The City Beneath The Hidden Star sure has a unique concept, but because of the pacing and the characters are plain to me, it took more time to get hooked

This was a very interesting book and it was my introduction to Croatian mythology!

I unfortunately didn't like the book that much because of the pacing. At times I felt that the story was moving slowly and at other times moved to fast.

I really liked the main characters and they fit well into the book.

Also, an underrated aspect of the book that I really enjoyed were the chapter titles!

A star daimon, a first grader and a former philosophy student are in Zagreb, Croatia, initially walking down individual paths before crossing when rumours begin to spread about the return of the legendary Black Queen.

Kudei has done a fantastic job nailing down the imagery of Zagreb and the fantasy aspects of it with a dry voice with occasional sass. Leo is the most guilty of this, having many opinions sprinkled throughout his sections. However, descriptions mean slowing down the pace and, while it is to be expected with a fantasy story and welcomed, it does get a little laborious at times to read them. The chapter titles add a lot of humor and character to the novel, which complements Leo the best. On a related note, the humor is worth appreciating and at times made me laugh for how cheeky it is.

The way the stakes of the novel are treated are kinda odd because the idea of an ancient evil rising immediately makes it feel, or logically feel, heavy and consequential. Through Stella and Dario, this can be felt (more or less), but through Leo, the events are presently pressing but essentially just another job for him to do in his long, immortal life. This is especially true once the story begins to wrap up and how it ends. It's a choice, to say the least.

Thanks to Netgalley and BHC Press for providing me with the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and BHC Press for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly I just want to say that this is an incredibly unique and interesting concept for a debut novel, I love some folklore steeped in urban fantasy. However, I think this book needs a really good edit in terms of content and plot.

At 10% through the novel I found myself still unable to identify significant story arcs or plot direction. By 20% I had a good idea of what was happening but found myself feeling like I had just wasted a good chunk of the novel reading nothing. The City Beneath the Hidden Stars would benefit from a really good cull of descriptive content and instead replacing it with more character development. I found myself reading paragraph after paragraph of descriptions of trams and buildings which, in the grand scheme of the story, were not crucial. During these paragraphs my mind wandered and it became increasingly harder to get engaged in the story.

More background into the politics of the Star Council and the Black Queens story were needed to drive the plot forward; we are given no real reasoning behind anyones motives besides the Black Queen wanting to rule the world - but why? This novel relies so heavily on Croatian folklore but never really goes further than surface level - a real missed opportunity to delve into an area untouched.

For myself, in a novel I have to find myself either liking the characters, find them relatable or interesting enough to want to keep reading. Unfortunately with The City Beneath the Hidden Stars I could not find any of these characters enough of a reason to keep reading. First of we have Leo who is beyond arrogant and self-obsessed and we just accept this because...he's a star daimon? Leo shows barely any character growth throughout the entire novel and we learn nothing about his desires or motives. Next is Dario, an apathetic self-pitying college dropout (although this is never really clarified so I don't know). Reading Darios' chapters was like walking home in the rain, something you have to endure but would much rather be almost anywhere else. Lastly is Stella, the most likeable character of three, except she's an eleven year old girl who seems to be wise beyond her years and braver than all the other characters combined. Out of the three I enjoyed her chapters the most and she was probably the most redeemable aspect of the whole book.

Lastly I just want to touch on how "easy" it was for the "good guys" to defeat the Black Queen - there was no real sacrifice or battle here and it made the climax of the book much less impactful. I didn't recognise that was what was happening until well after the fact.

Overall I think this book has a lot of potential to be a great Urban Fantasy if perhaps it underwent a revision in terms of plot and character development. I would definitely consider re-reading it again if there were changes made.

Thank you again to NetGalley, BHC Press and Sonya Kudei.

Overall, this was an interesting read! It took me a little while to get into the storyline of this one, as the author has a very descriptive writing style and spends time introducing a fair number of characters and settings. Once I got about 30% in, the story picked up a lot and I really enjoyed it! It’s a unique setting and interesting storyline. I would love to read more about the history behind the Black Queen and the future promise hinted at about another character.

The City Beneath the Hidden Stars was an entertaining and fun fantasy-action tale. The humorous narration captured my attention from page one, and the story held it until the end. I came to this book off the back of some so-so reads and it thankfully pulled me right out of my slump. It isn't perfect; I had some questions at the end that were never answered and the finale felt a tad rushed after all the build-up, with some deus-ex-machina moments saving the day. However, if you're after a fun fantasy adventure story with a good dose of humour it's definitely worth a read. It gets 4 stars from me and I would happily read more works by this author in the future.

A gripping read, worth checking by readers interested in intriguing worldbuilding, solid characterization, and clever plots. Recommended.

I am very grateful to BHC Press to have sent me the digital copy of this book! I really enjoyed it.
The "City beneath the hidden stars" by Sonya Kudei has been conceived as a mix of myths of Zagreb, in Croatia.
It starts with the arrival to the Earth of Leo Solar, a star daimon sent to investigate about the rumors of Black Queen being still alive. The Black Queen, called like this for her black style of clothing, was the ruler of Zagreb and she lived in Bear Town Fortress. Leo must meet with the mysterious Hermit to gather information.
Everyone believed that she was dead but one day she appeared in front of a girl named Stella, while she was playing with her friends. Only she could see the scary Black Queen.
At a certain point the philosophy student Dario Taubek after having noticed a strange man with a blue cloak, he starts following him. And... The adventure begins!

I loved the myth the author chose to develop in this book, I was in love with the idea of star daimons. Particularly I was very interested in names the author used for characters and places!
The style is very simple, easy to understand and fluent. I suggest this book if you want to read a book in English but you are not used to.
Besides, this book is a good choice if you want to enter a magical world full of stars and legends.

Based on Croatian myths/folklore, The City Beneath the Hidden Stars is set in Zagreb, where several characters come together to stop the evil Black Queen from escaping her prison and destroying the city.

This a very plot-driven and humorous novel. The first half has a lot of exposition, but following that the novel really ramps up. I think this book would be very well suited to a younger audience. There was not much character development, so don't expect much in terms of character growth and relationships between the various MC's. However, the humour was quite good and I think teens/older children would enjoy that a lot.

One thing that I wish this book leaned into more is the culture of Zagreb itself. While the book is based upon Croatian folklore, the city itself feels like it could be anywhere/any city. I would love to see more references of the culture & history of Zagreb.

This book used the r-word without challenging or critiquing it, which I think could have been left out or changed to a different word.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

The City Beneath the Hidden Stars was an enjoyable book. I related to all three main characters, though my favourite was Leo. He added many funny moments. Some things, like myths, the star daimons, the black queen were interesting, but there were scenes or details that felt unnecessary.
To sum up, if you love Croatian mythology and great main characters, you should read this book.

The book is interesting and the characters are fun to read. The story set in crotian mythology and has its own unique and dark world.

The Evil Queen tries to untrap and destroy the city. The main characters are Leo, Dario and Stella. It was slow pace for a few chapters but gets interesting soon. It has a humor sense that i enjoyed so much. Also some cute moments.

I would recommend this book to those who love Crotian Mythology.

I thank the Netgalley and BHC Publisher for the advance copy for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and BHC Press for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

If one makes it through the first 50%, this book is a solid 4, but 50% is a lot of rambling on and that's why I think everyone settled for a 3.

1. YES to chapter titles!

2. The story follows Leo, Dario, and Stella, who are great main characters that do not follow any stereotypical trope. I like Leo so much, mainly because I think he fits the writing of the book best. He's so fun to read and he personally brings most fantasy aspect to the book.

3. The pace picked up significantly after the 50% mark. To the point that I believe I could cut about 20% of the book and it would still make sense to people. The writing was easy to read, but it went to too much details about things that would never be seen again and that threw the readers off. There are a lot of comical description and details thrown in just to be quirky. I also expected the Black Queen's side to be more essential to the plot, but because of the writing, it was treated as something nonsequential. It is a pity since I enjoyed it a lot.

4. Because of the long introduction, one thing I don't like is the lack of reaction from the people when they encounter magical situations. They just stand there while someone explains things to them unprompted, and they just think yup that totally makes sense. Like come on, you used so many words to describe things but now you can't give them a proper reaction? This gives me a feeling that the author wanted to get to the point so much, she just explained everything in one go.

Overall, I think it is a solid book for an author debut. I personally have no knowledge about Croatian mythology and lore so this is a nice introduction.

The City Beneath the Hidden Stars is an interesting book by Sonya Kudei.
This book takes place in Zagreb, and is about Croatian mythology. That in itself is very interesting, I do not hear anything about Croatian mythology. But it is also interesting in the writing style.
The City Beneath the Hidden Stars is about an evil queen, called the Black Queen, who was trapped but is now trying to get untrapped and come back to destroy Zagreb. Three characters have to stop her. First is Leo, an arrogant star daemon. Next is Dario, a former philosophy student who has a very boring and sad life. Third is Stella, a child who is responsible for helping the Black Queen return in the first place.
The plot is solid, it takes a while to get going, but the characters are all very fun. But the writing style is the best part. It has a very dry and aloof humor, and spends a good deal of its time insulting Zagreb. But this makes even the more boring parts fun, and it makes the story seem less important.
I would recommend this book to people who want to learn more about Croatian mythology, and who like a dry humor throughout their book.

This one was kind of interesting but pretty much lost me as the story progressed. I didn't connect with any of the world building or creatures of the story and it just wasn't
for me I think. A lot of it was really confusing and I just didn't enjoy it.

The City Beneath the Hidden Stars is a mix of Croatian mythology, science fiction, witches, and star beings. It's a magical tale centered in Zagreb, Croatia and is a fun read featuring mythology that's not commonly referenced, which I enjoyed learning about a lot.

I found myself having some difficulty getting into the book initially as the first portion is quite detailed and slowly paced. However, as we follow Dario, Leo, and Stella, it becomes a lot more fun!

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book. I will preface that I got an updated copy of the book that no longer contains what previous reviewers mentioned they were concerned about so I will base my review on the updated copy.

I enjoyed reading this book and I liked the writing style but I could see how it wouldn’t appeal to everyone. I thought this book was unique, dark, and sometimes funny all at the same time. I liked the characters and various worlds as well.

The first part of the story was a little difficult for me to follow because it was very descriptive and I found myself losing focus pretty easily. When I hit the halfway point of the story it felt like it became more interesting and picked up for me.. I was really convinced that it was going to end on a cliff hanger, but it ends in a pretty well rounded place, even though there is definitely room for there to be a sequel.

In this story you get Croatian lore, witches, legends, a bit of the underworld , multi dimensions, celestial democracy, and a variety of magical animals. I would say this is a good urban fantasy for high schoolers and middle schoolers., especially since there isn't a romantic element in it at all.

One thing that I did not like was how the word "retarded " was used. It happened two times when one of the school children was name calling others. I understand what was trying to be done, and I know that kid's say it still to be hurtful. But, it was an actual medical diagnosis, and it stigmatized and hurt a lot of people. I feel like there is a better way to show teasing, than by using the word "retarded".

this book didn’t really keep me engaged the whole time, and i often felt myself slipping away from the story into my own thoughts, which is why i decided to go with my rating.

the city beneath the hidden stars by sonya kudei // 3/5 stars

*i received this arc free through netgalley thanks to bhc press in exchange for an honest review*

the city beneath the hidden stars follows a cast of a multitude of characters working to defend the city of zagreb, croatia from the black queen. kudei pulls from folk tales of the region to mold together this story, which was interesting for me as a reader who is not familiar with this region. although slow to pick up, kudei utilizes sarcasm in a similar shade to roald dahl (think of matilda), where the author breaks the fourth wall with the audience. this reminded me of a lot of books i read when i was a younger reader, and think this read will do quite well with that age group regardless of adult language or themes that are within the novel. i did find it hard to believe that stella was a first-grader and always imagined her more as an older elementary school-aged person. this book didn’t really keep me engaged the whole time, and i often felt myself slipping away from the story into my own thoughts, which is why i decided to go with my rating.

The City Beneath the Stars is fantasy-filled, imaginative storytelling. I loved the mythological influences and alternative world that Sonya Kudei has crafted and am eager to visit this world in literature again.

tl;dr
An irreverent adventure that mixes Croatian folklore with extra-terrestrial mythology. Story takes a bit to get going on the front end.

About
Old tales in the city of Zagreb tell of a queen dark and powerful who used to rule with an iron fist. But those days are long gone. A girl playing schoolyard games. A college dropout looking for direction. A literal fallen star tasked with atoning for his sins. Three strangers suddenly faced with stopping the rise of the Black Queen. But the queen is dead. Isn't she?

Thoughts
I rarely dedicate more than a sentence to an author's writing style, but I think I have to start with the style here, because it defines so much of the book itself. The writing is irreverent and cynical, with a very conversational style, as if the story is being recounted by one of the disaffected philosophy students that the book's hero Dario hangs out with. Detailed descriptions of people and places are punctuated with sly remarks about shortcomings or lack of relevance. All in all, it gives the events of this book a sense of being an inconsequential thing, which is strange, because I would argue that the rise of an ancient evil is very consequential. Even set against the backdrop of an interstellar war, the Black Queen and her followers present a genuinely terrifying threat, and scenes with her were especially chilling. Plot moves like the final drop on a rollercoaster, slowly easing readers up to the top before a sharp, adrenaline-pumping finale. The three heroes of this book are Stella, Dario, and Leo. Stella is probably my favorite - a spunky young heroine doing her best in the world. Dario and Leo are a fun odd couple, both trapped in situations they're trying to escape, and I'd be delighted to read further adventures with them. I know absolutely nothing about Croatian mythology (or Zagreb, for that matter), but reading this book has made me very interested in learning more. An appendix of some sort with names or other details would be much appreciated by this reader.