The City of Stardust

October 1, 2023

DEBUT Everyone knows the Everly descendants are cursed: in each generation, a family member with special talents and a golden aura is taken and never seen again. Violet Everly is 12 the first time she meets Penelope, a cruel, ageless woman who wishes to steal her away, although Penelope really wants Marianne, Violet's adventurous, determined mother who vanished years ago in hopes of breaking the curse. Given 10 years to find her mother or be sacrificed in her stead, Violet and her family travel the globe to seek her. Violet's desperate journey at 21 years old is particularly gripping as she encounters first love and heartbreak, vicious conniving scholars and bloodthirsty monsters, but also magic and beautiful other worlds. All magic comes at a price, however, and in her bid to break her family's curse, Violet must sacrifice and brave much in order to see just one more midnight. While the worldbuilding could be more fully developed and a few questions are left unanswered, the story is riveting. VERDICT An engrossing, fast-paced read.--Katie Lawrence

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 16, 2023
Summers debuts with a rocky romantasy about a young woman determined to break her family curse. Millennia ago, Ever Everly entered into a deal with a magic-wielding scholar named Penelope—but he failed to keep his end of the bargain. The details of this original crime have grown hazy with time, but Penelope’s revenge remains as powerful as ever: she cursed the Everly bloodline so that, once a generation, one member of the family must be sacrificed to her. Drinking their blood grants her immortality, and so the cycle repeats through the years. This generation, it’s Marianne Everly who volunteers to sacrifice herself to Penelope—leaving behind her daughter, Violet, who is determined to rescue her mother and break the curse once and for all. Penelope, meanwhile, hunts for a door to the ruined city of Elandriel in an alternate magical realm with the help of her quiet, attractive assistant, Aleksander. There’s a sense of awe in the search for Elandriel, but the final reveal feels somewhat anticlimactic, and the unlikely and unevenly paced romance subplot between Violet and Aleksander bogs down the more exciting curse-breaking quest. Fantasy readers will be underwhelmed.

December 1, 2023
The Everlys are a cursed family. Every generation, one Everly is taken and is never seen again, a punishment for a crime long forgotten by all but the mysterious, ageless, relentless Penelope. As a result, the Everly family has all but died out. Violet is the last of the last generation when she discovers her curse and the mysterious, fantastical magic her family is connected to. Violet has just 10 years to find her mother, who set out to break the curse, before her time is up and she also must go with the vicious woman who holds so much hate for the Everly family and so much power in the world of magic that only the chosen can access. Violet must race against time and betrayal to find her mother and the answers she may hold. With haunting prose and assured world building, Summers' debut shows promise. The City of Stardust has echoes of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus (2011) or V. E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020), and will intrigue fans of portal fantasies.

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