Tonight I Burn has so many promising things going for it which makes its flat delivery that much more disappointing. The magic system has a lot of interesting concepts but they’re underdeveloped which just makes the story confusing. I never felt like I got a good understanding of the crystals or the lifeline magic that is central to the majority of the story. I felt the same way about the Gilded, interesting “villains” but poorly explained. The characters were also really lacking in depth for me which was unfortunate because I think the romance storyline could have been great. I appreciate the queer normative world but the attempt at showing a polyamorous relationship just fell flat with little relationship building happening between the characters before they’re suddenly “in love”. In general I feel like I spent a good bit of the book lost because there was a lot happening but at the same time nothing happened. I think if the world building had been cleaned up some and the relationships had been more strongly developed this book has huge potential.

Thank you Orbit and NetGalley for the ARC!

4 Stars

First I thought for a debut this book was really strong and I am really looking forward to see how this story progresses in future books. I also am really excited to see what else Katherine Adams creates. This fantasy story about witches was really unique and I haven't read anything quite like this before.

This story follow Penny and she is a Thorn Witch. There are different covens and each coven has a different magical trait. The thorn witches specifically burn alive to enter the veil the land of death. A man known as a Warden oversees all the covens. He is evil and depends on the Thorn Witches to keep him alive. His army keeps them in line. I considered his Army to be like zombies, their soul is cut from their life and their sole purpose is to serve the Warden.

I thought the writing on this book was really beautiful. It pulled me in early and I was captivated right away. I really enjoyed Penny and Malin's interactions and I was always looking forward when she would be meeting him again. I also thought the magic system of this world was very interesting. How each of the covens had their own powers, but the Thorn Witch power was definitely the most interesting to me. They had to burn and enter the veil to keep everyone safe. If they showed any fear during the process the risked summoning death wraiths.

The romance in this book had its ups and downs for me. For some reason I had a hard time truly ever connecting. It wasn't necessarily instant love but it did progress very quickly from this guy is scary to I want to kiss his face off. I think it would have been awesome to have a bit more interactions of them being uncertain and sassy to each other before it progressed further. I also was not so sure about the secondary romance, this one did feel it came out of no where. I do though really appreciate the polyamory of this story and it not being a love triangle. There was a lot of respect and love shown.

I will be keeping my eye out for other books by Adams. She did a beautiful job with this book and I think she will go really far.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit for this advance reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I will be posting my review to my bookstagram page the.floofs.booknook and retail sites close or on publication date.

Where do I even begin?

This book is nothing I expected to to be it was by far more.

The sisterhood of Mila, Ella's and Penny is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at same time. I had a love hate relationship with Mila never knowing what her true motives where. Tobias is supposed to be a brute but in reality is just a giant teddy bear.
Malin the dark mysterious man with questionable motive as well. Alice, dear sweet Alice a true form of perfection.

This book left my screaming, crying, laughing and just begging for it not to end. I can not and will nit have enough of this book. It has become one of my all time favorite reads, and I will rush my but to the book store on launch to have this psychical book in my hands.

I will sell my soul to be an ARC reader for Tonight, I Bleed. You could even bleed me dry just let me read the book first.
Thank you to NetGalley, Katharine J. Adams, her editor, and publishing for the opportunity to read this beautifully crafted masterpiece, which I will hold near and too me for life now.

My favorite part of this story was the polyamorous representation! I loved the world building and the atmosphere created by the author as well. But the relationships really made this story stick for me! I can't wait to continue this series, I'm excited to see where it goes!

I really wanted to like it but the whole story felt disjointed and hard to follow.
It took too long for anything to really happen.
While the premise of the story was interesting with the magic system the characters were not. I didn't find I cared one way or another if anyone died and was actually holding out hope that Penny would.
Not sure if I'll continue with this series or not.
I received an advanced reader copy from Netgalley and these thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC. This book had a lot going on, and it was packed tight. I did enjoy it, and I think future installments will have room to grow. I was surprised by the romance piece, which was an amazing take on something I hadn't seen done before. The MC is an interesting character, but I had a hard time connecting to the characters. Maybe I need to read the second one to make an overall decision on this one.

This is hands down one of the most interesting magic systems I've ever read about, and as a whole the book really drew me in. Perfect for anybody looking for a witchy fantasy to get them in the mood for autumn!

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy

There are two sex scenes in this book, but I would still say this is a good book for younger adult readers as they aren't incredibly graphic.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the magic system was interesting, the characters were complex, and the romance had me grinning.....maybe even blushing a little bit.

When we start the story, Penny is a little naive. She's a thorn witch awaiting her 21st birthday so that she can burn and walk in death. Her naivety to the world around her was a little frustrating. She has two sisters, Ella and Mila, the heir to the thorn queen. Even though she has her siblings and claims to be close to them, she has no idea about the inner workings of their lives. When Ella burns to walk in death but doesn't return the next morning, Penny knows she must rescue her sister. She can see Ella's lifeline fading in her crystal, so Penny breaks the rules and burns alone.

What she finds in death is a mysterious man whom she trades her soul with in order to rescue her sister. When Penny makes a deal with Malin, she never imagines how her life will unravel. Penny falls down the rabbit hole and attracts the attention of the Warden. There is romance, mystery, and of course, magic.

There were so many layers to this story; I just really enjoyed following Penny on her journey. I also loved that there wasn't a huge age gap between love interests. That's a trope I have grown to feel icky about. There is some predictability, and overall, I could easily see where the story was going, but the magic system and characters kept me hooked. I'm already excited to read the next book in the series.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

A coven of deathwalking witches who have to set themselves on fire in order to patrol the Veil; a terrifying Warden who uses his army of soulless, half-masked soldiers to control it all; a heroine who sets herself on fire so she can save her sister…

Tonight, I Burn by Katharine J. Adams is such an inventive story with so many striking elements that viscerally hold you in check.

Penny, the protagonist, is a deathwalking witch who finds herself going farther against the Warden than she ever suspected she would in order to protect her sister & the other people she loves.

As she plans in secret & then with the help of others, she also develops feelings for two different people, a man & a woman, & she opens up some of the closed-box tension surrounding her own family.

This book is very much leading up to another which is good because it feels like some things are left unfinished. I would have liked more with Penny’s romantic relationships, which do get steamy but which also feel separate in a way I didn’t totally appreciate.

But witch fans, rejoice, here’s another witchy offering for us to celebrate the glorious season of fall.

4 ⭐️. Out 11/07.

Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.

[ID: the ebook sits on a brown scroll top desk. To the left is a grouping of zinnias & in the background is a Van Gogh sunflower print & a yellow wall.]

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for providing me with the eARC for this book.


This is my first true witch book experience and what a way to start! I enjoyed the writing style and the unique magic system.
The main character was a little hard to enjoy at times but overall I enjoyed Penny. A couple plots felt rushed or unfinished. Overall I enjoyed the unique premise and will recommend to others!

Katharine J Adams has written a new and thought provoking story within the witch genre. In this series, the way the magic is distributed will upset and excite you. Our main protagonist is part of a coven that has to burn one of its memebera, every night, so that witch can cross into the veil to help spirits cross over. She then comes back the next day. I have never heard of this approach and I ate this up like Tapatio covered popcorn!! I DEVOURED it!!

True, it’s not perfect. The pacing reminded me of rush hour traffic at times but all in all, this book was enjoyable and I look forward to continuing the series!!

Again, Thank you to Orbit Books for accepting my request to read this. I will be posting a blog of this on my TT closer to release date!

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for providing me with the eARC for this book.

Initially, I was quite excited to read it. I'd seen the ad for it a few months back on Instagram and bookmarked it because the blurb sounded really interesting. The book is definitely dark with Handmaid's Tale vibes, which I enjoyed, but I just didn't enjoy it as much as I felt I could have. I loved the concept of the Gilded and how brutal and awful their origination is. It's well written and descriptive but something about it was just missing. I felt like it was a chore to read and I had trouble picking up wherever I left off up until maybe the last third of the book.

Penny was an alright character at the beginning but I felt like she was consistently making weird and blatantly stupid decisions up until the halfway point that made me genuinely question if she was indeed stupid like several characters actually did. Malin and Alice were far more interesting characters. I think the book could have been super, super neat if it was just those two as the leads. Penny reads like an average female lead but to have the story told from Alice's POV would have been really cool. I felt like there was a bit of insta-love going on because from what I recall, the majority of the events take place within the 30 day bargain period with Malin. All the other side characters (like bb Tobias) felt a lot more remarkable/likeable than Penny.

Things I would've liked to read more about: Penny's dad??? I felt like something was up with him but I have so many questions that weren't resolved. Like what was his deal??? The world-building also felt empty. The setting felt so small and confined.

My only complaint is that there were moments that didn't feel completed. Like if there had been 1 or 2 more sentences then it would have read better.
I absolutely loved and enjoyed this so much. The magic system is so unique and the twists were spectacular

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC of Tonight, I Burn.

Honestly, I am torn on this book. I thought the premise sounded really interesting and intriguing - witches that burn each night to send themselves to Death where they help spirits cross and heal the veil between the two worlds, only to return to life the next day. I think the series has promise, I just hope the upcoming books improve on some major areas that I felt were lacking.

I liked parts of the world-building, but there were several places where there were heavy information dumps and still other sections of the book that felt significantly underdeveloped. I did like the fact that the world in which these witches live is very grim and bordering on hopeless. Their homes and villages were destroyed and they're now forced to live in this castle within a city that's essentially their prison. I just wish there was some consistency in the delivery of information.

For large parts of the book, I also felt like there was nothing happening. I was not really invested until more than 60% of the way through the book and I didn't really feel a connection to the main characters. The characters, in my opinion, are severely underdeveloped, which makes it hard for me to connect with them, and the romance in the story is awkward. Neither of the relationships was all that believable and they felt incredibly forced.

Another aspect of the story that I wanted was more of an explanation of the Gilded. I don't feel like there was enough background provided on these individuals and I found myself feeling like I am missing key information.

I believe I read somewhere that this is meant to be a trilogy and, honestly, I can't imagine it needing to be more than a duology. I will give the second book a try to see if things improve and the action picks up. I was hesitant to give this a 3-star rating (it's probably more a 2.75), but I am infusing some of my hope for the future into this rating!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

The Orbit team has a way of finding great debut authors with unique and engaging stories to tell. And helping them tell them well! And this is par for the course!

Really neat magic system in this book that drew me in,

I could’ve used more development of the characters and their relationships though- romance felt particularly rushed here.

I am consistently impressed by the titles put out by Orbit. This was a very interesting debut, I loved it and am looking forward to the sequel. The only complaint I had was that the romances in the book felt a bit underdeveloped and unrealistic, happening in a very short time frame and very suddenly and somewhat inexplicably. I thought the magic system, was cool, the thorn witches and their travels through death in particular. I will definitely read more of this author in the future. I appreciated the bisexual and polyamorous representation as well.

Thank you to Orbit, NetGalley, and Katharine J. Adams, for granting me an eARC of Tonight, I burn in exchange for my honest review.

Tonight, I burn follows Penny, a thorn witch on the verge of turning 21. Alongside her birthday, Penny is expected to burn for the first time. Thorn witches are tasked with crossing the veil between life and death, in order to keep the two sides intact, but separate. However, in order to do this, each night a thorn witch must burn at the stake, only to return back the next morning as if nothing ever happened. When Penny's sister Ella does not return, Penny decides to take matters into her own hands, and burn herself in order to determine what happened to Ella and bring her back before Ella can die, for good this time.

The premise of this book is really cool. This is not something that I have seen done all that often in fantasy books, and I appreciated how Adams managed to bring in many popular fantasy tropes in a new and unique way. The one thing that I struggled with was the character development. It felt as though in this book the plot was so flushed out, yet at times I was questioning why a character was doing something or how they had reached that development. For example, Penny's relationships with Malin and Alice felt as though they went from one way to another with no sudden warning. While during these moments I was left a little confused about how the character got from point A to point B in their character development, it did not greatly take away from the enjoyment on the book. I see a lot of potential for the remainder of this series and cannot wait to see where Adams takes the story next.

This book was even more than I hoped it to be. This read a lot like my favorite YA dystopia, but make it queer fantasy for adults (yes to more bi protagonists!).. High stakes, high tension, a dash of romance, and the embers of a rebellion--"Tonight, I Burn" is intense in the best of ways. That cliffhanger, though--now I have a burning need for the rest of the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

Tonight, I Burn by Katherine J Adams gets a solid 4.75⭐️’s from me. This is a story about a young witch named Penny and her coming of age story where she leave her naïve ideals on the world behind and takes drastic measures to save her sisters and the people she loves, to extremes such as sacrificing herself, while trying to overthrow and evil Warden. We learn about the different covens, types of magic, magical censorship, manipulations and mutilation of the magic world.

I felt like throughout the story I could visualize their world and the characters. I was invested page for page to see what would happen next as there were several plot twist that kept me on my toes and wanting to know, who betrayed who? Each chapter built on the previous, contributing to the overall story and drawing you in making it almost impossible to put the down. The only critical feedback that I would have is that I wish that Penny’s relationships with her love interests were developed a bit more to provide a better understanding as to why they were making the decisions that they did.

Overall I would highly recommend this book, especially to all who enjoy fantasy, magic/witch, revolution/corrupt leadership readers out there. I am very excited to pick up a physical copy and see where the next book in this trilogy goes.

Thank you so much to Katherine J Adams, Orbit Books and NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for a honest review in their product.

I had really wanted to enjoy Tonight, I Burn, and, in fairness, I did like some aspects; however, there was quite a lot that didn't work for me. For the positives, I actually really liked the concept of the book. The author wasn't afraid to write truely villainous characters (which did get gruesome at points). I appreciated the evilness of some of the characters and the morally gray of others. I liked the concept of witches walking into death each night. The manor in death was one of the strongest written parts of the book.

Now, for the things that didn't work. The world building was a bit all over the place for me. There were a lot of information dumps; however, they felt incomplete. For example, the crystals were never completely explained nor was the gilding process (from selection on who was to be gilded through the actual gilding). The characters also felt incomplete and not fully developed. Both Alice and Malin were lacking background, which left their actions/decisions very confusing. The author attempted at some romantic scenes; however, they felt forced and awkward, especially towards the end. Finally, the pacing was inconsistent; there were parts that dragged on and then parts that were almost too fast (skipping over a lot of important details).

Overall, while the concept of the book has a lot of potential, there was just a lot that didn't work for me.