Nightbirds
Books | Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Romance
4
Kate J. Armstrong
AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • In a dazzling new fantasy world full of whispered secrets and political intrigue, the magic of women is outlawed but four girls with unusual powers have the chance to change it all.Magic is illegal in Simta, but for the right price, the wealthy can always partake. They need only procure a visit with a Nightbird, girls who can gift their rare powers with a kiss. Usually a tight-knit group, this Season’s Nightbirds couldn’t be more different. Matilde, the group’s veteran, relishes the feeling of power and freedom she thinks her Nightbird status affords, but rebels against her family’s growing expectation that she finally choose a suitor and pass her magic on to the next generation; fiery orphan Sayer, resigned to this life as a means to support herself, resents each transaction and the world Matilde so reveres; and novice Æsa, fears her own magic and thinks her very existence is a sin.But when the Nightbirds find themselves at the heart of a deadly political scheme that shakes the world as they know it, they must put their differences aside and band together to fend off those who would exploit them. In doing so, they discover their magic is more powerful than they could have ever imagined, and they see the Nightbirds system for what it is: a gilded cage. United, they are a potent force that could upend the patriarchal system that would hunt them as witches. But wielding their power could cost them more than they are prepared to lose. They must make a choice: to remain kept birds or take control, remaking the city that dared to clip their wings.Fiercely feminist and set in a thrilling, intoxicating world evoking the Jazz Age—full of speakeasies with magic cocktails, sharp-edged, duplicitous glamour, and handsome rogue alchemists—Nightbirds is an exciting debut fantasy that dazzles as powerful girls emerge from the shadows to determine their own fates.
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Author
Kate J. Armstrong
Pages
480
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
2023-02-28
ISBN
0593463285 9780593463284
Community ReviewsSee all
"Thank you to Penguin Teen and those that put together the YA Soiree at YallFest 2022 for this stunner of a book!<br/><br/>I sort of had to straight up message Kate J. Armstrong over instagram to tell her how much I was loving this book at just 25% of the way through and how it was inspiring me to get back to my writing. This book screams everything I needed for the moment in my reading adventures and I don't even know if I can explain why. There was one or two moments where I was a little iffy or unsure, but then relatively quickly the book fixed that for me and I loved it all over again. <br/><br/>The descriptions were fabulous, and I loved the connections between Matilde, AEsa, and Sayer. I also really appreciated how the twist of their being a fourth of them and who it was was pulled off and the varying reactions and not accepting each other as sisters right away but instead out of necessity, working together to save lives. I absolutely <i> loved </i> the idea of the underground tunnels and more women with extraordinary magic, and those were other moments with enchanting and spellbinding descriptions that I absolutely had to take pictures to remember the pages since I didn't want to put the book down to write them down. <br/><br/>Nothing really ever felt info dump-y or without reason, and I really loved seeing Sayer reflect on not noticing Fen when she thought she was, and I love the inclusion of Sayer and Fen's relationship as well! So many fun and shocking twists and turns throughout and such exquisite and atmospheric writing I don't even know how to compose myself knowing most people won't get to even touch this book for another three months. I really wanted to try to keep this as spoiler free as possible but clearly that's not happening - so in Nightbirds fashion: "dash it all..."<br/><br/>"One girl holds out a handful of coins. They're copper naves, worth very little. They start to soften and melt into liquid pools. Another scoops a handful of water out of a bowl she brought with her. It should run through her fingers, but instead it takes the shape of a rabbit and hops across the floor, landing in Aesa's lap. When she goes to touch it, it twitches its nose. Aesa lets out a startled laugh. The green fire girl shows them a flame that seems to wrap around her arm, changing color from green to black to purple, a symphony of color..."<br/><br/>"Slowly, she peels away her eyepatch. Sayer's breath catches in her throat. She's spent years wondering what's under it: a wicked scar, an empty hole, a glass orb. But it's an eye, green as leaves, shockingly vivid. A riotous color that doesn't match the caramel brown of the other. Eudeans have a name for such eyes: <i> 'spring stained </i>. A mark that someone has been touched by the Wellspring.""
Jillian Selwyn
