City of Stardust Review

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. 

–GoodReads

My Review

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this book, I suppose when I got it in the Fairyloot monthly I thought it might be more YA, and more of that usual writing style that’s popular in YA right now (first person, or the third person sprinkled with two or three POVs). Instead this was more the same writing style as The Starless Sea and much more that same vibe of it and say The Winter Garden so I was surprised but in a good way.

This was really more about the vibes than any sort of pacing, and the overall plot was steadily in the background the whole time; it wasn’t the purpose. We had characters and feelings and as I said, ‘vibes’/moods that really were at the forefront. Because of that, I think the book can feel almost aimless or dragging for those who don’t expect or don’t like that sort of writing style.

The Everlys are cursed and there’s one more chance to break it. The last trio of siblings vow to end it but when Marianne Everly goes off the book, she takes it upon herself to hunt down the answers to end it.

The only problem is that no one in the Everly family has heard from Marianne, and the clock is ticking before her daughter Violet is taken in her place to satisfy the terms of the curse.

Violet is never deeply developed but all her feelings that she has in regards to this curse, to her life as it is in that moment are pretty raw and descriptive I think we get an inkling of who she is to be and I really enjoyed the way things went for her, but no spoilers of course. I loved watching her delve into this world of secrets to fight for herself and for her Uncles and I loved the fact that Marianne wasn’t used as a mechanism to wipe away all Violet’s problems. Violet dealt with them, with the curse, and it made me appreciate her more as a character.

I don’t know that I really could get over the things Aleksander did but his story was no less painful than Violet’s and the two were an interesting duality of positions and power and both being powerless to what people have done and planned for them.

There are a lot of heart aching details, family bonds, betrayal, secret ‘underworld,’ and lore. I wanted more lore actually lol.

Super atmospheric, more about the journey than the destination and the ending is not the sort of solid and permanent thing some may want from it. I loved it, I give it more of 4.5 than 5 full stars because I think we allcould have benefited more, from more depth when it came to the characters in particular. A battle of powers and the importance or lack of importance on the details of a story and how it can change the future with each variation of its telling.

4.5/5 full cups of coffee from me, now to keep this author on my radar!