Night Owls

by A.R. Vishny

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 standalone 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.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Vampires, Jewish, Romance, LGBT, Queer

368 pages, Hardcover

First published September 17, 2024

About the author

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.

Reviews

[nikki | ཐི༏ཋྀ​​݁ ₊ ݁ . · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real monsters concealed their knives. Real monsters wore innocent looks of longing. Real monsters put the knife in; they didn’t take it out.

rating: 3.75

owl-shifting vampires from jewish folklore set in a nyc theater 🦉

there were so many great details about yiddish culture, theatre/film, and jewish mythology. i had never even heard of estries before (owl-shifting vampiresses who feed on men) and i thought it was additionally handled well in regards to antisemitic blood libel tropes. there are also jews of color, celebrating the diversity of judaism. shoutout for the sapphic rep too!

i thought the romance between clara and baoz was cute and sweet, and molly's passion for theatre was v relatable as a former theatre kid. learning about yiddish theatre in past nyc was fascinating as i hadn't even known about it prior. will definitely be looking into some as well as some of the classic films name dropped in here.

a heads up though, a couple prominently featured characters are noted as being from / having lived in israel, so that will be up to the reader to discern whether they choose to read this.

an honest arc review ♡

[Brend · Rating 3 out of 5]

A jewish fantasy with lesbians?


-how long have you been 18?
-since the birth of Andrew Lloyd Webber, probably.

I have thoughts. Not structured enough for a written review. I should've started a booktube channel last year

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review as part of the book tour hosted by Insta Book Tours.

Night Owls is an exciting, gripping, and unputdownable debut from a new voice in paranormal YA romance steeped in folklore and Jewish tradition, and I, for one could not put it down!
This is the first book I have read featuring Jewish/Yiddish folklore, and it has left me hungry to learn and read more about it.
Clara and Molly are estries ( female owl-shifting vampires) who hide in plain sight running and living in an old movie theatre which they're run for over a century. Clara has rules in place to keep them both safe and alive; shift at night, feed on Jewish men (only) in secret and above all - never fall in love.
Boaz works at the movie theatre but has his own secret: he can see and communicate with the dead.
When the fine divide between the living and the dead begins to weaken and demons begin to walk amongst the living, all of their lives are in danger. Mollys beloved has been taken, and the future of mankind is in danger, and the trio must work together to undo the damage and save the ones they love.
This book is so intricately woven with not just folklore and tradition, but romance, paranormal, and mystery too and is definitely a book you don't want to miss!

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Night Owls by A R. Vishny is absolutely one of my favorite books of 2024. It's a real hidden gem that absolutely deserves much more attention. I got sucked into the characters and their world so quickly and didn't look back. I really appreciated the classic movies as well. If you're a fan of Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear by Robin Wasley, The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, and The Diviners by Libba Bray, then I have a feeling you'll love this too. I hope we'll get to see more of this world in the future, but I know I'll be reading anything else this author cares to write in the future.

[Fanna]

this sapphic romantic fantasy has owl-shifting vampires + family curses; just letting you all know so you can be as excited as i am

[BookishlyJewish]

This review first appeared on my blog BookishlyJewish

I'll never forget the day that I found out A. R. Vishny is funny. I was starting a short story critique group (still going strong!) and this wonderful writer that I admired mentioned she was interested in participating. Her story she was actually a bit of apocrypha for her novel in progress. It's an exercise lots of writers perform to make sure their characters are well rounded. And it worked! Because the book was Night Owls and the short story made me laugh so hard the first thing I said when we opened the floor for critique was "OMG I had no idea you had a sense of humor." Luckily she forgave me for my foot in mouth syndrome and still let me read an arc of the book.

In truth, I think she replied with something very gracious about trying to be funny but never knowing if it was working. Dear reader, it was working. It still is working. It works so hard it ought to receive overtime pay. Night Owls , a YA fantasy feature two Estries - a more obscure Jewish magical creature akin to female only vampires - named Clara and Molly who run a movie theater in the village. The theater, which is a renovated old Yiddish theater, is practically its own character and their ticket taker Boaz just so happens to see the dead. So basically everyone is keeping secrets about their magical sides from everyone else. This cozy little arrangement self implodes when Molly's very human girlfriend disappears and Ahsomdei King of sheydim - you can think of sheydim like Jewish demons but with chicken feet - starts getting feisty.

Each character has a wonderfully detailed backstory which we learn as the novel progresses. There is a wealth of Jewish lore, including an appearance by the ring of Solomon (although it is never formally called such). Vishny has a light touch, specifically addressing the issue of blood libel surrounding Jewish vampires while also acknowledging that accepting the monstrous half of oneself is not necessarily a bad thing. Because what society calls monstrous is often just a woman trying to think for herself.

Normally I go for the sapphic plot lines, or heavily invest myself in either the magical creatures or sentient dwellings. In this case though, it was not the estries, or the theater, or the cool Yiddish stage trivia that pulled me in. It was Boaz and his freaking hilarious sense of humor. Is Kugel a pasta or cheesecake? The bit about the klezmer band (I won't ruin it for you). His ineffable ability to say the most ridiculous yet truthful things. This guy slayed me again and again. I was so thrilled to have the chance to meet him again and discover the rest of his story.

Night Owls deals with heavy topics but it is never itself heavy. It was a joy to read, taking me only a few commutes, which is saying something since I am reading on a tiny Iphone screen with NYC public transportation shenanigans distracting me all around. Come from the movie trivia, stay for the chicken feet (I admit I am also a sucker for Ashmodei stories). There's something for everyone here.

Note: BookishlyJewish received an arc of this book after we asked for one.

[The One Where Aimee Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantasy AND horror AND paranormal romance?! Vampires AND demons AND ghosts?! My oh my does this book contain so many of my favorite things. And theater! And phenomenal Jewish representation! It's primarily set in an old Yiddish theater in NYC. As I write this review I'm beginning to wonder if A.R. Vishny somehow peered into my soul and captured all the things I love into one book?

I finished Night Owls days ago and yet my brain keeps wandering back into the tale. Vishny created such a full fantasy world, such well developed characters, that I think some part of my subconscious thinks it was all real? I'll be going about my routine tasks and suddenly I'll wonder, how are Clara and Molly? What's Boaz up to? Oh, wait...the book ended. I was so engrossed in this story that my mind has not yet caught up to the fact that no matter how much more I want, it's over.

And if it isn't clear, I LOVED Night Owls. It is magical in every sense of the word. What an incredible debut novel. Vishny is a talented storyteller and gosh I cannot wait to read whatever she writes next.

All the stars! Night Owls will be out 9/17.

Thank you to the author and Harper Collins for an ARC.

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

AR is now one of my new faves in YA Fantasy. I loved the world building and the Estries story. I had never heard of Estries before reading this book and now I want to learn more. I love love LOVED the Jewish rep in this book. It was so amazing to see so many different “types” of Jewish people in one book and the mythology with this story was enthralling.

[Malavika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sorry this book is already amazing I don't even need a cover to know it for sure.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! This features:
- Jewish folklore/mythology
- cinema history
- theater history
- New York
- a hint of labor history
- a central sister relationship reminiscent of Sense and Sensibility
- ghosts
- a demon nightclub
- Yiddish

The premise: estries (Jewish owl vampire women) Clara and Molly run an indie New York movie theater together and follow rules to make sure no one notices that they’re, y’know, vampires. Molly has broken one of these rules by having an alive girlfriend. When said girlfriend starts acting possessed, and then disappears, both sisters have to investigate what’s happened to her and why the other supernatural creatures of New York have started acting unusual. Oh yes, and turns out Boaz, their box office attendant, comes from a family of mediums in possession of a magic ring—maybe he has something to do with all this.

I think my quibbles (spoiler-y maybe) are that a) one of the sisters does a bit less plot-wise than the other b) the resolution of the arc of the sisters’ relationship is perhaps lost a bit/left more implied amidst all the action of the end of the novel. But these are mostly personal taste things.

I’m not Jewish but I really appreciated how this novel doesn’t overly concern itself with explaining things to potential non-Jewish readers, and with how it contains a wide variety of Jewish characters.

[Rebecca Brodkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this book up randomly and was quickly ENTHRALLED. A tale that feels ancient, mystical, and modern, NIGHT OWLS follows two sisters Clara and Molly who are century old Estries (vampire-like owl shifters of ashkenazi folklore) as they become embroiled in the paranormal underworld sitting beneath New York City.

This story brims with magic, demons, and rich culture. I learned quite a lot about Yiddish history, and lore that has been lost to assimilation and persecution over the centuries. The story is compulsively readable, and features many odes to beloved romance tropes like hate to love and ✨yearning✨

Thank you, A. R. Vishny, for putting a story like this into the world 🤍

[Sapir_library ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

I will share a full review soon

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recently, when I’ve read YA I’ve immediately been thrown out of the stories by how unrealistic a lot of the dialogue and behavior of the characters is. At first I wrote it off as me not being in the right age range anymore. But Night Owls was actually delightful. The characters were realistic and well-built. Vishny wove the history of New York’s Yiddish theater and the film industry into the story flawlessly.

Although it doesn’t often come in handy, my previous life as a student of Central European film let me fully enjoy the research the author did. The film industry was built on the history and hard work of the Jewish people, in Europe and in the US, and I think that came through nicely in Night Owls.

A truly superb example of a vampire-adjacent book. Honestly, Stephanie Meyer who???

[Courtney Shapiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

As one of my most anticipated debuts, this book blew me away. I loved the Jewish representation and the mythology interwoven into the story. the old Yiddish theater setting was super interesting as well. I loved the characters and the alternating POVs made the story so engaging. I didn't really know a ton about Estries and I think they're such a unique part of Jewish mythology. This story had romance, fantasy, and a bit of horror and I loved it all. The world-building was incredible and I just want more. Clara, Molly, and Boaz all had lovable qualities and I loved each of them individually and together. I absolutely can't wait to read more from A.R. Vishny as this was an incredible debut!

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an exciting and very unique YA story featuring Jewish culture, history, and folklore centered around two sisters who are Estries and run an old Jewish theatre they've revamped into a cinema. I've read a metric shit ton of YA, and while I am THRILLED that so many stories exist from so many new and previously unpublished perspectives and voices, I find that I have often read some such version of the story many times over. I was delighted with how fresh this felt and it was really well written so I flew right through it.

I really enjoyed the character vignettes from the past and while I thought the romance was cute, you will never convince me that a grown ass 150 year old woman would be into an 18 year old human boy child. LOL. I liked the age gap flip for sure, just like, could not be me haahahaha

[Lena Hooker · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book had no business being so good!?!

[Barb Middleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This YA paranormal romance has lots of action, has a Jewish vampire as a protagonist, and incorporates Jewish culture into the plot.

[Sarah Richman Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one! I will save my thoughts for book club but perfectly witchy for October and I feel like I learned a lot of history and folklore that I knew nothing about

Ok post book club thoughts that I shared:
Thinking about Estries themselves and how most other folklore associate vampires with bats but Estries turn into owls, maybe the symbolism is that Estries belong to both worlds-human and The World That Comes and can see things from both ways and owls can see things in front and behind them?
Thinking about Clara's rules specifically to only feed on Jewish men as to not arouse suspicion from the rest of the population, I think it was an interesting thing to include, specifically referencing blood libel because you would think that as Jews, they wouldn’t want to feed on other Jews to keep them safe, but they’re thinking about the larger community instead of the individuals
I really loved the lines that Lena, Molly’s ex-girlfriend who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, says to Molly that the Grand Dame must burn in order to seal the door between the worlds of the living and the dead. She says “Fire is the source of our suffering and how we honor memory, and time, and the spaces most sacred to us. Fire is destruction, and it is life, the World That Is and the World to Come.” I found these lines to be particularly moving, a reclamation of what was behind their darkest moments as well as an example of dialectical thinking–holding two competing ideas in your mind at once.
The more I think about this book, its focus on Jewish (and more specifically, Ashkenazi) folklore and history--including Yiddish dialogue as well as other practices--did make it somewhat esoteric and potentially hard to parse for someone not Jewish and I feel like the author including a glossary of terms would have been a simple addition to help in that vein.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm, this was alright! I loved the inclusion of Jewish mythology! But it just felt juvenile to me, you know? I don't know how to explain it.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy!

All cultures like to give a little twist to the vampire legend and proudly declare: "OUR vampires are different!"

I now know that in Jewish folklore, they tell of Jewish vampires who are all women who were Wronged in life, can turn into owls, and only drink the blood of Jewish men. And also can eat salted bagels. (Because of course Jewish vampires can eat bagels.)

Vishny takes this legend and runs with it, placing two of these vampires in the modern-day East Village, surrounded by hipsters and history. Vishny lovingly brings this melting pot world to sparkling life - including the undead parts - making you absolutely believe there are demon-run night clubs next to the bakeries that makes the world's best bagels. (Never let anyone tell you Yiddish is a dead language!)

Molly and Clara have The Rules to keep them safe, living their un-dead lives running an independent movie theater and occasionally snacking on the blood of men who talk through the film. (Only the Jewish ones, of course, since they have no desire to accidently start a pogrom based on the old blood libel in New York.)

Of course, two people, even the undead, can't run a theater by themselves, so there are staff members, including a young man, Boaz, who annoys Clara with his perpetual lateness and geeky enthusiasm for silent films.

Boaz, meanwhile, struggles with a family heritage of being able to talk to ghosts and a legacy of no one in his paternal family making it past 40. (Except one very cranky aunt.)

But the barriers between the dead and living are breaking down, New York is filled with hordes of angry ghosts, and two people with no reason to trust each other have to work together to save their loved ones and possibly the entire world.

Highly recommend - read this the next time you are in the mood for a vampire tale that gloriously mixes the Old World and New World with the history of Silent Film.

[USOM · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

Clara and Molly have a rule to never fall in love. So what happens when it turns out Molly has been hiding a secret girlfriend? For the two of them, not having any mortal attachments is a must for these undead girls. However, when Molly ends up falling in love, their world will change forever. I loved the theater and Manhattan references in Night Owls. Night Owls is multiple perspective and it allows us to see how Molly is being pulled in different directions, Clara who's just trying to keep them safe, and Boaz who's hiding secrets of his own. Night Owls is a story that builds like a crescendo into a fantastical story of wondering if love will be our end.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don’t judge this book based on just its first page, which has a tone and feel completely different from the rest of the book. A kind of abstract, self-consciously poetic prologue, I almost put the book down because of it. But past that single page, the book is delightful. It juggles a lot of ideas from Jewish myth and superstition very lightly and with a lot of fun.

And I appreciated that the book found space for Mizrachi Jews, which I totally did not expect from a work so focused on Yiddish and Jewish history in lower Manhattan. Also I enjoyed how, in the middle, there is great telling of the story of Solomon and Ashmodai.

[rachel x]

this cover is a work of ART

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Insta Book Tours and Harper 360 YA for a copy of the book, it has not affected my honest review.


TW: death, blood, death, murder, violence, horror


Clara and Molly are estries, owl-shifting female vampires from Jewish folklore, who have been alive for over a century. Living in New York, they run a cinema that was once a Jewish theatre called the Grand Dame, using it as their “nest” and to protect their identities. Clara is older, despite being turned at eighteen, and loves the rules she’s put into place to keep them both safe: one of which is they will feed secretly from Jewish men when they take their hair down, revealing their true form, before the men forget instantly. The other is to never fall in love. However, Molly- who in her former life was a rising star New York actress before her death and turning- has found love with Anat, a college student who loves the same things as Molly and accepts her true nature fully. Molly is tired of keeping her love a secret from Clara, especially because Anat makes her so happy. Clara has enough problems: the boy who works at the cinema, Boaz, is consistently late and never has a good excuse for it. He works at the theatre because he wishes Clara- who has always been irritated by him- would like him back. Unfortunately, Boaz has an excellent reason, his family are cursed to see ghosts and he can’t go anywhere without being approached by distressed spirits. After he impulsively steals his aunt’s prized family heirloom, Boaz accidentally makes it possible for ghosts to be seen by mortals and capable of touching him. When Anat vanishes in strange circumstances after being possessed by a demon, and New York’s underworld of monsters and spirits emerges into public, Clara begins to suspect that maybe Boaz is at fault. To find Anat before she can be killed, Clara must put aside her rules and doubts to work with Molly and Boaz to face the demons threatening them and the terrible hunger she struggles to resist.  


I raced through this book, finding it incredibly hard to put down once I started. It was so interesting to see the combination of modern-day New York with Jewish folklore, especially because I’d never heard of estries before and they’re such a cool subject to write about. One thing I wish we’d seen more of was Molly and Clara hunting, I needed more scenes of them as owls or in their true forms. My favourite character was Molly, I loved how determined she was to finally find happiness in this life even if she didn’t have it in her past one. The idea that she would have been known as a brilliant actress if she hadn’t been killed really worked, especially as it turns out that she’s something of an urban legend. The book starts after Molly and Anat’s sapphic romance has already begun but they’re a lovely couple, I just wish we’d seen more of them before Anat vanishes. Clara has so much burden on her trying to protect the family she’s built- the one that turned her and Molly is now gone- and I enjoyed seeing her gradually realise that her rules are the ones putting everyone in danger and that they need to be broken to keep people safe. I loved her scenes with the Prince of Demons, their “landlord” who steals people’s faces as a form of rent. Boaz is also a fun character, he comes from a family of mediums but only one has made a career out of it, his aunt Hila. His moments with the various spirits and ghosts throughout New York were really entertaining, I especially liked how he tried to help some of them as best as he could. After Anat is possessed, Boaz tries to use his aunt’s ring to help her but because he has no idea what he’s doing this doesn’t work; I liked how he gradually became more confident and assertive in himself, while his romance with Clara was well developed. This was a strong standalone debut with a fascinating idea and loveable characters, I enjoyed it a lot.

[annettedena · Rating 5 out of 5]

the way I scoured the internet for more information on “Di Shturem: The Yiddish Tempest” before realizing it’s not a real play 💀

I’m skeptical of fantasy, but this blew me away. Despite the horror elements, the entire thing felt like a warm hug from someone who knows my world (I’m not from New York, but the concepts, humor, nerdiness and banter of Molly, Clara and Boaz all just feel very familiar to me). I did have a hard time believing Clara would forgive Boaz, but alas, he sounds like a gem of a guy who made her lose her rational thought by some combination of yearning and supernatural pull 🤷‍♀️.

More than that, though, what touched me was the isolation driving Boaz throughout all of his encounters with the undead. The isolation he clearly had in Jewish school, knowing his state of being was just fundamentally beyond his peers’ understanding. Unprocessed parental absence, yearning for connection to the past. Even as he constantly resisted it, he seemed to be less alone with such creatures, who were also in a state of disbelonging. I like what Vishny has done with her subversion of the “burnout who is secretly a nerd” trope.


Would love to read a prequel story about Aunt Hila. The Sarit Hadad playing in her car as she drove in passive aggressive silence just took me out 😂

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a vampire aficionado getting a bit long in the tooth (pun intended) I never start a vampire story nowadays feeling especially optimistic.

This book turned out to be a pleasant surprise, though. It managed to tap into my fascination of old Hollywood and old movies in a way that was interesting, while also presenting a (for me) new take on the vampire lore in a novel. I'd read about Jewish vampires before, but not in any sort of fiction.
It was a nice, new acquaintance!

I also found it extremely refreshing how the author didn't lean into tropes. The book took turns that made me invested and interested all the way.
All in all, I feel very positive about keeping an eye on this author in the future.

[Pietra Ibrisimovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

don’t really understand how this has such few ratings and reviews?? guys this was FUN!!! i only got this book because the author was doing an event at books of wonder with the author of us in ruins (which was the book i initially was interested in) but i decided to get night owls as well for support and also bc the story seemed interesting and also bc the cover is pretty (sue me!)
between the two books, this is the one that took me by surprise! really pleased with the story and the characters and it was so fun to learn about jewish folklore!! clara and molly, my friends who so happen to be shape shifting owl vampires, i love you!!!!!

[Shanéia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Night Owls is based on Jewish Folklore, and I really enjoyed my time reading it. The writing weaved the old stories with the main plot really well and added to the atmosphere of the book! I loved that Estries main purpose was to help women! Not only does this book have cool vampires, but also cute romances set in a cool historic theatre! I would highly recommend picking it up it's perfect for this season!

*3.5

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up
This was such a great read and I loved learning about different cultures. However, the ending felt rushed and wasn't wrapped up satisfactory at all. Still, the vignettes were so lovely, the history of Jewish theater in New York was very cool, and the brief look into the supernatural world was fun (though I wish there was more)
contains lesbians, murder, blood, violence, demons, supernatural elements

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this trend of Jewish vampires in literature. For the most part I really enjoyed this book and loved how unapologetically Jewish it was. This was a love letter to Yiddish theater (I KNEW that one fake play was trying to be God of Vengeance I love being smart!!!) and a love letter to old cinema in general. Boaz has my whole heart because he loves The Mummy as much as I do. I think it fell a part a bit at the end and felt very rushed but I just really liked the vibe of the book.