Curses are made to be broken.

For centuries, generations of 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, determined to break their curse, and never returned. Now Violet must find her mother, or she will be taken in her place.

To do so, she must descend into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods, and monsters bent on revenge. She must also contend with Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, whom she knows cannot be trusted – and yet to whom she finds herself undeniably drawn.

Tied to a very literal deadline, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began…

I was so excited to read this fantasy novel. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and the summary sounded like something I would enjoy. Unfortunately, this was a big miss for me. 

My biggest complaint was the sudden POV changes. This story is told by multiple characters, and sometimes, the POV changes right in the middle of a page or even a paragraph. We don’t get any notice of the change coming. We’re just suddenly thrust into another person’s head. It felt so disjointed, confusing, and jarring that it constantly took me out of the story, which became increasingly frustrating the further I got into the story. 

The pacing was also poorly done. The first half of the book was very slow-paced, and I became rather bored with it, though I was still intrigued, hoping it would get better. It did…and it didn’t. It does pick up in pacing in the second half of the book, specifically the last quarter. However, it still didn’t pull me into this world. I wanted a lot more fantasy elements. I wanted many more action sequences. I wanted the story to surprise me and take me on a wild ride, which it failed to do. Ultimately, it felt like nothing really happened. 

The story had a unique premise but needed better execution. It was very atmospheric but the world-building felt a bit sloppy. The story was a bit complex and hard to follow at times. I wasn’t even sure what I was reading about for the majority of the story. Unfortunately, it’s not a story that will stick with me long-term. It’s not very memorable. 

The writing is beautiful but it’s overshadowed by too much flowery description and not enough dialogue and substance. I found myself skimming the majority of the book. I felt like not enough details and information were given; therefore, it was difficult to visualize locations, settings, and the world being built. 

As for the characters, I couldn’t connect to any of them; therefore, I didn’t really care about any of them. They all lacked character development and felt one-dimensional and flat. The romance felt forced, and I didn’t get any chemistry from the main couple. There is some language but no spice (clean, closed-door romance), just a few kissing scenes. 

If I weren’t reading this for NetGalley, I probably would’ve DNF’d it in the beginning. Overall, this had so much potential but ended up being a big disappointment for me. I didn’t really like any aspect of it, and I can’t recommend it.