I absolutely loved this book! Armstrong creates such a beautiful world full of magic and life. Every character was so beautifully fleshed out and everyone was woven together in such brilliant ways. Sometimes in dual POV books, I find that they can be hard to follow, but that was not the case with this book. The world had such a unique magic system and it was so fun learning about it as the book went on. This book is filled with magic and intrigue and I highly recommend picking it up!

I really wanted to love this book. I mean honestly looking at that amazing cover and wonderful Synopsis. However, this story fell flat with me. At times I found the pacing to be a bit slow for me and the details to be a bit over done. I do realize this could certainly be due to my personal tastes within this genre.

Thank you Penguin Teen for my early copy of Nightbirds!

🪄🐦 🎭 💋 🏰

This book was 🙌🏻 and just so unexpected! It captured me from the start with its 1920s speakeasy, high-stakes, and ethereal vibes. The unique, elemental magic system. Shifting POVs. Fast paced storyline. Themes of sisterhood, found family, and independence. This book is beautiful inside and out. I loved it!

With the growing crusade against magic in Simta, Nightbirds (the city’s best kept secret—girls with a unique and powerful magic they can gift through a kiss), Matilde, Sayer, and Aesa must make a choice. Remain in their gilded cage or break free, owning their magic, remaking the city, and saving others like them.

The first in a new series, this is a young adult book and storyline with a grown up feel. There’s kissing. Chemistry. Forbidden Love. Friends to lovers. ‘Ships you’ll be rooting for! A cast of unforgettable characters.

If you loved the feel of These Violent Delights, the found family in Six of Crows, and generally unique magic systems like in Dreams Lie Beneath, definitely add this to your TBR!

WHAT YOU CAN ALSO EXPECT:
— alchemical x intrinsic magic
— underground societies
— secret meetings
— forbidden love x protector
— friends to lovers x sapphic rep
— love triangle
— magical prohibition
— 1920s feel x masquerade balls
— magic in a kiss
— rogue nobles x cutthroats x pirates
— sisterhood x found family
— an ancient elemental magic
— Great Houses x duty
— secrets, deceit, lies
— magical bonds

I had a hard time getting into this book. I think it’s just because I’m currently not in a fantasy mood. I did enjoy the descriptions of the balls and dresses and magic. I even enjoyed the relationships between characters. But for the actual plot I was just ok with it. I think if you’re a big fantasy fan though you’ll enjoy it!!

Overall really enjoyed this one. Some slower sections towards middle but loved the magic system, the political Intrigue and feminist undertones

You know those books where you finish them and immediately need everyone to read it so they can scream about them with you?? Nightbirds is definitely one of those books.

Two things I really love- like completely obsessed with- are the razzle and dazzle of the 1920s + the Prohibition policies at the time AND forbidden magic so imagine how happy I was to find out about this book.

A fantasy with layers of feminism expertly intertwined with undertones of political intrigue, magical girls trying to survive and live in a world that prohibits their very existence and those who wish to control them + secrets and destinies + an ode to not just the 1920s and all its beauty but also references to a period of time where witches burned for their magic- this book had it all!!

I loved this book for sooo many reasons (many listed above) but most of all for its composition, the way it unfolded into this beautiful, powerful story that has my whole heart. It started off with me being completely enamored with this world of Nightbirds and the magic they grant with their kisses to me relating to and feeling for our girls who yearned for a life not controlled by their circumstances. It soon became me being completely engrossed by the history and legends of the Nightbirds to me screaming at the top of my lungs with sorrow and rage for them.

To say the least this book consumed me. To say the most this book took a story of prohibition and magical girls to a level of fighting back in the most badass, ‘stick it to the patriarchy’, ‘girls rule the world’ way and I was living for it. This is without a doubt one of new fave books and one I will push for everyone to read 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

I absolutely adored the writing and the world of this book. I loved how it really focused on the three main girls and their journeys, without any slow sections, or unnecessary subplots. It was super interesting to read, especially as a lover of YA fantasy books with high stakes!

Thank you to Penguin for letting me get a copy of this book for my honest review. I love this story. The magic in this world is super cool and I love the world building. I also love all the girls love stories and just watching the story fall into place.

I'm not quite sure if this was the one for me, but that's okay. Sometimes in stories with ensemble casts I tend to get lost and everybody's povs mixes and muddles in my brain. That's exactly what happened with this story. The girls didn't quite stand out apart from each other for me.

What I did like about the book though was the theme of female empowerment. There were a couple quotes that I tagged about this.

I think I wanted to like this novel more than I did especially because I've seen so many raving reviews about it! But it just didn't do it for me.

I'd still recommend people check out this novel and make a decision for themselves if they like it or not! Vibes are roaring 20s, forbidden magic, found family and feminism.

Thank you Penguin Teen for an eARC of this novel. All thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.

A great beginning to a new YA series. Wonderful characters, creative world building, and a well paced plot kept me reading late into the night. I can't wait to revisit these characters in the next installment. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Nancy Paulsen Books for an advanced reader copy.

Nightbirds is a complex and compelling book that follows young women with different kinds of magic trying to stick together and survive in a magic hating world. The magic system is very compelling and grabbed my attention from the start. I really loved that this book followed 3 young women's stories and that we got a really good look at their characters. Readers who enjoy compelling magic systems and complex fantasies are going to eat up Nightbirds!

What a pleasure to have read Nightbirds! It is a refreshingly great story that moves quickly, with twists you wouldn't expect.

The book starts out with very lush, magical, historical world. It feels like it is real, except there is magic in it. The Nightbirds, are magical girls, that work in "houses" by selling their kiss to a paying customer to share their magic/gift with them. Obviously, where there is power, there's ones that want to take it. As things get revealed, the girls are learning more and more about their powers, the city's secrets, and about things being not as they seem.

This book was reminiscent to me of Six of Crows, due to the illegality of magic, underground secret groups dealing in "illegal" magic. All this connects to a deep theme of women being villainized and called a witch for having magic powers, tied to the religion of their world. It is reminiscent to real life, and how women were always scrutinized for being different.

This one is very addictive read - adventurous, magical, fast paced page turner that you will want more of. Cannot wait for the second book and how the girls will deal with the after affects of their choices in this book.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and PRH Audio for gifted copies of this book. All opinions are my own.

THIS BOOK IS THE BEST BOOK I HAVE READ THIS YEAR.

The magic system, the characters, the multiple POV's, the plot twists, all the little love triangles were *chefs kiss*

This book is 450 pages and I read it in 2 days. I couldn't put it down! The story just kept developing with more magical elements being introduced in such a flawless way. The magic system is complex but the author writes it so it's easy to understand. Each character is really fleshed out with their own distinct personalities and adventures. 450 pages sounds a lot but with this story, it's just not enough because I'm eager to know what happens next!

This book gets a 5 star rating from me if it wasn’t obvious. I’ll be picking up the hard copy when it comes out because the cover is stunning!

This book turned out to be such a lovely surprise. I loved every suspenseful moment and would definitely read a second book. It’s an intricate story full of tons of intrigue and emotions. Highly recommend.

The Nightbirds, teenage girls from the Great Houses with magic courting through their veins, are the best kept secret since magic is outlawed. They are protected and known as treasures among the Great Houses. Each one is meant to marry a Great House lord, but three of the girls have other plans. They soon learn their magic is much more than what they were told.

I love this sweeping fantasy full of magic and feminism power. I also loved that the story actually provided detail of how the magic and courts worked. Some books always leave you not enough information, but not this book. Each girl has their own traits and personality’s to make them unique. There’s also a nice amount of twist and turns.

I really just enjoyed the story as a whole. A story of what courage takes.

Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong is resplendent with magic, back stories and world building. I never felt confused and felt the scene was perfectly set for the next books to come. I wasn’t anticipating to be so surprised by the situations that happened but Armstrong did a really great job jolting me out of the expected. Getting to know these characters was a ride, a fun one.

This is definitely one of the most unique books I've read in 2023 so far! A fantasy world that has a slight roaring 20's vibe?! Where magic is outlawed by a bunch of religious zealots?! And the wealthy elite are hoarding the girls who still have magic to use for themselves?! Yeaaaah its as cool as it sounds.

In this book we are brought into the fantasy world of Sitma and introduced to three girls Matilde, AEsa and Sayer. These three girls all come from different backgrounds but they all have magical abilities and are wards of the same elite family. In Sitma women with magical abilities are called Nightbirds and are hidden by the wealthy Houses to "protect" the Nightbirds from the religious zealots who want to persecute them but put to work by having to transfer some of their powers to the Houses through a kiss. As the book goes on the Nightbirds start to realize that what they've been told by the Houses and the religious sect might not be the whole truth and they start to question their whole world.

I absolutely loved the characters and that they all had different personalities and struggles. I loved the strong, badass sisterhood vibe of this book! It left me wanting to kick some ass! I also loved the political intrigue/drama! It was fun to read and try to guess what everyone's motivations were and what the plot twists could be. It also needs to be said I really appreciated the pacing of this book and writing style I was completely consumed!

I can't WAIT for the next book in this series! Thanks so much to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Here is a video I made for the book:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnyGDKu/

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 STARS

This is a fun YA fantasy with witches. Think prohibition era, but instead of alcohol being banned, it’s magic. Women with magic are called Nightbirds and are coveted in a world where enchantment is forbidden. In magical speakeasies, women’s power can be bought. As they age the magic is saved for their offspring or so they are told. Three witches decide to change societal rules and find out they are not the only ones with magic.

This is the first book in the series. If you like The Gilded Wolves and Witchlands, you will like this. It has political intrigue and witches on the run trying to uncover secrets. There is a touch of romance with the promise of more in the next book. It is told from the POV of three different girls. With any book I never like the politics, so I wanted a little less of that, but it was still good. (Probably just me). I will definitely be reading the next book!

Thank you Penguin Teen for the ARC! 🖤🪶

There's nothing particularly wrong with it, it's just not keeping my attention. I am 10 percent of the way through but I will not be continuing with it..

This book was an amazing fantasy debut with lovable characters, a sprinkling of politics, and powerful women with powerful magic. It had me on the edge of my seat the whole time and here i thought it was going to be a standalone! But i couldn't be happier that we get to see these characters and this world in another book because I really couldn't get enough. Kate J. Armstrong created something fabulous with this story that will make its way into many peoples hearts and make a place for them in its pages.