Rating; 3.5

When I first requested this book I hadn't realised it was a sequel - so now having read both, I feel more in a position to review and comment. That being said, I do think you can read The Rookery on it's own as there enough mentions and explanation throughout to the previous title. However, I am glad I read the Nightjar first as I went in with more anticipation.

The Rookery tells the story of Alice in an alternative, magical version of London. Having powers of life and death, Alice is perfecting her skills in order to uncover why her world is falling a part around her.

Key points: The writing style in this book, much like its predecessor, is enjoyable and engaging. Alice as a character I found very likeable and the overall magic system of the world I found interesting and unique.

Negatives: I found the pacing to be quite slow and it initially did take my quite a while to connect to the story. I think overall I prefer book one which was more focussed on the world building, an element personally I found more interesting.

Overall an enjoyable read and a series I would probably recommend.

I enjoyed parts of this one, but overall it was not particularly engaging which is something I think is really important in a story of this genre. I would like to read more of the author’s work as there were moments of real potential

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

My fault here - I requested this book not realising it was the second in a series! DNF for now, as it certainly references the previous book enough for me to seek that out. I’ll likely return once I’m up to speed!

In the sequel to The Nightjar, Alice is training to fight her powers of Death and wield her magic under House Mielikki – the House of Life. But a series of attacks and nightmarish events that threaten the Rookery itself make it clear that someone wants her to fail.

As the scene of the Rookery was established in Book #1, this book is able to focus more on Alice’s internal battle and the magical lore of the Rookery. However, the plot is fairly basic and none of the characters have any real depth. I also struggled to get on board with the romantic plot-line; there was just no build-up or any real continuation of the groundwork set in the first book.

I enjoyed this more than the first book, and it has a really great premise, but sadly it just isn’t written that well.

I waited far too long to read The Rookery, Deborah Hewitt’s superb sequel to The Nightjar. It was partly because of that inevitable worry, when you’ve loved a book, that the sequel won’t match it, but no worries with this smasher – The Rookery is a fitting companion to the first book, and finale to the duology.

All of the world building that took place in The Nightjar pays off here as, although there is a reminder, I felt that I was able to connect more quickly with Alice here as I had read the first book. The mythology at play in The Rookery was more familiar to me and I had no need to ‘catch up’.

A lot has changed for Alice since the end of The Nightjar, not all of it for the better, and as the book went along her growth was great, as she drew herself out of the shadows of the events in The Nightjar. We all understand the need to sometimes isolate ourselves, and Alice does this until she realises that bad things are happening in The Rookery, and both versions of London could be at stake. She needs her friends from Coram House to help her find out what’s going on and stop it.

I won’t spoiler you, but will just summarise by saying that The Nightjar and The Rookery are fantastic books – the action takes places in a meticulously planned and described world, with a distinct mythology that directly affects the story. They are genuinely gripping and difficult to put down, plus, even though the duology is technically finished, there is plenty of scope for Deborah Hewitt (and fanfic writers) to revisit the world.

Simply excellent…

The book is written in third POV which isn’t my preference. I struggled at the start to connect with Alice and to get into the story as I hadn’t read book 1. But, I’m pleased I kept reading.

Something strange is going on in The Rookery, and people are dying. It feels like Alice should be doing something about it but she’s going to work, and parties, training for the competition, and keeping quiet about the less public attacks in her room.

But as the magical attacks get bigger, Alice takes action. She realises there’s a connection with her boss and her past. As secrets unravel, Alice is spurred into action and this is where things get really good.

This book has loads of magic and I loved seeing the different powers. The soul birds were new to me and I loved them, and how Alice’s unique gift gives her insight into the motives of others.

It felt a bit like a mystery with fantasy, as the MC collects info, pieces it together, and saves The Rookery. If you enjoy mysteries and fantasy then you’d love this.

I thoroughly enjoyed being back in this magical world that Deborah Hewitt has created. I loved how much these main characters have developed from the first book and throughout this one.

The storyline was just so gripping and I ended up staying up into the early hours reading this one, even when I kept telling myself 'only one more chapter'.

Honestly a brilliant duology that is addictive and atmospheric!

The Rookery is the sequel to The Nightjar and I thought this was an excellent sequel, The writing, the characters, the world, everything just came together to create a fabulous story, dare I say even better than the first book.

Highly recommend to anyone looking for a wonderful series full of romance and fantasy.

✨ Lord of Death's Daughter (causal af)
✨ Disappearing pals
✨Plant magic
✨ Magical death cult vibes

Our main gal, Alice, lives in a separate dimension called The Rookery. A place where people can practise magic separately from the common folk of London-town without causing chaos. Except there's one pretty major issue - her powers are growing too strong and are the sole cause of The Rookery starting to fall apart.

As if that ain't enough, Alice also has another problem to solve - a growing dark side (that will happen when your dad is Lord of Death...) that she really needs to calm the hell down and control.

Now I wasn't aware this was a sequel or I'd have tried to have read the first one before I dove in but it seems like this could be a standalone if you're an eejit like me and didn't google it first.
Overall a very magical world that just didn't suck me in. Will probs give it another go in the future.

The Rookery is the sequel to Deborah Hewitt's The Nightjar, and it takes us back to the alternative, magical London we encountered in the first novel in this duology. The world building is well thought out, and the book has a dark vibe to it, with Alice's heritage as the daughter of the Lord of Death, which would make it a great read for the spooky season. The plot was centered around Alice unraveling the secrets of her past. This suited me well, as I enjoy a good mystery.
A beautifully written and magical duology - I am looking forward to seeing Deborah Hewitt's next project.

I didn't realise this was the second book in a series, however I felt it worked well as a stand-alone novel and I didn't feel as though I'd missed out as there was plenty of back story at the start of the book to catch me up. I loved the world created in this novel and found myself completely immersed in it. A would highly recommend this book.

My thanks to Pan Macmillan for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Rookery’ by Deborah Hewitt in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in Hewitt’s Nightjar Duology. I had read ‘The Nightjar’ in 2019 and loved it. As this is a single story told over the course of two novels, I am not going to comment on its plot as doing so would likely give spoilers for the first book for those still to read it.

In both books I was impressed by Hewitt’s world building; especially the relationship between London and its alternative where the Rookery is based. In this second novel we learn much more about this world, about Alice, and her legacy.

I have a lifelong interest in world mythology and welcomed the integration here of Finnish folklore and mythology.

Overall, I found ‘The Rookery’ a wonderful read, bursting with magic and adventure. I certainly will be looking forward to Deborah Hewitt’s future projects.

Well this book had so much promise, but I just couldn't get in to it and even though I finished it, It just wasn't my cup of tea.

I officially now have a new favourite series of books after finishing reading the last book, The Rookery.

The first book, The Nightjar which was the first book in the duology was unbelievably fantastic, I cannot recommend it enough. The Rookery was just as amazing!! It was exciting, thrilling, pulse racing and dazzling.

The writing is just perfection. I was completely sucked in from the start to the end. The characters were interesting, particularly Crowley and the main protagonist Alice. Alice was a very well developed character who at times was frustrating, making some very daft decisions, but it made her feel more real and flawed. She is definitely not the perfect heroine that you sometimes get a lot of in this genre. Alice had a dark side to her magical abilities that she had to battle to control.

The world building is explained vividly and felt very authentic. You feel like you are actually there living through these adventures with Alice. It has such dark academia vibe, and it reminded me of Harry Potter at times with the different houses with the members who all had specific gifts. The magic system works so well in this alternate London and it was just such a joy to read.

If you love atmospheric, immersive and quirky fantasy books then I urge you to read these books. You are missing out!

In the followup story to The Nightjar, Hewitt returns to her magical, alternate London - the Rookery of the title - where members of rival magical cliques, each with different gifts, compete to work marvels.

Following the disappearance and subsequently the death of her friend Jen, Alice has settled into her new life: by day, she is research assistant for the irascible Professor Reid (Alice sees herself as assisting with research, while Reid regards Alice as her assistant), at night she studies for the entrance tests to join House Mielikki, whose members are skilled in magic involving plants. Much of the action taking place in the Rookery itself, the story is perhaps rather more grounded in everyday life (for certain values of "everyday") than its predecessor, following Alice's state of mind, and her cooler relations with Crowley, after the revelations and tragedies of The Nightjar.

All is, however, not well. Alice herself is ailing, her inheritance as a daughter of the Lord of Death clashing with the life force of House Mielikki. Equally worryingly, the balance of the Rookery itself seems to have been upset, causing damage - sinkholes, floods, and collapsing buildings - that nobody knows how to prevent. And, most sinisterly of all, somebody is targeting Alice. We're reminded that the Rookery is not a safe place and that her background and the story so far have left others with reasons to distrust and dislike her.

Much of The Rookery is, then, focussed on Alice trying to learn more about her background and her place in Rookery society, hampered not only by those attempts to harm her but by what seem like systematic efforts to bury the truth. It would be spoilery to say too much here, but I found the portrayal of a young woman discovering who she is, what has been done to protect her, and the sacrifice made for that, actually very moving amidst all the busyness of a fantasy novel, the danger and the risks Alice runs here. Acceptance into Rookery society doesn't means she has has free rein to ask questions or go where she likes, and finding out the truth requires her to break rules that could have her expelled from House Mielikki if she's exposed.

A lot of the action in the book follows Alice's unravelling of the past, and therefore involves her tracking people down and putting together clues - rather than being action-driven. I really enjoyed that (I worked out quite a lot of what was happening) but if you prefer your fantasy crammed with desperate combat, this one may not be for you. Not to say there aren't exciting action-y episodes here, there are. But they're not, I think, actually the point: as you will recall from The Nightjar, Alice bears a heavy burden in that her soul, unleashed, would be fearfully destructive - so the nightjar of the title, a sort of projection of Alice's conscience, serves the purpose of keeping her power under control. This means that combat and destruction are always her last, worst choice.

Overall this was a satisfying and enjoyable companion to The Nightjar, filling out aspects of the world that were hinted at there and giving Alice and her life time and space to develop (including a couple of rather steamy romantic scenes).

Notable for scenes in which the current state of affairs is referred to as a 'shitastrophe' and for the fact that one of the magical houses took care, decades ago, of accessibility requirements by enchanting their stairs to transform into ramps when a wheelchair approaches, this book takes place in a well-imagined and livable fantasy world, a place with real depth and peopled by well-rounded and diverse characters. (I particularly enjoyed the richly textured construction of the fictional Rookery, echoing London landmarks and London history but always with its own particular twist).

I'm not sure whether Hewitt plans further books set in the Rookery, but I'll be there for them if they come!

I loved The Nightjar but The Rookery is even better. This book is all about worldbuilding and magic. We get to explore all the elements of the Rookery that were hinted at in The Nightjar. This is also a huge part of the plot. We follow Alice as she returns to the Rookery to train her new found powers and hopefully pass the tests to become a member of House Mielikki. Through her trials we get to explore the various magic systems, the history and lore that built the Rookery and in turn we learn about Alice’s history too.

I adored how much the worldbuilding intermingled with the plot allowing us to gleam tiny bits of information from the layout of the Rookery, its shops, festivities and the people. We get to explore the University and get to know how its staff and students intermingle. Also we get detailed descriptions of its buildings that just make it seem like such a magical place. I am a huge fan of magical school so the fact that we get real insight into this one is just cat-nip to me. My favourite parts were learning about the different houses, all the rivalry, political machinations, the histories both mythical and known all just built such a rich and fantastical world.

I loved how much more confident Alice was within this world. We get to see a lot more of her interaction with her own Nightjar as well as her exploring her capabilities with other night jars. Her House Mielikki magic also is just decried so beautifully I was just whisked away in the magic. She is still a fantastically flawed person in the most likeable way. I really enjoyed her flaws, her snap temper, her misplaced trusts and gut decisions they kept my attention.

I love that we have a return of the established friendships, combined with new characters. I particularly liked Bea and her slightly aristocratic air, she seemed to mellow Alice a lot, meaning Alice didn’t make quite as many rash decisions, while still remaining such a fun character to learn about, especially when we start digging into the past. Again we have the incredibly slow burn romance that just teases the reader all the way through the book, again making this book irresistible.

The plot is well structured fun and fast paced, filled with danger, mystery and political machinations. And oh the twist at the end! I didn’t see it coming and I am still a bit shook! This is really a testimony to Hewitt’s writing that she manages to throw you such a curveball that the book goes from immersive and enjoyable to I need to know everything right now in a sentence.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book through and through. I loved that it delivered in all the elements I was wanting more of from the Nightjar. Again like the Nightjar the incorporation of Finnish mythology was not something I had read before and it has really made me seek out more about this fascinating branch of mythology, particularly its mythos about death and the soul which are discussed a lot in both books.

This offering caught my eye, as I loved the sound of an alternate London and an intriguingly different magic system. But I hadn’t got very far into it, when I realised that it was the second in a series – and that this time around, my reading experience was being seriously compromised by not having read The Nightjar. So I stopped and got hold of the first book – and I firmly advise that you do the same thing, if by chance you have also picked up The Rookery before having already tucked into The Nightjar.

I enjoyed this one far more than The Nightjar. To some extent, that might be because I’d compromised my reading experience of the first book in this series by already knowing some of the main plotpoints. However, I don’t necessarily think that was the main problem. I’d become a tad exasperated by Alice during The Nightjar, as she made some really daft decisions. And I’m increasingly allergic to heroines who are determined to throw themselves into the most insanely dangerous situations they can find for the sake of the plot, while all the time professing there isn’t any other option.

So I’ll admit to starting this one without feeling hugely enthusiastic – and ended up getting completely pulled into the plot. The world had already beguiled me, and it was the prospect of revisiting the Rookery, the magical version of London, that had prompted me to dive into this one, anyway. But this time around, Alice’s decisions were far more logical. That doesn’t mean that she isn’t still a disaster magnet – but the situations she flung herself into at least made sense to me. And I was pleased to see that the political machinations around the magical houses were given sufficient attention, as that was one of the ongoing issues throughout The Nightjar that had intrigued me. All in all, this was a thoroughly enjoyable, immersive read – to the extent that I stayed up far later than is good for me to discover what happened.

So if you read The Nightjar and came away wondering what all the fuss is about – don’t let that deter you from tucking into this one. It provides a really enjoyable adventure in a pleasingly different world with a nicely original magic system. I highly recommend it to fans of slightly quirky fantasy adventures. While I obtained an arc of The Rookery from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10

This Rookery is the follow up to The Nightjar which I completely loved and thought was an amazing book, but I can’t believe that this is even better. The writing is amazing, the characters, world building everything just seems so much more sharper and refined, even though I loved the original, this is an author who I think is not satisfied unless she is honing her craft constantly and she just gets more fantastic with each book. Those who enjoyed The Nightjar will be ecstatic like me and I’m looking forward to so many more books from Deborah Hewitt

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

The Rookery is the sequel to The Nightjar and tells the story of Alice in an alternative, magical London. The writing style is excellent and if you enjoyed The Nightjar, you'll definitely love this follow-up. Alive has powers of both life and death and in The Rookery she must hone her skills in order to discover what is going on at the Rookery. The magic, the characters, and the romance in this book are expertly executed and I would recommend this book to all fantasy and magic fans.