Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

6 reviews

booksthatburn's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

VESPERTINE is a bloody tale of revenants, reluctant saints, and unlikely allies in a world where the dead walk.

I like the banter between Artemisia and the revenant. This is one place where the audiobook narrator's performance really shines, as it enhanced an already excellent story by making the revenant's voice pitch perfect for its characterization. Their conversations sometimes feel like banter while staying generally appropriate to the seriousness of each new situation. I was worried that Trouble (the bird) would be a gimmicky animal sidekick, but his appearances are brief and important. He has enough of a presence to keep his few contributions from coming out of nowhere, and his relatively few appearances keep the narrative from feeling like a comedic trio of possessed, possessor, and animal friend. 

The worldbuilding is filled in gradually, starting with Artemisia’s incomplete understanding of the history of her home and the forces at play, then gradually filling in as she learns from the revenant and tries to stay alive. 

The way this handles trauma, mental illness, and disability in the narrative is pretty great. It's a world where magic is real and very present, but while magic completely dispels some ailments it's not treated as a cure-all. Artemisia has burn scars on her hands which affect her daily existence. The way her hands healed affects her motor skills and ability to sense things like temperature. She still has panic attacks and various levels of mental distress when triggering events occur. There's a minor character who is deeply traumatized by an unrelated experience with possession, and even the revenant has a phobia borne of trauma. It's a world filled with undead, death, and violence, and the way that all the characters are either explicitly or implicitly traumatized accordingly helps it feel cohesive in a way I hadn't expected but very much appreciate.

The plot builds slowly, focusing more on Artemisia's efforts not to get caught once she has the revenant, then gradually she ends up in a position to do more with the information which became available to her. It has great "accidental hero (saint)" vibes with a plot that backs that up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Violence, Self harm, and Vomit

Moderate: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Ableism, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Slavery

Minor: Child abuse and Suicide

ldermer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Moderate: Suicide

clairew97's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Abandonment, Body horror, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Blood, Child abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: War, Self harm, Ableism, and Vomit

Minor: Bullying and Suicide

Descriptions of human bodies being used as vessels for spirits (or possessed), torture by magical means, use of human bones as relics for spirits, necromancy, anxiety. Author also states (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3883340977?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1) the book includes instances of disordered eating

lillythebluepaladin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

THIS WAS A BEAUTIFUL READ! I never thought that I would ever say that the thought of getting possessed by a sassy and snarky yet protective spirit would be pleasant, but this book changed my mind.

I loooved the world setting, the plot and the CHARACTERS!
I was told that this was gonna be a Venom by Marvel for teenage girls, and yeah it kinda is, but it is so much more!
My traumatised ass cried to this a few times, because I could relate a lot to what our main character Artemisia and our reverent has experienced, and this book genuinely felt like a long overdue hug.

MARGARET ROGERSON, WITH MADELINE MILLER AND TAMORA PIERCE, ARE THE QUEENS OF FEMALE FANTASY

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, and Self harm

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, and War

Minor: Child death and Vomit

yvonne_cl's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Grief