The Nightjar

Starred review from July 15, 2019
In Hewitt’s superb, darkly charming debut, Londoner Alice Wyndham receives a mysterious gift and discovers that she is an exceedingly rare aviarist who can see each person’s invisible nightjar, a bird that is a mirror of the soul that it guards. She can even hone the talent to perceive a person’s emotions and memories. A man named Crowley tells Alice she’s in danger, and an attempted kidnapping causes an accident that puts Alice’s best friend, Jen, in a coma. To save her, Alice must reunite Jen with her nightjar, which fled in confusion when Jen was injured. Crowley offers to help Alice control her magic and whisks her off to the Rookery, an alternate “sister-city” of London, but they’re threatened by the powerful Judicium, who want to destroy people like Alice, and the leader of a death cult. Hewitt makes it easy to picture the 1930s-infused Rookery, where magic comes as naturally as breathing, and readers will be fascinated by the story’s magic, largely based in Finnish lore. It’s a delight to explore the Rookery alongside Alice as she discovers her unusual powers and races to save her friend. The wildly imaginative Hewitt is a writer to watch.

August 30, 2019

DEBUT Alice Wyndham and best friend Jen are living out their grown-up dreams in London when Alice encounters an elderly stranger who claims she is an aviarist: one who can see the mythical soul birds, nightjars that guard each individual's soul. Also, she's in grave danger. Shortly afterward, Jen is hit by a car while protecting Alice and rushed to the hospital. Devastated, Alice reluctantly accepts the help of another stranger, Crowley, who opens a magical door into the Rookery, where her pursuers cannot follow. Although Alice doesn't trust Crowley, she believes him when he tells her that the only way to save Jen is to use her newfound powers and find Jen's nightjar, which became untethered when Jen was injured. Frantically working against time and without complete information or much skill, Alice blunders from one poorly conceived scheme to the next as she attempts to complete her quest. VERDICT Hewitt's debut is an intense, bloody, and unfortunately flawed fantasy thriller with an intriguing story line that hamstrings itself with a frustratingly inept protagonist whose romantic feelings never ring true.--Karin Thogersen, Huntley Area P.L., IL

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2019
Hewitt's darkly enchanting debut explores the ties of friendship and souls. Alice Wyndham's life is turned upside down when a dark stranger named Crowley approaches her to tell her that she is in great danger. He was right, and, as a result of an attempted kidnapping, Alice's friend Jen ends up in a coma. Devastated, Alice trusts Crowley when he says he can help her save Jen's life. He takes her to an alternate London called the Rookery where people with all sorts of magic stay. Alice's magic is that she is an aviarist and can see nightjars, invisible birds that guard a person's soul. When Jen went into a coma, her nightjar disappeared in the confusion, but if found, can awake her. Alice is still in danger, though, when a death cult starts to hunt her on their quest to annihilate all magical people. Journeying between two worlds, Alice is torn between trusting Crowley's intentions and getting deeper into danger to save her friend. The Nightjar is a magical adventure full of danger, betrayal, and devotion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)