Description

Curses are made to be broken.
THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

‘A DARK DREAM . . . WELCOME TO THE CITY OF STARDUST. ENJOY – AND ALSO BEWARE. THIS FAIRY TALE IS DEADLY’ LAINI TAYLOR

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 . . .

READERS LOVE THE CITY OF STARDUST

‘Reminiscent of Laini Taylor and Erin Morgenstern. Knowing this is a debut work floored me as – for me – this is as near a perfect book as you can get’

‘I inhaled The City of Stardust in one day. Books, libraries, quests, strange worlds, a doomed love, betrayal, abandonment, courage, sacrifice – this book has it all’

‘Wow! I so loved this book, I resented having to put it down to go to sleep, it was so gripping’

‘Summers is a talent – her poetic, vivid prose wound through me and had me immediately rooting for Violet’

‘Wow what an absolutely wonderful surprise this book was . . . a gorgeously atmospheric fairytale, it fully immerses you, consumes you – I finished this book in a few hours I couldn’t put it down’

AUTHORS LOVE THE CITY OF STARDUST

‘A starry tale of curses, gods and scholars that glitters with magic. Beautifully spellbinding’ M.A. KUZNIAR

‘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’ BEA FITZGERALD

‘A Gaiman-esque world of scheming scholars and soul-stealing gods . . . Memorable and accomplished ‘ LUCY HOLLAND

‘A compelling story full of magic, curses, keys, and stories . . . Readers who loved The Starless Sea or The Ten Thousand Doors of January will also love this darkly magical book’ KAT HOWARD

‘A dark, gorgeous tale of curses, gods and monsters, with the love and loyalty of family at its heart’ SANGU MANDANNA

Publisher Review

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 * 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 * 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 * Summers' debut is an utterly enchanting read where multiple words border our own and can be accessed with keys * 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 *