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emotional
tense
fast-paced
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Fyrebirds by Kate J. Armstrong is a third person multi-POV YA fantasy continuation of Nightbirds. Sayer, Fen, Matilde, and Æsa are saving the other magical girls in their own ways. Æsa has taken some of the girls back to her home country, Sayer has become the Storm Witch and spies on the upper houses, Matilde agrees to marry the leader of their nation to keep the others safe, and Fen is hiding her powers. The girls are brought back together when an enemy nation is taking magical girls for themselves and the upper houses are drugging young women.
The themes of sex work from Nightbird are continued in Fyrebirds and expanded into sex trafficking and a clear allegory for drugs like Rohypnol. As more and more young women get involved in online social justice spaces, more and more are going to want books that explore these very difficult themes that absolutely do impact people their age and even younger. It’s very difficult to read a young girl be compelled to do things she doesn’t want to do while knowing that this does happen in real life, but that’s part of why some people turn to books and the fantasy genre: to explore difficult topics with a degree of separation so they can start talking about it. Nightbirds and Fyrebirds help start this conversation masterfully.
Of the three romantic arcs, my favorite was still Sayer and Fen’s. The yearning, the years of knowing each other and not knowing how to have the conversation to start something, the lack of support and quality romantic relationships for them to observe in real life all add to a emotionally complex romance between two young women with secrets. While Fen’s powers are on the downlow, she is going out of her way to help other girls when she sees something going on, giving her the moniker Flower Witch, which makes her a parallel to Sayer.
To my surprise, my favorite POV this book was actually Æsa’s. She was vulnerable, struggling to be separated from her friends but holding the line to keep the other girls safe, all while hiding the truth from her father, who she knows will not be understanding of her gifts. And she’s just so cool as the Wave Witch. Her romance with Willan feels real and raw and was a close second to Sayer and Fen. The girl who was the most scared in the first book became the girl who grew and changed the most in the second book and I loved it.
Content warning for depictions of drugging young women and enslavement.
I would recommend this to fans of YA fantasy that explore social issues, readers looking for a multi-POV YA fantasy, and those looking for several romance arcs in their fantasy
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Slavery