Nightbirds

By Kate J. Armstrong

Book Overview

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 sa, 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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0593463277
• ISBN13: 9780593463277
• Release Date: February 2023
• Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 5.9" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 13 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 12

Customer Reviews

Fyrebirds Rule!

I really enjoyed reading this book! I knew I would because the cover is gorgeous (yes, I do tend to judge books by their cover) and I love to read books that have magic in them. They are so much more interesting than the real world. Even if there are many issues in the fictional world, of which this one has so many. Magic is illegal and hunted down by the church but the rich get to have the Nightbirds who bestow magic with a kiss. There is much more to this though (secrets galore in fact) and I grew to really like Mathilde, Sayer, and Æsa, the current generation of Nightbirds as they learned of those secrets and took flight against the unjustness in the world. I did not feel like this was a debut book (which is really good) and I hope that the Fyrebirds can save the day and country and rely on each other, soul bound as they are. I am looking forward to the next book for sure!

A thrilling new magical fantasy series

Nightbirds is the start to an exciting new YA fantasy series. The story is set in the city of Simta in the Eudean Republic, where magic is prohibited, except for those who are wealthy and powerful, who partake of it behind closed doors. The Nightbirds follows a group of teenage girls who secretly and anonymously gift their magic to members of the Great Houses through a kiss. A series of events exposes their identities, and they are forced to go into hiding from an extreme religious sect, the leader of Simta and those who would use their magic for nefarious purposes. As they explore the full extent of their abilities and find other girls who can wield magic, they realize that they have been lied to, their powers used to benefit others. Nightbirds is a thrilling tale filled with forbidden magic, political intrigue, action, adventure and romance. I found it a fascinating allegory of how female power is suppressed by male dominated religions, political systems and financial structures. The story is told through multiple points of view which allows for character development, an intense, woven plot and detailed world building. I loved the maps! The sequel can't come a moment too soon. Thank you to BookishFirst for a copy to review.