Rating: 4.5 stars

Lovely War meets Howl’s Moving Castle in this new YA fantasy from acclaimed author Frances Hardinge, about the people caught in a game played by the gods where castles are moved around the world like chess pieces

Far above the valleys and villages of the Kingdom of Thaletal, a Great Game is played. Players move castles around the realm like chess pieces—and the ordinary villagers are mere pawns at the whim of their tactics.

When 16-year-old Burr’s peaceful village is disrupted by the arrival of an ominous new castle, he decides he’s had enough. But what starts as a plucky coup soon escalates—and then the castle is wrenched away to a far-flung corner of the kingdom, where whispers mount of a mysterious ancient maiden whose magpies collect her debts at dangerous prices.

Here, the stakes are higher than the tallest turrets, and every move counts. Burr must work with his sisters and friends—and rely on the unexpected help of an intriguing heiress—to unravel the secrets of the Magpie Maiden and the origins of the Great Game before he becomes just another casualty of the Players’ deadly contest.

I received an audio copy of this book through the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review.

I enjoyed listening to Traitors’ Nest for my first audiobook read. As I’ve never listened to an audiobook before, I wasn’t sure how this was going to go, but I can definitely say this was such an enjoyable experience for me, as this was such a good story to give a listen to.  

What I enjoyed about it was learning about the moving castles from the perspective of a young teenager. It felt magical because I didn’t know where the story was going, and I found myself feeling for this group of villagers who had taken over a castle and didn’t understand what they were doing. Learning about this from Burr made it all the more real because he played such a pivotal role in the story. I enjoyed learning about everyone through his eyes and getting an understanding of how castles work as well as getting a good grasp of the rules and laws of owning a castle once the villagers took over the castle they inhabited.

What I also enjoyed about Traitors’ Nest was seeing the different relationships that formed as the story progressed. You can see that as the story goes on, everyone that inhabits the castle starts caring about each other, even those who initially didn’t know the villagers. I also enjoyed learning more about castles through the eyes of a certain player and the strategic rules of making them jump. It felt like I was listening to a strategy game and having to figure out the rules as the game went on, and I loved it.

I loved listening to Traitors’ Nest too because I felt like the story also had so many twists and turns. Yes, there were times when the characters’ castle was in a place, and you had an idea of what was going to happen there, but there were moments when that wasn’t the case too. Those moments were great for me because I felt like that’s when the author created the story I heard in this book and made me even more interested to see the direction the story was going. I felt like there were a lot of great moments of storytelling where I learned a lot about the world the inhabitants of the castle lived in, which allowed me to understand the choices they made in this book.

There wasn’t anything in particular with Traitors’ Nest I didn’t dislike. Maybe if I had to pick anything, it would have to be the reveal of who the traitor is among the people in the castle. Mostly because this character was someone I expected to betray them by going off hints that had been given throughout the story. And the way the traitor is revealed too just felt hastily done to me because I felt like the character that betrays them is usually way smarter than that most of the time in the story. Up until their identity is revealed. I was also disappointed by it because this character is someone in the story that I felt was an interesting character to have in the story and was actually someone that I enjoyed getting to know. It was someone I really wanted to know more about their background and find out their motivation behind making the decision to betray them.

But overall, I enjoyed listening to Traitors’ Nest as my first audiobook read on NetGalley. I found the plot enjoyable, and the narrator’s voice telling their story enjoyable. Seeing castles in such a fantastical way wasn’t what I expected, but I enjoyed it all the way through, as these characters were such a delight to read about. I highly recommend this book to young fantasy readers, as I believe it’s a good book for those looking to get into the genre and for anyone in general who loves reading fantasy, as I don’t feel like you’ll be disappointed with this one. Traitors’ Nest was published on September 8, 2026, for those interested in checking out this book.