3.0
Nightbirds
By Kate J. ArmstrongPublisher Description
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.
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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3.0
Molly Asdf
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Alba
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GinaGene 💜🌈
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“Really enjoyed the magical world presented in this book and how the different backstories and perspectives of the Nightbirds are weaved in throughout. I found myself drawn to some of the girls more than others (aka Sayer and Fen). My main gripe would be that the decisions by each of the girls in the aftermath of the book’s climax seemed to run counter to their characters up until that point. I realize this likely by design to set up Book 2, but it left me slightly unfulfilled.”Multi-layered charactersOriginal writingAddictiveSuspensefulMagical setting
Bea 🐝
Created 17 days agoShare
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Diverse charactersMulti-layered charactersBeautifully writtenDescriptive writingBeautiful settingMagical settingComing of age
Emelia Fitzgerald
Created 17 days agoShare
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“🐦 𝕭𝖔𝖔𝕶 𝕽𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖊𝖜 🐦
Title: Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Pub Date: February 28, 2023
📖 480 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✨️ Witch Hunters
✨️ Historical Fantasy
✨️ Hidden Powers
✨️ Elemental Magic
✨️ Found Family
✨️ Devastating Betrayals
✨️ LGBTQ+ Rep
✨️ Multiple POV
✨️ Religious Cult
The Nightbirds are girls with magic that can be gifted through their kiss, but everything comes at a price, and if you have the coin, then you can have their powers for a short time.
The church, however, considers the Nightbirds to be witches who have stolen the power from one of their four gods and are bent on destroying them.
We follow the Nightbirds as they try to escape persecution and instead find themselves at the center of a much bigger operation than selling magic kisses for coin.
This book was so good. There's quite a few twists, each girl has their own little romance, but it's not the main focus of the story, and the premise of a religious cult hunting down magical girls is so intriguing. Obsessed is an understatement! Five stars!!
#yafantasy #nightbirds #katejarmstrong”Believable charactersCharacters change and growDiverse charactersBeautifully writtenOriginal writingAddictiveRealistic setting
About Kate J. Armstrong
Kate J. Armstrong has always had a fondness for adventure. After graduating college, she left her home state of Virginia and has never really looked back. She’s explored many places and vocations, working as a high school English teacher and a nonfiction writer and editor for publishers such as National Geographic. In 2018 she started The Exploress, a women’s history podcast with a cult following and over half a million downloads. She is also the co-host of Pub Dates, a podcast that takes readers backstage to join her on the journey to publication for the book you’re holding in your hands right now. When she’s not writing or recording, you will find Kate hiking mountains, trying out cocktails, finding excuses to dress up in historical attire, or reading way past her bedtime. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband and their noble greyhound, Galahad.
Other books by Kate J. Armstrong
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