Review by Booklist Review
Cassandra Fairfax was raised in a bookshop, but not just any bookshop. She was raised in one of the tributary bookstores of the river, which specialize in books that can grant readers their greatest desires--for a great price. Ten years ago, Cassandra was cast out of the bookshop and, in order to get by, had to turn to using her skill in reading the magic in a book to make that magic a reality and then stealing the books for private collectors. Now, her former mentor has been murdered and left the bookshop to her, but things are not right. The river is receding, and bookstores are disappearing, taking the magic with them. Cass will have to fight to save the river, and there are dark forces that want to see her fail. Will the river forgive her for the crimes she's committed against it? Compulsively readable and unrelentingly moody, Summers' latest (after The City of Stardust, 2024) shows that her worlds and plots just keep getting better; she's an author to watch for imaginative, dark fairy tales. Perfect for fans of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus (2011) or Alix E. Harrow's The Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019).
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Summers (The City of Stardust) loads this enchanting fantasy with sensory details and imaginative lore about London's underground network of magical bookstores. Chiron's bookshop is a mystical place trading in tomes imbued with magic that can change readers' fortunes. Chiron's disgraced ex-protégé, Cassandra Fairfax, has been exiled from the store and now uses her skills as an ink magic reader, someone able to decipher these text-based enchantments, to get by via extralegal means. Shortly after she's attacked by a stranger, the store suddenly reappears to her, but it's deserted and in disrepair. As it turns out, Chiron has been killed and he's willed the store to Cassandra. She then encounters the exasperating yet charismatic Lowell Sharpe, who warns her about the dangers of her running the bookshop without any experience and offers to buy it. Meanwhile, a shadowy society comprising the owners of London's other magical bookstores plots the best way to remove her from her new role. With enemies to dodge, Chiron's murder to solve, her own origins to discover, and Lady Fate presiding over it all, Cassandra has her hands full. It's perhaps one subplot too many, but Summers's feisty protagonist anchors this elaborate urban fantasy, and her vivid prose makes the dust and mustiness of the antique bookshop palpable. Fans of Genevieve Cogman's Invisible Library series should take note. (Nov.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Ten years ago, Cassandra Fairfax left Chiron's bookshop in disgrace, but now she is returning as owner, as the late Chiron has bequeathed the shop to her. Having survived by book theft and ink magic, Cass feels ill-prepared to be a bookstore owner, and most of the other booksellers agree. All bookstores must have an owner, and each connects to the river which imbues the books with magic for others to bargain for. Bookseller Lowell Sharpe lets Cass know her failings but finds himself both rival and helper as Cass works to prove she can live up to Chiron's example. However, Cass must deal with a secret group and mysterious disappearances of booksellers and bookstores, plus face her past transgressions, all of which might cost her not only the bookshop but everyone she has connected with since taking over. VERDICT Summers (The City of Stardust) offers a grimly cozy novel, filled with enchanted books and well-rounded characters. The prose is immersive, and the settings entrancing. Give to readers who love character-driven stories of magical bookstores and libraries.--Kristi Chadwick
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A deeply flawed young woman tries to find a way to save London's source of ink magic. Cassandra Fairfax is many things: an ink magic reader, liar, and former bookseller. Under the name Cass Holt, she's also a world-class book thief. When she receives a letter from her old mentor, Chiron--now dead--inviting her to take over his bookshop, which she'd left on bad terms, Cassandra practically leaps at the chance to settle back into her previous honest life. She may be a bookstore owner now, but she quickly comes to realize that she's in way over her head. And no one delights in reminding her of that more than her frustratingly handsome fellow bookseller, Lowell Sharpe. He is poised and knowledgeable in every way Cassandra is not, and he wants Chiron's for himself. Thankfully, she has Byron--her own protégé, and a woman who lost her previous position to the work of Cass Holt--to lean on. But secrets do not remain secret for long in Cassandra's world of magical books, and Chiron had more than a few of his own for her to inherit. With the magical river that powers the tributary bookshops mysteriously waning, Cassandra might just be in a unique position to save London's source of powerful ink magic. But can she put together the solution before her past catches up with her and destroys her new life? There is a lot to love in Summers' stand-alone fantasy novel, like the slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romance between Cassandra and Lowell, the immediate prose, and Errata the ink magic cat. Sadly, readers who want detailed answers to how the river and ink magic system work will be disappointed. The pacing is slow and then the ending wraps up too quickly, leaving this book feeling only half-baked. A unique novel of books and bookish magic that unfortunately just misses the mark. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
