This book had so much promise for me when I was reading it. I wanted a fantasy, something with mythical monsters, surrounded by legend.

I had never read a book quite like this before. I feel it didn't deliver. It was too info dumpy in parts but then it seemed like most of the plot points never got wrapped up at the end. I don't know if this will be a series or not but I was quite disappointed in it.

DNF at 15%
I really wanted to like this book. In the first little chapter, The Starman, Kudei’s writing was full to bursting with personality when writing from Leo’s perspective. But after that, there’s so much long and drawn out description that feels absolutely useless to the plot. I think the attempt was whimsy but the mark was completely missed. When describing the very specific layouts of the city or something similar, there was no variety in sentence structure. This made reading it extremely boring.
I tried to push through til when we got to see stuff form some character perspectives but my interest had already been killed by the painfully show first chapters.

This book had a good start but then tried too many things at once. At first, I found the story really intriguing and while not all the jokes landed, I did find many very funny. Zagreb as setting was also intriguing, especially because I had the impression that the author had made an effort to make sure that it really <i>feels</i> like Zagreb and not simply JustAnotherCity.

But then the story went on and the humor got grating. The jokes got repetitive and in sometimes just felt completely out of place. Like when one of the POV-characters just witnessed the bad guys committing atrocities and then worries if his hair is still in order.

Another thing that didn't quite work were the very different tones in the different POVs. One plotline had two adult characters and another centered around a couple of children. And while the adults got a proper adult fantasy with death and torture the kids were in a YA or even MG story with some ridiculous caricatures of teachers.

It's sad because I think the story had potential, and, as I said, I loved Zagreb as setting but the more I read the more indifferent I felt towards the book.

I had a hard time getting into this title, the premise sounded interesting and I like things based on world folklore but I was unable to finish it at this time. It is probably a good book and I may come back to it when I had more time.

Some schoolchildren in Zagreb are playing an old game called Black Queen when they accidentally summon some otherworldly creatures. This causes Leo Solar to be sent to the White City. Leo is a star daimon who has a past with the Black Queen and he has been sent to make sure she stays put under the mountain. There are a lot of other storylines weaved in which can make the story a bit confusing. This didn't detract from the story at all.
I was intrigued by the mention of Croatian folklore and while I found the story hard to get into at first after the first two or three chapters I was intrigued and curious to see where this story would take me.

This vanity published book slipped in somehow. I wasn’t paying attention to the “publisher”. But, you know, I’m not one to judge how something is published. I’ve read plenty of fanfics that were better than traditionally published books.

Vanity publishers are scams, period. If you want to self publish and feel it’s too complicated, you can hire people directly to edit, make covers, create an epub, market for you. People whose reputations and previous works you look into. Be smart about it.

So, the book. I don’t feel like reviewing it, honestly.

“A cat sat licking its nether regions with meticulous care” is a dubious start to any book.

The names are silly. Leo Solar, Star Council Assembly, Starboard Palace. This is the kind of thing I’d expect in kids lit, since children have smaller vocabularies. Not adult SFF.

There are way too many similes. Every other sentence we get a simile. The first part of the book, a good chunk of it, is one massive info dump.

I don’t even want to get into the rest of it. This book needed an actual editor to see it before this person shelled out $1000 to have it “published”. It’s just not good.

Sonya Kudei gives us the tale of the magical city of Zagreb in Croatia. This is A Croatian mythological folklore, about an evil Queen who was thought to be dead.
The plot is as follows:
The Black Queen is set out to destroy the White City, there are only 3 people who are destined to stop her. 1 is a star daemon named Leo, 1 is a little girl named Stella who is 12-years old and, 1 is a journalist and former philosophy student named Dario. Each one is set on a vastly different path. However, the 3 will meet at an apex, and only then will the 3 have to work together to defeat the evil Black Queen.
The first half of the book gives us so much information, it is like brain overload. (At this point the author may lose a good portion of her audience)
The book becomes extremely dull and flat, and I almost gave up on the book.
Too many detailed, overly descriptive words for one scene or image, making for unnecessary length. Word Dump!
Overall, the book was good! Plot was definitely there, characters were likeable!
Kudei leaves you wanting to know more about Croatian history and folklore.
Nice Debut novel!
Thank you to NetGalley/Sonya Kudei/BHC Press For this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The City Beneath the Hidden Stars follows the adventures of Leo, a star deimon, Dairo, who is a philosophy student dropout, and Stella who is a secondary school student whose lives intertwine to defend the White City against the Black Queen. It took me a while to get into the book, as half the book is spent describing all the folklore that I got a little lost in all the details. The last part of the book is packed full of action and is where are the adventure begins. If you can get through the first back of the book, the latter half is worth it!

"The City Beneath the Hidden Stars" by Sonya Kudei - DNF at 15%

I normally do not do this and I'm sorry I couldn't give this book more of a chance. I really don't like to give a review for a book I haven't at least read to the 50% mark.

Sadly, I could not for the life of me get through the massive infodump that consumed the first solid ~25 pages of this book. When things started to happen, I was still so confused and didn't care about any of the characters at all.
Since I have a some other ARCs to get to I decided to spend my time on those instead of trying to force myself to get to a point were I might or might not enjoy this story.

I will not write more, since I do not think that I'm qualified to give a full review on this. Still, I want to thank the publisher for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 17%

Yikes, I did not mesh with this writing style at all. It actively bothered me so much - the author was trying to be casual, or whimsy, perhaps? I'm not sure what the goal was. But I thought the prose was over descriptive to an overwhelming degree, and too casual for the style- it felt like a person telling me a story, but not in a good way. For example, there's a part where the author is describing a pigeon and says "One of the pigeons paused in the middle of its random pacing and then did that thing birds sometimes do where they tilt their head to one side and stare into space as if suddenly faced with a realization of grave importance.." The book is full of things like this, just sounding so awkward to me. I can't continue with this

Really really enjoyed this book! Im a big fan of fantasy and this book had me locked in from the begginning!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

It breaks my heart to write a review like this, but this was a DNF at about 20%. I honestly couldn’t get invested in the story and the writing style wasn’t for me. It was trying really hard, I think, to be different and unique, but it just felt like a bad-attempt at narration that breaks the fourth wall. The premise was interesting, but the lack of hook and odd writing style failed to keep me interested enough to keep reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and BHC Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I…did not love this book. Truthfully, I did not enjoy it. Some pieces of the premise had promise, but overall it fell flat for me. Sometimes sci-fi, sometimes dark fantasy. Weird pop culture references, like Etsy dot com, that will not stand the test of time.

The tone was all over the place. Sometimes it seemed like the author was reaching for Lemony Snicket but couldn’t nail it. The novel would benefit from a lot more character development. I think the intention was to build up the city of Zagreb as a character—common enough—but the actual characters suffered because of it.

I wouldn’t recommend this book in its current state, but I will credit the author with piquing my interest in Croatian folklore.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and BHC Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

The City Beneath the Hidden Stars is fundamentally a book with a lot of potential. The city itself, Zagreb, is vibrant and lifelike, often feeling like another character than just a setting. The premise is exciting and engaging and sounds like the fantasy novels I grew up reading. However, I just didn't feel like things landed like they should. This novel has the bones of a truly fantastic fantasy, but doesn't quite feel like it's there yet. Ultimately, if you're looking for an easy read, and want to diversify your exploration into fantasy with a truly unique setting, this is the novel for you.

<b>Plot Summary</b>
The Black Queen, once sealed away, threatens to return to Zagreb and wreak havoc on its inhabitants. In order to prevent this, three very different individuals must work together: Leo, a star daimon; Dario, a journalist and former philosophy student; and Stella, a 12 year old student.

<b>Characters</b>
On the surface, Leo, Dario, and Stella are fascinating choices for POV characters. However, each have their flaws. Leo is irreverent and flippant, but his comedic arrogance doesn't always land. Stella, though 12, often feels both younger and older at the same time in her thoughts and actions. Dario is arguably the most grounded of the three, but it often feels like things are just happening to him, rather than having him be an active participant in the story.

Though these three are the main POV characters, they are not the only ones, and this can be a little overwhelming at times. The cast was so large that I often found myself losing track of who someone was, even in sections of chapters delivered from their POV.

<b>Pacing</b>
The novel is at once a fast-paced and meandering read. The first 20-30% dragged on, trying to establish characters and motivations, until the plot really kicked into motion. I found myself really enjoying the middle of the novel, as the history of the Black Queen was finally explained, and the threat and goals were clear.

The last 30%, by contrast, had the opposite problem. Things happened so quickly, and the novel jumped around to so many different POV's, that I found myself wanting things to slow down. As a result, the ending felt anticlimactic and rushed.

<b>Tone</b>
The prose is really interesting, and reminded me at times of Douglas Adams or Neil Gaiman. This comes, primarily, in the form of non-sequitur descriptions, fourth-wall breaking prose, and an irreverent and flippant tone. However, it also felt at times like the novel was trying a little too hard to achieve that.

The beginning is quite jarring, and getting used to that style took some time. However, I did eventually find myself able to just be immersed in it without noticing things too much. Unfortunately, especially with regards to the flippant tone, the threat of the Black Queen's return never really felt pressing or even possible -- I never for one minute worried that she would be defeated. Things are presented to the reader as dangerous, but then shot down in the prose as being not that big of a deal.

<b>Assorted Musings</b>
Overall, though this book is classified as Adult Fantasy, I felt it suited a Young Adult style far better. Once I was able to let go of the expectations I held towards an Adult Fantasy novel, and just approach it as I would when reading a Young Adult or even Middle Grade novel, I was better able to just enjoy the story and let criticisms wash over me.

I really wanted to like this book because I think the plot and the storyline have promise but I really struggled to read this book.

The first half of the book felt long and drawn out. The book struggled to keep my attention during these points and I would have really loved to see more world building (other than the random buildings and paragraphs about the trams) or character building here because it just fell short for me. I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters and felt like I didn’t really understand what was going on at times.

Overall, I just don’t think this was the right book for me but it has potential. Thank you to NetGalley and BHC Press for giving me this arc in exchange for my honest review.

The City Beneath the Hidden Stars wasn’t it for me. It has potential and I was really excited going in but I had several instances of considering not finishing it. The Croatian folklore and the myth of the Black Queen that the book is built on are incredibly interesting, and I wish we could’ve explored it a bit more. I found the pacing to be off and the characters to be underdeveloped. I wasn’t really able to relate to them, didn’t find them particularly likeable, and with the book spending too much time on descriptions of places, it did at times seem like the author was more interested in making sure the city of Zagreb came across as authentic than the characters in the story. I do really like when chapters have titles like this one does, and I did appreciate the humour a lot of the time. Ultimately, this book just didn’t do it for me, unfortunately.

I like reading internationally, so that was this book’s main appeal to me.
This was obviously designed to be a whimsical adventure story that attempts to do for Zagreb what Neverwhere did for London. The thing is, although Zagreb is a wonderous location, an intersection of historical and modern, exactly the sort of place where myths and legends can come to life, this author - like so many others- is no Neil Gaiman. The effort was there, I credit the effort, but overall, the production was too heavy on whimsy. Overdone. Dramatically.
It’s easy to go over the top like that, especially with a debut novel, to be fair.
It was aiming for quicky, charming, quixotic…and it made a very valiant effort of getting there.
You got an old queen who dreams of coming back in power, a daimon investigating the situation and, of course, the prerequisite bumbling mortal caught up in it all.
When it works, it’s fun and funny. When it goes over the top, like it does, it’s…kinda silly.
Overall, decent enough, especially for the first effort, but didn’t really wow me, outside of the interesting and exciting location. User milage may vary. Thanks Netgalley.

Thanks to NetGalley and BHC Press for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Sonya Kudei, as well.

The City Beneath the Hidden Stars is Kudei’s debut novel, expected to be released on September 27th 2022.

This story is promising. The author takes us on a ride through Croatian Folklore by interchanging it with urban fantasy, which was what captured my attention from the beginning. I love fantasy and having it rely so much on myths I had never heard of seemed very exciting to me.

The premise was alright and the way the story was told didn’t bother me. However, I do think this book needs some work in terms of its development.

Halfway through the novel, I felt like I still hadn’t read much about what was happening. The descriptions of buildings, streets, places, and even trams, are regular. Meanwhile, the characters get neglected and there’s not much development to be talked about and I felt like I needed that to connect more with the story.

It was very hard for me to stay focused on reading because my mind kept wandering about. I needed to know more about why what’s happening is happening, how things work, and how the magic came to be… I need to feel empathy with the story, to find some meaning in what I’m reading, and I did not feel the connection with this story.

The way this story is told is great to be read by teens, even if the language is unnecessarily complex. I say this due to it being so straight to the point, even if it’s not?

You got A, B, C, and D. You learn about them. However, you do not learn about how you go from one point to the other. Here’s what I mean: where’s the background on the politics of the Star Council? How did it come to be? How did they get involved with the task of fixing Earth’s problems? Why does the Black Queen want to rule so bad? Who was she exactly? Why is she so relevant?

This novel relies on Croatian folklore but it doesn’t explore it thoroughly. We don’t get to learn more than what is described in the summary of the book and I believe this was a missed opportunity to teach the audience about this aspect of history.

Onto the characters… As I said, I didn’t empathize with any of them. Leo is an arrogant man, who believes the world has to be bent his way. Dario is … bland… he is apathetic. Stella and the kids were the most enjoyable characters. Note that Stella is an 11-year-old with a fascination for the Black Queen myth.

The climax of the book had no impact whatsoever. It was so easy for the bad guy (or girl) to be defeated that it took away the bang of the story.

However, I gotta say… this book has SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Listen, I am still intrigued. I want to know more about this world. Maybe if we got to know the Black Queen a little better it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I would definitely read this book again if all these plot holes were filled.

Even if this read wasn’t that enjoyable to me, I’m sure it will be for a lot of you.

Again, thank you so much to NetGalley and BHC Press for the advance copy, and thank you Sonya Kudei for the creation of this new world.

Arc Copy...I give its 3.5 on basis, felt like enjoyable astrological themed hidden word fantasy and the reading mood and world building felt a tiny bit like "Starless Sea". It was interesting to see Croatia as the main setting too.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to receive an arc in exchange for my honest review- all thoughts and opinions are my own!


This book was pretty unique to me- culturally, lore wise. I appreciated that, and it led me on lots of hole digging online. The author does an amazing job writing, I appreciated this one!