Book Review :: Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong

Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong
ISBN: 1760526908
Series: Nightbirds #1
Published by Allen & Unwin
on 28 February 2023
Genres: Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Magic, Young Adult
Pages: 480
Source: Allen & Unwin NZ
Find at Allen & Unwin NZ
Goodreads

The Nightbirds are Simta’s best-kept secret: Girls with a unique and powerful magic they can gift with just a kiss. Some would kill to possess them; the church would kill them outright. But protected by the Great Houses, the Nightbirds are well-guarded treasures.

As this Season’s Nightbirds, Matilde, Æsa, and Sayer will spend their nights bestowing their gifts to well-paying clients. Once their season is through, they’re each expected to marry a Great House lord and become mothers to the next generation of Nightbirds before their powers fade away. But as they find themselves at the heart of a political scheme that threatens not only their secrets, but their very lives, their future suddenly becomes uncertain.

When they discover that there are other girls like them and that their magic is far more than they were told, they see the Nightbird system for what it is: a gilded cage. Now they must make a choice—to remain kept birds or take control, remaking the city that dared to clip their wings.

Last updated on 25 July 2023

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What is Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong about?

Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong tells the story of three mysterious girls in the land of Simtra called Nightbirds. They possess powerful magic they can share with others, but only through a kiss. Protected by the Great Houses, they work as enchanters for wealthy clients, wearing masks to hide their true identities. But their destiny is to marry noble lords and become mothers before their powers fade away. Not something that the three girls, Matilde, Æsa, and Sayer, are very keen to do.

Everything changes one day when they discover more about their magic and realise they are being trapped in a system, having been fed lies and stories their whole lives. Now, faced with a dangerous political plot (there’s always a political plot, right?), they must choose to either stay bound and caged like caged or take charge and help reshape their city.

My thoughts on Nightbirds

It took me an embarrassingly long time to read Nightbirds. Like, it was months. And I can’t really put my finger on why. When I was actually reading it, I enjoyed it. I like the characters, both the main and a bunch of the minor characters, I thought the world was really cool and the magic system interesting. But there was something about it that didn’t quite pull me in as I was expecting. The writing didn’t grip me in a way that I wanted to just keep reading, and I was apparently fine with putting down the book and not picking it up for literally weeks on end.

I really enjoyed the world, and the map at the front is stunning! I do love a good book map. The characters were fun to read, each girl with their unique traits and love interests and relationships going on, but very much close as sisters with one another. The romance is minimal, which means the focus was a lot more on the storyline and the friendships throughout the story, which I thought was actually quite refreshing in the age of romance-heavy books (even in YA fantasy). Don’t get me wrong; I love a bit of love. But it was nice that it wasn’t the main focus of this story.

Of the characters, I will say this: If there were no chapter headings with which girl’s perspective we were reading, I wouldn’t have known the difference between them. They all sounded quite similar, and their voice in the book wasn’t stand-out-able from other. When having a multi-perspective book like this, I do find it a lot more helpful if the characters are more unique in their voice.

The political side of things – not something I love too much in a book – wasn’t too heavy, which was good in my mind. But I did find that some of the books dragged in places and then picked up in others. The pace was a little off throughout I thought.

So all in all, a solid 3.5 stars from me. I enjoyed it when I was reading it, however, something that I can’t quite figure out, stopped me from just devouring it as I do some other books.

Have you read Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong? What did you think? 

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Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Allen & Unwin NZ in exchange for a review. This does not affect my review and thoughts and opinions are my own.