Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Vespertine

i really enjoyed the two main characters of this story (artemisa and the revenant) - their relationship was lovely and full of sarcasm. not sure if the artemisa is coded for autism or trauma behaviours, its a bit confusing. the world is really interesting (thank god for the page of the order of spirits) but the plot was a little slow in pacing and the plot twist was so obvious, even i picked it up and i wasn't trying at all.

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plumpaperbacks's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

[Buddy read with Shar 🖤]

I was so excited to read this, and in the first half, I honestly thought it would end up a new favorite. The story had similar vibes to my favorite series—His Fair Assassin—and the protagonist had so much in common with Sybella—one of the HFA protagonists and my absolute favorite character. I loved Artemisia and her revenant, and I thought the world-building, specifically the orders of spirits and how they could be bound with relics, was fascinating and well-done. I also loved seeing Artemisia come out of her shell more in the second half of the book, and realize that she does, in fact, have friends.

So what went wrong?

The pacing was dreadfully slow; in the first half I didn’t mind so much, because I was getting to know the characters and the world. But when I passed the 50% mark, I became aware of just how little had happened, and as I kept reading, still, hardly anything happened. I thought the antagonist was poorly written and didn’t really have any motivation to do what they did, and when the final hand was dealt, the true antagonist revealed, even though I didn’t see it coming, I wasn’t impressed. The last quarter of the book felt very anticlimactic, despite the stakes being at their highest yet.

One thing in this book’s favor, though, is that Artemisia is asexual, something I haven’t seen in many fantasies. There was no romance, and instead, the focus was on platonic relationships and her own character growth. It was refreshing, and I liked it.

Overall, despite finding this somewhat disappointing, I would recommend it. Rogerson spun a good story, and I do plan to read more from her in the future.

Representation

aromantic asexual protagonist

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thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

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dark tense

5.0

Oh, this book was a delight. IDK if it was intentional, but you could read this as a commentary on the Catholic Church and doctrine. I grew up Catholic and it didn't bother me, but I've also learned a lot more about the Church and its history since then so...? Anyway, Artemisia is so freaking relatable! Love an aroace protagonist, and the banter with the revenant was the cherry on top. The side characters are also great!

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abbyschalupa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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yvonne_cl's review against another edition

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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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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

Agh this was so fun! I'm really glad this is a series!

Rep: White aroace (author confirmed) female MC with scarred hands, anxiety and possibly neurodivergent, BIPOC male side character.

CWs: Abandonment, body horror (possession by spirits), past mentions of child abuse, confinement, death, fire and fire injury, injury/injury detail, mental illness (anxiety), murder, panic attacks, violence.

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy of this to review! Margaret Rogerson writes some great fantasy, and I was excited to get to this one. I mean, just look at the cover! It definitely looks absolutely promising.

Unfortunately, I found the book overall difficult to get into. Even though Rogerson is a master at world building, there was something lacking in the character development. The relationship between the revenant and Artemisia was probably the most interesting thing about the book, but it wasn’t enough to fully connect me to the story. I just wanted more overall.

While I appreciate when fantasies don’t have romances, I think this one could have benefited from that. Fleshing out the characters would have helped to get me more engaged in the story. One of the things that I couldn’t necessarily figure out was Artemisia’s motivation for everything. Having that motivation would have helped in making the story more engaging.

Even though I couldn’t connect to the characters, I did appreciate all of the detail that Rogerson put into the world building. There were so many interesting little details that helped in creating this captivating world.

All in all, while this wasn’t quite the book I wanted, fans of Rogerson’s writing will still find something to like.
-------

I usually love Margaret Rogerson's books, there was just something about this one that didn't click with me. More to come in a review later this week!

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breezer's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

I had previously read and loved Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson so I was super excited going into this. It did not disappoint!

Our main character Artemesia is a Gray Sister trainee, cleansing bodies of the dead to allow their souls to pass on peacefully, when her covenant is suddenly attacked. To defend herself she harnesses the power of a powerful ancient spirit (called a revenant) that has been bound to a saint's relic.

The atmosphere and world setting (middle ages, religious France vibes?) was brilliant from the very beginning and the fast paced narrative meant I flew through this! I loved the magic system with the ancient spirits and their respective lores. It reminded me of the Numina trilogy by Charlie N. Holmberg so I would definitely recommend this if you liked that.

I loved Artemesia and she underwent some great character development. In my opinion this also had some great anxiety and PTSD representation as well as ace/aro representation. Artemesia also has a physical disability that was very refreshing to see explored in YA.

My only minor criticism was the limited development of the side characters but other than that! Her relationship with the revenant was one of the highlights of the book and it just kept getting better and better! Very excited for where this series may go next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced reader's copy.

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