the book they say she's taken one person from each generation so I was confused as to why this particular year was so special.
Violet and Aleksander are the love interests in the book, but I didn't really feel any chemistry for them being together. Aleksander does some terrible things so I didn't really understand why they got on well at all. There's a lot of side characters introduced but other than Yury, I didn't really feel like we got to properly know any of them and when they are briefly described by their appearances in the epilogue, I realised that I couldn't actually recall who any of them were. The magic system and the idea of the keys and the scholars and the magic metal also made very little sense - they all just seemed jammed together for the sake of it.
Overall, The City of Stardust was not the fantasy epic I had hoped it to be, with confusing plotlines, jumbled backstory and characters I didn't feel like I got to know. Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton - Hodderscape for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
