A curse can be many things.
I loved the concept of this book. It’s a fairytale come to life. It’s curses and magic. It’s impossible doorways to other worlds. It’s a bookish girl on a quest.
It appears The City of Stardust has already divided the book world in two. There are those who have fallen in love with it and those whose expectations didn’t match reality. Unfortunately, I’m one of the latter.
This book had so much potential but, although the individual elements were right up my alley, it didn’t come together like I’d hoped it would. In saying that, though, I want to acknowledge that I have been in a reading slump recently so this may well have distorted my view.
I usually love the bookish girl, if only because she’s bookish, but I never really felt like I got to know Violet.
The romance didn’t work for me and neither did the friendship, for that matter. Sure, they both have pain. Violet’s been abandoned and Aleksander’s been abused. However, he betrays her time and time again, and every time she forgives him. I’m not someone whose first instinct is violence but Violet’s naivety and gullibility frequently combined to make me wish I could hit her across the head with one of her books. Preferably a hardcover.
I have so many unanswered questions: about scholars, reveurite, Marianne Everly, the way this world works.
I most wanted to know more about Penelope, who has the ability to hold a grudge for all eternity. She has her reasons and I understood those but I craved more depth from her.
I’d be interested in reading more books by this author and I’m considering a reread once my reading no longer slumps to see if this changes my experience of the Everly curse but, for now at least, I’m chalking this one up to not for me at this time.
‘Hello, little dreamer’
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hodderscape, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, for the opportunity to read this book.
Once Upon a Blurb
For centuries, 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 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 – and yet 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…
Schizanthus Nerd 