Night Owls
In this thrilling paranormal YA romance debut steeped in folklore, two estries--owl-shifting female vampires from Jewish tradition--face New York's monstrous underworld to save the girl one of them loves with help from the boy one of them fears before they are, all of them, lost forever.
Clara loves rules. Rules are what have kept her and her sister, Molly, alive--or, rather, undead--for over a century. Work their historic movie theater by day. Shift into an owl under the cover of night. Feed on men in secret. And never fall in love.
Molly is in love. And she's tired of keeping her girlfriend, Anat, a secret. If Clara won't agree to bend their rules a little, then she will bend them herself.
Boaz is cursed. He can't walk two city blocks without being cornered by something undead. At least at work at the theater, he gets to flirt with Clara, wishing she would like him back.
When Anat vanishes and New York's monstrous underworld emerges from the shadows, Clara suspects Boaz, their annoyingly cute box office attendant, might be behind it all.
But if they are to find Anat, they will need to work together to face demons and the hungers they would sooner bury. Clara will have to break all her rules--of love, of life, and of death itself--before her rules break everyone she loves.
In this stand-alone debut, A. R. Vishny interweaves mystery, romance, and lore to create an unputdownable story about those who have kept to the shadows for far too long.
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A. R. Vishny was born and raised in Massachusetts but now calls New York City home. Her essays on Jewish representation in pop culture have appeared in Teen Vogue, the Washington Post, and Hey Alma. She earned a BA in English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a JD at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she was a Law and Literature fellow. When she's not writing, she's at the theater or else hunting for the perfect slice of cheesecake.
"An intense, immersive quest full of deeply woven traditional and cultural lore, with emphasis on the value of Jewish faith and culture to the development of the characters. Serious situations experienced through the lens of enchantingly witty and emotional characters and a plethora of Jewish experiences are illuminated." -- Booklist (starred review)
"While romance is the heartbeat of this novel, the most intriguing elements are the small bits of Jewish folklore and history folded into the story, and the creative exploration of an entire demonic underbelly of the city. Vishny wisely brings things back to love: that between Clara and Molly first, and their respective romantic interests second, and how these attachments are what make life terrifying and exhilarating." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Debut author Vishny's writing . . . is most successful when recreating scenes from older history. Overall, the story excels at taking relatively hidden aspects of Jewish history, contemporary community life, and bubbe meises (or fables) and making them feel fresh and vibrant. A spirited retelling of lesser-known tales." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Night Owls is all about shining a light. First, into the little-known corners of New York Jewry--the Syrian community of Brooklyn; the history of the Yiddish theater--and then even deeper, to a thrilling underworld with footless demons and ageless beauties who fly in the night. This world is only whispered about in certain circles (IYKYK) but A. R. Vishny brings it to dazzling life in frightening and luminous strokes. Reading Night Owls feels like being let in on a secret--and then glamoured. You'll fall in love without even knowing what hit you." -- Goldy Moldavsky, New York Times bestselling author of The Mary Shelley Club
"With gripping, immersive prose and a cast of characters that flies off the page, Night Owls will sink its teeth into you. Vishny has crafted a debut as sparkling as stage lights." -- Rachel Moore, author of Us in Ruins and The Library of Shadows
"Night Owls is a fantastic debut, packed with all of my favorite things--Jewish folklore, Yiddish theater, lesbian vampire girls, and busybody synagogue elders who can't stop trying to tell you what to do even from beyond the grave. I love the cultural depth and specificity of Vishny's mythology, which draws on a mix of Ashkenazi, Talmudic, and Syrian Jewish traditions. A fun adventure as rich and layered as Jewish New York itself." -- Sacha Lamb, author of the Printz Honor and Sydney Taylor and Stonewall Award-winning When the Angels Left the Old Country
"Whether it was the haunting folklore, the eerie theater, the second chances, or the first love, I devoured this book like a bloodthirsty monster." -- Marissa Meyer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles
In a story that begins with small stakes and grows through successive iterations of drama to a showdown against Ashmodai, Prince of Demons, the details of the legacy of Jewish theater are engaging, and the strongly drawn romantic embroilments even more compelling. Cinematic history weaves through the characters' interests and becomes inseparable from the enchantments that drive the action. Subplots, flashbacks, and bits of Jewish folkloric backstory strengthen the narrative drive, making this complex but accessible queer-Jewish-vampire rom-com thriller a hit on all fronts. -- Horn Book Magazine
