Skip to content
The City of Stardust - The City of Stardust (Paperback)
  • The City of Stardust - The City of Stardust (Paperback)
zoom

The City of Stardust - The City of Stardust (Paperback)

(author)
£9.99
Paperback 368 Pages
Published: 26/09/2024
Free UK delivery on orders over £25, otherwise £2.99
  • 10+ in stock

Usually dispatched within 1-2 days

Free UK delivery on orders over £25, otherwise £2.99
  • This item has been added to your basket
Waterstones Says

Sinister scholars and fickle gods abound in this bewitching dark fantasy debut which sets a girl on a quest to find her missing mother and break a generations-old curse.

Filled with magic, stardust, and a shockingly dark heart, this is a stunning standalone fantasy perfect for fans of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Starless Sea and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

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 . . .

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781399714228
Number of pages: 368
Weight: 259 g
Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 28 mm


MEDIA REVIEWS

A dark dream of a novel, Georgia Summers's debut is like a sweet shop - an elegant, mysterious one - full of all my favorite things: a grand old house, strange magic, deep lore, a family curse, a cabal, a globe criss-crossing heroine, otherworldly beings, and a new mythos that feels both timeless and original. Welcome to The City of Stardust. Enjoy - and also beware. This fairy tale is deadly - Laini Taylor, Sunday Times bestselling author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Strange the Dreamer

A story as darkly wondrous as midnight. Summers brilliantly takes our yearning to open doors to magical new worlds, and twists it into a seductively vicious dream of darkness, blood, and winged horrors. When monsters must be satiated, there is no escaping the choices between love and betrayal; survival and sacrifice. Enthralling to the last page - Shelley Parker-Chan, Sunday Times bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun

In opening The City of Stardust, you enter a Gaiman-esque otherworld of scheming scholars and soul-stealing gods, where a daughter's quest to understand her mother's absence is as compelling as her fight against an ancient curse. The ghost of the city undone by pride and a broken promise haunts every page of this memorable and accomplished debut - Lucy Holland, author of Sistersong

The City of Stardust opens with a haunting prologue that weaves as enchanting a spell as any of the terrible and wonderful magic in the book, and it just gets better from there. Summers' debut is a dark, gorgeous tale of curses, gods and monsters, with the love and loyalty of family at its heart - Sangu Mandanna, bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Georgia Summers's fascinating debut, The City of Stardust, draws readers into a compelling story full of magic, curses, keys, and stories. It asks what we would do to break a curse, to close a door, or to open one. Readers who loved The Starless Sea or The Ten Thousand Doors of January will also love this darkly magical book - Kat Howard, author of the Unseen World duology

In this darkly gorgeous tale of yearning and curses, Summers explores the terrible and wonderful power of love in its many forms - enduring, loyal, selfish, toxic, destructive - and what happens when betrayal and survival are but two sides of the same coin. Utterly mesmerising - A. Y. Chao, Number 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Shanghai Immortal

A starry tale of curses, gods and scholars that glitters with magic. Beautifully spellbinding. I never wanted to leave the City of Stardust! - M. A. Kuzniar, author of Midnight in Everwood

A spellbinding and mesmerising tale intricately crafted with writing that glitters. The City of Stardust is like reading V. E. Schwab for the first time - and it's a story that will stay with me for years to come - Bea Fitzgerald, author of Girl, Goddess, Queen

An intoxicating story redolent of Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Erin Morgenstern's The Starless Sea - The Bookseller

A stunning clarion call of a debut novel that dwells in curses, magic, and gods as it explores the effects of love and betrayal - LoveReading

There's a young girl fighting an ancient family curse, a tremendously chilly villain, and the gothicky atmosphere of corridors and libraries is invigorated by a sweeping trans-continental narrative. Want more? How about monsters, magic, a quest and a mystery? A hugely promising debut; beautifully written as well - Daily Mail

A fantastic slice of escapism that you will not be able to stop yourself from gobbling up - it is an absorbing, stunning, beautifully written book with a magic and dark undercurrent - The Debut Digest

The City of Stardust is a love letter to every reader who has ever seen the monsters and betrayals of a fantastical land, but still felt the pull of desire in their heart to go there. It is a story which indulges this urge on every page, rewarding curiosity, and exploring what happens when we follow the best - and worst of our imaginations - The Herald

Full of twists and turns, you can hear the uneasy tick of the clock counting down your days with each page of this deliciously dark and dangerous debut. A spellbinding trip into the world of fantasy - Heat

Whether Georgia Summers' next book is set within the same universe or an entirely new world, if it's as beautifully written, intricately plotted and atmospheric as this one, it'll be another work of pure magic - Culturefly

An ambitious debut - The Guardian

Descend with Violet Everly into an underground land of fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge in this Neil Gaiman-esque debut from Summers - My Weekly

A compelling story... It's a powerful tale, and you feel Violet's frustration at the unfairness of it all. It's full of the messiness of real life too, with betrayal and abuse and forgiveness and no easy answers - SFX

You may also be interested in...

See Through Love
Added to basket
Branded by Fire
Added to basket
Mine to Possess
Added to basket
Throne of Glass
Added to basket
Visions of Heat
Added to basket
Shadow of Night
Added to basket
The Sea Lady
Added to basket
Paperback
£11.99
Autumn Rose
Added to basket
Paperback
£10.99
The Return
Added to basket
Darkest at Dawn
Added to basket
Heart of Obsidian
Added to basket
Bone Crossed
Added to basket
Silver Borne
Added to basket
Firelight
Added to basket
Paperback
£12.99
Hostage to Pleasure
Added to basket

“Every sentence is a treat to read!”

The City of Stardust is a beautifully written adventure story about family, magic, stardust, secrets, betrayal and power.

The main protagonist Violet craves adventure after growing up reading stories due to being... More

Hardback edition
3 similar books recommended
Helpful? Upvote 18

“Incredible world building, lyrical writing, just a perfect fantasy debut.”

This book was absolutely incredible, the best fantasy book i have read this year... I can't believe this is a debut work!
The world building was excellent, the locations and worlds really felt lived in and real.... More

Hardback edition
3 similar books recommended
Helpful? Upvote 17
Katie at Blackpool

“A stunning debut that leaves you mesmerised from from the beginning to the end”

A beautiful lyrical tale of betrayal, love and magic. The City of Stardust truly transports you to different worlds, ones that you don't want to leave. The world building is fantastic and the prose reads like... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 13

Please sign in to write a review

Your review has been submitted successfully.