Readalongs

The City of Stardust Readalong: Day 5!

Emily

Beautiful photo by @rebireads

Hey fairies,

I hope you are all ready for the last day of the January Adult Book readalong of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers. Whose is ready to see if Violet can save herself, her family and all of the scholars!

Today we are reading from chapter 46 to the end of the book!


Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers from Chapter 46 to the end. Please only read on if you have finished this section!

!SPOILERS!

Violet has finally arrived in Fidelis and I want her to be able to explore this beautiful city but she has to find Penelope first.

Penelope has already some if not all of the scholars in Fidelis as there is bodies lining the stairs and it is way too quiet.

She has killed the children as well, there is no going back for her now not as she has claimed her truth of being Astriade.

Violet is going down alone as Aleksander has a fear of the darkness I think?

Penelope has tried to open the door with other scholars blood but it does not work however even a little bit of Violets as it reacts.

Not her plunging it through her heart!

Part 6 begins with the real story of Astriade and Ever Everly but what makes her hate him and his family line.

Violet is alive! She was saved by Aleksander and is now somewhere else, I assume Elandriel.

Is this man who I think it is, is it Ever Everly and why does he have some astral powers?

At least Aleksander is there with her to help her out.

Wait Violet died and Ever somehow saved her? That is very impressive but how did he do it?

The cage of reveurite from the stories is real! But now they are trapped with Penelope hoping to kill Violet once she leaves.

After 1000 years alone it seems Ever has gone slightly mad and won’t talk to Violet or Aleksander, which is not very helpful. At least the cage is getting bigger though.

I wonder if Violets father is really an astral?

They are exploring this old and beautiful city that was ruined by Astriade and it makes me upset as it was all ruined for Ever and he has ruined the other doors so no one else can come in. Ever is very selfish.

Maybe Astriade will be happy once she has Ever.

Aleksander has been exploring alone and still acting like a scholar by noting down all the details of the doors.

I am not surprised when Penelope shows up and tries to persuade Aleksander to basically give her an Everly soul.

Ever Everly is a disappointment all he wants to do is survive but not live and he would sacrifice his own family on his behalf.

I am glad Violet let her true emotions out to Aleksander as otherwise he won’t understand how unfair and frustrated her whole situation is.

His scars are because he was whipped as punishment for trying to steal the key for Violet.

His way to apologise is to show all her all the different galaxies, that is so very cute I am obsessed with that. They have finally forgiven each other and have truly kissed and made up.

I am glad they made up but I wonder what he will do to protect her?

Why can’tΒ he everΒ step up to the plate and sacrifice himself.

All the stories are true that Ever and Astriade loved each other but could not kill each other. That means Violet is related to to Astriade, what a great relative.

I wonder if Ever will now have a change of heart as he is truly plagued by the ghosts of the past and his own actions.

I am so touched that Ever and Aleksander would both sacrifice theirselves for Violet.

Wait Ever dies and kills her? It was like a murder-like lovers embrace. It was slightly anticlimactic.

They are laid to rest as husband and wife, it is very sweet in a way.

Violet has saved herself and her family, she is truly the hero of the story.

My heart breaks they aren’t staying with each other but Aleksander need to find out who he is and Violet will not run like her mother did.

The brothers finally get to explore the world as Violet is doing! I am glad she sent a letter to Caspain though!

This ending has made me so happy as everything is nicely wrapped up and she even sees Aleksander at the end of it.


Wow, this was such fun and interesting read! I really enjoyed it but I want to see where Violet went!

What did you think of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers? Did you have a favourite moment from the book?
What do you like to think happened between Aleksander and Violet?

As always, thank you so much for taking part in another FairyLoot readalong! We hope you had the best time and enjoyed the book – we’ll see you again soon for another!

Love,
Emily

Conversation

23 Comments

Comment

  • Holly Groves

    What did you think of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers? I’m nota huge fan, I didn’t really connect to the characters much but thought the story overall was interesting, 2/5 stars for me

    Did you have a favourite moment from the book? Not a favourite moment but I did enjoy Violet/Aleksander’s relationship throughout, it was unique and not something I’ve read/seen before. With Aleksander coming across friendly but going behind her back etc./them not ending up together in the end

    What do you like to think happened between Aleksander and Violet? I think they will see each other again but I don’t think they will end up together, but I like that about this book

    1
    • Emily

      I agree I like that they aren’t 100% together at the end!

  • Isabel Rodgers

    Overall I really enjoyed the book, it reminded me of The Night Circus in the way it was written (except I didn’t enjoy that book). I really appreciated how it flipped between different characters, but it was all POVs that were important to the story or something that was going to happen. It gave you a well rounded view of the world without including pointless moments.

    I think my favourite moment was a Caspian POV, when he receives the call from Violet asking for a favour, and then you see him calling in favours from others, it made the world seem more alive.

    It feels like something will grow between Aleksander and Violet. They both need time to discover who they are as people beyond Penelope and ‘the curse’ that has consumed their lives. The fact that he’s waiting for her at the coffee shop (I’m assuming several years later) I feel like hints that something will grow between them. They clearly care for each other.

    The epilogue made me emotional, I love that she meets with her uncles and people from across her life every year.

    1
  • Jessica Heckert

    I had a hard time rating this one! I loved the writing and I will absolutely be read anything by this author. I loved the other worlds, but we saw so little of it.
    I feel like we’re missing things. I Don’t understand who Caspian is, but I want to know more. Maybe Xaddy and Rhysand have only made me interested in mysterious guys. But Aleksander was a Tamlin. 😜
    But I did like the ending. I’m usually a romantasy girl, but I liked how independent Violet is and that she doesn’t need a man. I don’t think they’re together at the end (but maybe I’m holding out hope for my boy Caspian.)

    • Emily

      I enjoyed that she took her own path rather than following a man!

    • Jennifer Whiting

      In my mind her and Caspian get together eventually πŸ˜†

  • Gerda | @theadventuresofgerda

    This book was not my cup of tea. It had so much potential but the execution lacked in my opinion. Considering this is a fantasy book with a very different world I would’ve liked to get more backstory and world building, but I felt like it was too rushed and the characters weren’t very fleshed out. I really enjoyed the world and hoped for more. The ending definitely felt rushed considering the pace of the book in general.

    I didn’t have a specific moment that was my favourite but I liked when Violet was travelling for a year, even though she didn’t know if she could break the curse she still saw the world and met different people which was the opposite of her life growing up.

    Since it felt like a lot of time had passed I like to think that Aleksander and Violet remained friends. I don’t think they would have become a couple anymore, but for me the best ending would be that they remained friends and staying in contact or perhaps even travelling together for some time.

    1
  • AllicynA

    I have mixed feelings overall. While I enjoyed the majority of this book, I found myself losing interest in the last third. I did appreciate the ending though. And I really enjoyed the author’s writing style. I’d be interested in reading more from them in the future.

    I really liked the world and the vibes were very strong, I enjoyed the characters, and the pacing of the book. I don’t know why it lost me in that last third, but it did. I do have mostly positive things to say about it though, and have already recommended it to friends who also enjoyed The Starless Sea because I felt like the vibes and the secretive nature of it were very similar.

    Anyway those are my thoughts, I look forward to the next readalong!

  • Tasha

    What did you think of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers?
    – I loved it until the end – I found the ending disappointing. I was hoping for a more substantial ending that explained her mother and why Penelope couldn’t just let the bargain go.

    Did you have a favourite moment from the book?
    – I loved the world and the possibility of opening a door and being in another world seemed so magical.

    What do you like to think happened between Aleksander and Violet?
    – I’m hoping they just stay friends I didn’t root for Aleksander and I do wonder if Violet was someone he didn’t like / love would he still have made the decision to not follow along with Penelope.

    I would have loved to see more interaction with Caspian and the uncles.

    Even though I loved how strong and capable Violet was I think her sacrificing herself for Ever Everly was dumb. He made the bargain and he should have seen it through from the start instead of letting his family suffer.

    • Emily

      I agree but I like to think Violet was going to sacrifice herself for her uncles not Ever.

  • Cheyenne Aguirre

    I really enjoyed this book. It was such a fun read! I am so glad Violet and Aleksander finally started communicating and working together. My favorite part was when Violet and Aleksander were both willing to sacrifice themselves to save the other. It showed their unselfish love for others. They knew the cost of staying safe and living was that others wouldn’t and they didn’t agree with that. Whereas Ever and Astriade’s love seemed much more selfish and caused so much devastation to others.
    I am curious about what happened to their daughter. I know she lived but what was Astriade’s role in her life? Did she save her just to drop her off somewhere and step back? I wish they would have answered that.
    I enjoyed the ending of the book with how everyone was finally able to start living and doing what they wanted. I was glad it ended ambiguously about Violet and Aleksander’s relationship. Neither of them was really ready for a relationship right when everything ended. But maybe in the future they will be πŸ’•

  • Adriana Casaburi

    I have mixed feeling, I like the idea but I think it could have be developed better. There are questions that have no answer like Violet’s father or what tamriel story.
    It is not a moment but the thing I like the most was Caspian. I would read his book gladly.
    I am glad that they waited because he was a giant red flag but maybe with therapy he is not anymore!

  • j.iris

    I just finished this and unfortunately the ending was disappointing for me. The conflict’s resolution didn’t even feel like a resolution and the stakes were so imbalanced. The whole city of Elandriel and countless scholars killed by Penelope, the Everly bloodline tortured and Violet nearly dying only for Ever to do what he should have done 1000 years earlier (and would have averted so much bloodshed and even Penelope becoming a villain).
    There was also no resolution with Marianne. We just got a brief cameo of her travelling through somewhere and the conclusion is that, in the end, she ran of her own problems.

    I did like the magical mysterious feeling of the scholars, and my favourite part of the story must be the astreia card-reading (for both Violet and Aleksander). I wish we’d seen more of the scholars and their power games, or Caspian’s ‘society of misfits’ and how they’re different from the scholars, especially now with the potential of so many opened worlds.

    I think the only part of the ending that I liked was Violet and Aleksander. I like that the author didn’t shoehorn in a romance, and that how their relationship evolved is left ambiguous. I feel a romantic relationship would have been very forced given everything that happened between them.

    Overall, this wasn’t the greatest book plot-wise, but the wolrdbuilding was a 5/5 for me and I would gladly read a whole book solely about Fildelis’s history and the scholars.

    • Emily

      I would love a history type book on the world and other worlds!

  • karen.holmes.w

    I loved the style and the whismical amosphere, specially at the beginning. I liked the book as a whole, but I did find some things needed a bit more explanation. Where is Violet’s mom? Why did she really leave? Will they find some closure together?
    Also, how did the thing with the Everly descendants work, because they should be Astrid’s descedants too? Did she eat her own daughter? The how did they have descendants at all?
    I would have loved for the book to be thicker, because I want more from some characters. Yes, consider me intrigued by Caspian too. Loved him on page and would know more about him and his whereabouts and his favours. I’d love to see him with Violet, even as friends.
    I loved how independent Violet is and how she doesn’t need a man to be fully herself. I love she gets to travel and discover the world (the worlds?) and meet interesting people. But I would have loved to be there with her, to see some of it on page.
    I feel it’s one of my fave reads since I subscribed to Fairyloot though. I loved the snippets of fairy tales and how they change because that ‘s what fairy tales do, change over time or depending on who tells it. The beginning does give some Starless Sea and The Ten Thousand Doors of January that are two of my favorite books of all time.

  • Lisa Spanu

    1. What did you think of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers?
    I actually really enjoyed the overall vibe this book had. Magical realism, whimsical feeling and all! I was really intrigued by the prose and the world, but I did miss a bit of depth in the characters, since a lot of time jumps happened throughout the story where a lot happened and I missed parts of the world-building. Where did they originally came from, how came Fidelis to be? What exactly is talent; just the ability to manipulate reveurite?

    2. Did you have a favourite moment from the book?
    Not really a moment I can think of, but I think my favourite thing is just the overall feeling and vibe I really liked

    3. What do you like to think happened between Aleksander and Violet?
    I think they didn’t end up together, as I predicted since to much happened between them to fully trust each other as lovers. I think they remained friends and are able to remain friends since they don’t see each other often

  • claire.ramson87

    What did you think of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers?
    Overall a really good story with gripping moments, especially when Penelope was involved. It was a lot different to how I thought it was going to be which was a good thing and made for change. I was kind of disappointed that we never really found out what happened to her mum, I guess she truly just left and that was it. I would have loved to have know more about other characters that appeared in the book such as Caspian. I would give it 3/5. I will definitely be following Georgia Summers and look forward to reading more from her.

    Did you have a favourite moment from the book?

    I can’t think if a favourite moment from the book, I did enjoy the interactions between Violet and Aleksander (in the cafe) I thought they were cute. I quite liked the scenes that included Penelope as she was a very dark character and her scenes were unnerving and it just had me thinking “what will she do next?”

    What do you like to think happened between Aleksander and Violet?

    I really liked that they had their moment and there was forgiveness between the characters. They made their own minds up at the end and followed their own path until they were ready to meet again.

    • Emily

      I agree that it was was good they choose their own paths!

  • Jennifer Whiting

    I guess the best way to put it is that I feel unfulfilled by the ending. There were some things that never really got explained like how Ever healed Violet or what the point of Aleksander drinking Penelope’s blood was (unless I totally missed it?). Even the question of Violet’s father. I think he must’ve been an astral, which gave Violet enough talent in her blood to let Penelope through the door, cause if all she needed was Everly blood why didn’t it work with the previous Everly’s she took?

    We also spent soo much time on the question of where Marianne is and best we got was that it seems like she cares more about herself then her kid. It just didn’t feel very concrete to me; I would have even accepted Eriel showing Vi a memory of their conversation to solidify that Marianne either gave up or was never trying to break the curse in the first place.

    However I do like that Violet went off on her own, rather then follow Aleksander to Fidelis (and only partially because I like Capsian more πŸ˜„).

  • dnjreads

    Overall I really enjoyed the book, I thought Penelope was a pretty good villain character and in turn made Aleksander sort of a villain as well. The writing was my favorite part of the book I really enjoyed the style that the author went with. It reminded me of The Starless Sea and I love that book.

    I like to think that maybe later down the road they will get together but I’m glad they didn’t get together in the book. He did a lot of things that he needs to come to terms with and become a better person.

  • ASHLEY KALATUSHA

    What did you think of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers? Did you have a favourite moment from the book?
    I gave the book three stars. There were parts that I liked but others that got me lost. Overall, I think it’s a great debut novel.

    What do you like to think happened between Aleksander and Violet?
    I’m not sure. Honestly, I like them together but hate them together there is chemistry but so much BETRAYAL?l!

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