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bookish_hollyx's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
caffeinatedbookdragon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
This book had a lot of potential and an interesting concept but ultimately it fell flat in certain areas.
There wasn’t much character development. The characters you meet at the start of the book are essentially the same at the end.
They fact that Violet forgave aleksander so easily after everything astounded me
Violet is billed as a clever, relentless young woman, but I saw none of that in her actions.
The book needed more world building. We’re setup with this great world of magical scholars that really amounts to nothing (among other things).
There wasn’t much character development. The characters you meet at the start of the book are essentially the same at the end.
Violet is billed as a clever, relentless young woman, but I saw none of that in her actions.
The book needed more world building. We’re setup with this great world of magical scholars that really amounts to nothing (among other things).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
callistag1's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death and Gaslighting
Minor: Genocide
alanahcw's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
4.75
I wanted a little more from the climax/ending
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, and Murder
maresuju's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Vomit
thedarklibraryofleah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The City of Stardust has left me feeling really conflicted about how I feel about it. There are elements of the story that I loved and other elements that I just did not like as much.
Let's start with the positives, I really loved the lore as I found it super interesting and it was quite complex. The world building was also super great and it was really fun exploring the world through Violet in the story. I also really loved the prose used to describe the world building and lore as it gave it a very whimsical feeling.
Now for the more negative aspects of the story which I felt brought the story down a bit. Firstly, thr character choices were really frustrating, except for Violet it felt none of the other characters (especially Aleksander) really evolved. They just kept making the same mistake again and again without learning anything. Speaking of Aleksander, i really disliked him which is strange for me as I tend to like darker, morally gray characters like Caspian but he came across not evil just naive and dumb. I really was not a fan of the romance between Aleksander and Violet, there just no chemistry between them and I much preferred her with Caspian. I also felt that there was too much going on with the plot, that it just lead to the characters making questionable decisions that actually damage their progress to what they were trying to achieve (looking at you Penelope).
Overall, it was a whimsical read which I enjoyed but also got frustrated at.
Let's start with the positives, I really loved the lore as I found it super interesting and it was quite complex. The world building was also super great and it was really fun exploring the world through Violet in the story. I also really loved the prose used to describe the world building and lore as it gave it a very whimsical feeling.
Now for the more negative aspects of the story which I felt brought the story down a bit. Firstly, thr character choices were really frustrating, except for Violet it felt none of the other characters (especially Aleksander) really evolved. They just kept making the same mistake again and again without learning anything. Speaking of Aleksander, i really disliked him which is strange for me as I tend to like darker, morally gray characters like Caspian but he came across not evil just naive and dumb. I really was not a fan of the romance between Aleksander and Violet, there just no chemistry between them and I much preferred her with Caspian. I also felt that there was too much going on with the plot, that it just lead to the characters making questionable decisions that actually damage their progress to what they were trying to achieve (looking at you Penelope).
Overall, it was a whimsical read which I enjoyed but also got frustrated at.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicide, Blood, and Abandonment
pm_me_book_recs's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A gothic globe-trotting urban fantasy with elements of horror and mystery.
Parts somehow both whimsical and horrifying? Think Pan's Labyrinth vibes, but also completely different. The whole book is a vibe, moody and dark and pushing for answers. Violet struggles, realistically so, after spending a life sheltered and safe. She bumbles stubbornly through her deceptions, navigating secret society, unknown magic, and a family curse on the brink of fruition. This tale is saturated with betrayal, haunted with Violet's childhood memories, but also so full of hope and determination. The world is just a key-turn away. The romance is pretty good too, right person wrong time with a dash of enemies to lovers. I can't really say more without spoilers!
I listened to this via Libro.fm and immediately looked up what other books this narrator has done- this was the first. I'm so excited to hear what projects Kitty Parker does next, her different intonations for each character were SO GOOD. Sexy evil for the big bad, brooding and cautious as Aleksander, challenging and strong willed as Violet, and the poor exasperated and exhausted brothers.
Parts somehow both whimsical and horrifying? Think Pan's Labyrinth vibes, but also completely different. The whole book is a vibe, moody and dark and pushing for answers. Violet struggles, realistically so, after spending a life sheltered and safe. She bumbles stubbornly through her deceptions, navigating secret society, unknown magic, and a family curse on the brink of fruition. This tale is saturated with betrayal, haunted with Violet's childhood memories, but also so full of hope and determination. The world is just a key-turn away. The romance is pretty good too, right person wrong time with a dash of enemies to lovers. I can't really say more without spoilers!
I listened to this via Libro.fm and immediately looked up what other books this narrator has done- this was the first. I'm so excited to hear what projects Kitty Parker does next, her different intonations for each character were SO GOOD. Sexy evil for the big bad, brooding and cautious as Aleksander, challenging and strong willed as Violet, and the poor exasperated and exhausted brothers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
kiwij96's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I genuinely have no idea what the plot is to this story and I have read it. It was just 340 pages of nothing which is so disappointing because the concept for it was so interesting.
Essentially, after finding out that her family (nore specifically, Violet) is cursed, Violet spends a year of her life running around the world trying to find her mother who ran away when Violet was 8. She befriends a scholar who is about as interesting as drywall, and encounters Gods (one of which Gabriel later tries to fight off with a chair, an event that genuinely made me consider DNFing for the 8th time but it was 100 pages from the end so ) and friends of her mother who do absolutely nothing to progress the story or help her understand anything.
Everyone in this story hides the truth from Violet and is super vague about everything, but somehow Violet knows where to look after conversations that hold about as much weight as air. The only tolerable character is Caspian who gets about 5 pages. The only character who has a set nationality is Yury (and honestly I don't love the fact that the Russian character is written as what is essentially a terrorist ).
Fidelis is definitely, 100% based on Velaris from ACOTAR with it being a City of Stars (granted it is Stardust instead of Starlight). A city which is visited maybe 3 times total and not for very long each time it is mentioned. The city is but a vague promise to the reader in the greater scheme of things, especially when the majority of the story takes place somewhere in the world.
There is some absolutely gorgeous writing and scene-setting in this book for sure. The sentence structure is genuinely stunning. The chapters are short and easy to get through without issue. However, the pacing is just so weird and at times I felt like I was missing context for what was happening and why.
I genuinely have no idea what that book was and I am massively disappointed with it. I should have saved myself the time and energy and DNFed.
Essentially, after finding out that her family (nore specifically, Violet) is cursed, Violet spends a year of her life running around the world trying to find her mother who ran away when Violet was 8. She befriends a scholar who is about as interesting as drywall, and encounters Gods (
Everyone in this story hides the truth from Violet and is super vague about everything, but somehow Violet knows where to look after conversations that hold about as much weight as air. The only tolerable character is Caspian who gets about 5 pages. The only character who has a set nationality is Yury (
Fidelis is definitely, 100% based on Velaris from ACOTAR with it being a City of Stars (granted it is Stardust instead of Starlight). A city which is visited maybe 3 times total and not for very long each time it is mentioned. The city is but a vague promise to the reader in the greater scheme of things, especially when the majority of the story takes place somewhere in the world.
There is some absolutely gorgeous writing and scene-setting in this book for sure. The sentence structure is genuinely stunning. The chapters are short and easy to get through without issue. However, the pacing is just so weird and at times I felt like I was missing context for what was happening and why.
I genuinely have no idea what that book was and I am massively disappointed with it. I should have saved myself the time and energy and DNFed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Abandonment
Moderate: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
madscientistcat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, and Murder
creatureof_nature's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, and Kidnapping