I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

“I need you to become my thief.”

In a magical realism late 1800s France, The Kiss of the Nightingale was a story of what you're willing to give up for the life you think you want. Told in first person, present tense, Cleo is a nineteen year old who is trying to keep her father's tailoring business going while caring for her sick younger sister. In this world, Talents mean everything. Centuries ago, gems infused with magic that greatly enhanced a person's gifted talent, were mined and then distributed among the population. A few decades ago, the mines dried up and Talents became impossible to get, unless you inherited them from your family. This has created increasingly lopsided economic statuses, especially when Elite Talents are horded by the aristocracy. Cleo's father was supposed to pass on his Tailoring Talent but after his emotional spiral downward after Cleo's mother's death, his body was found drowned in the river, with the Talent gem missing from his ring. Knowing that Cleo doesn't have a Talent, customers abandon her father's once flourishing business, leaving Cleo and her sister to poverty.

In our relationship, I'm the dangerous one.

Desperate to find a way to pay for a doctor for her sister has Cleo attempting to rob an aristocrat, but she's found, kidnapped and brought to Lady Sibille, better known as Dahlia and the Queen of the underworld that deals with stolen Talents. Cleo is seduced by Dahlia, physically and emotionally, and ends up agreeing to become a thief and steal Vicomte Nuriel Lenoir's Mathematical Talent in exchange for Dahlia gifting Cleo with a singing Talent and becoming Lady Adley. Unfortunately for Cleo, she feels drawn to the arrogant Nuriel and starts to develop feelings for him, leading her to feel guilty for her subterfuge and how she's going to betray him.

But Cleo, it's not worth it if it keeps you from home.

The beginning was interesting with the magical realism world set-up and obvious in it's message of resource hoarding, social status hierarchies, and what you should want out of life. However, the middle really sagged for me as Cleo did a lot of rinse and repeat of feeling guilty and battling enjoying her riches full new life with missing her sister. Since we're only in Cleo's head, the stagnate wishy-washy gave no escape and slowed the momentum of the story for me. The scenes with Cleo and Nuriel had some banter that you could feel and believe in their budding relationship but not quite enough depth to really delve into their romance. With the inclusion of magic, it felt obvious that Cleo's feelings were probably being manipulated by Dahlia in some way, so even though there seemed to be flashes of conveyed realness, I didn't quite feel the tormented pull Cleo was supposed to be in. Dahlia seemed like a very interesting secondary character that I would have loved to have seen more of, but again, all in Cleo's head, we only get those flashes.

Light and darkness. Safety and danger. Integrity and deceit. But under it all is desire. And the realization that, deep inside, I'm torn.

The ending worked to draw me back in when Cleo finally has to make a decision regarding who's side she's going to be on and what she wants out of life and we get some action. The world-building was adequate, I could have used a little more in regards to the magical Talents but it was magical realism intriguing enough. The secondary characters were plentiful and each brought something to the table; I can see Cleo's sister possibly getting her own romance. The romance, between Cleo and Dahlia and Cleo and Nuriel was there but lacked romance genre depth for me. Where this excelled the most for me was in it's underlining message of how resource hoarding hurts not only individuals but holds back societies as a whole and how talents can come from anyone and all corners of the world. This had a, mostly, wrapped up ending, but some characters were left in the wind and while some relationships were getting started, there is definitely room to add to character journeys. At points intriguing, meandering, left me wanting more depth, and thought-provoking.