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booksthatburn's review against another edition
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.
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.
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
episkey's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Self harm, and Death
Minor: Suicide, Eating disorder, War, Vomit, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
jessicaludden's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
“The revenant might be a monster, but it was my monster.”
This was an interesting read. I loved the magic system and the whole concept of spirits, nuns, and relics, but I think the world building is lacking. The world in this story feels bigger than one book to me. There were many times while reading that I found myself confused on the logistics of the world and the possibilities of the magic. There were also many times I wished for more detail and backstory. For example, I would’ve loved more time learning about the origins of the revenants and the Old Magic that is constantly referenced throughout the book. It just didn’t feel like the way things happen in this world was explained very clearly at the beginning.
I think the central issue of the story and the big bad was underwhelming. I liked the plot twist that Leander actually had no idea about Sarathiel and it was actually the Divine who was helping him, but I think Sarathiel’s overall purpose got lost in translation between the soldier spirits, him killing the Divine, and the rituals that Artemisia needed to do to save the world (at least I think that’s what she was trying to do). The stakes never felt very high to me and I think it’s due to the lack of detail I had with the world building.
I also think the side characters fell a little flat. The seeds of character complexity were there, but it felt like something was missing in their connection to Artemisia. I think their friendships could’ve been used a lot better and been more important in her story.
What I loved about this story was the dynamic between Artemisia and the revenant. They had really good banter and were both very blunt with each other. The revenant was hilarious, but I also loved seeing it’s softer side as the story progressed. I loved seeing their relationship build and the trust get developed. I especially loved the ending where Artemisia realized Rathanael had decided to sacrifice himself in order to save her and destroy Sarathiel. Their connection was the best part of this book and it’s what occurred for most of the story, which makes sense because she was literally a vessel for it. Overall, I enjoyed reading this. It could’ve been better in terms of the world building, but Artemisia and the revenant’s relationship made it enjoyable.
Favorite Quotes:
“‘You miss feeling things. You like being in a human body.’
‘That doesn’t mean I want to be in yours!’”
“‘Have you ever considered that your body carries you?’”
“‘No, and I don’t see why it matters. Humans are so tedious. Oh, you have dangly bits. Congratulations, you’re going to put on armor and swing a sword about. Oh, you’ve ended up with the other kind. Too bad—time to either have babies or become a nun.’”
“‘I’ll remind you,’ it said finally. ‘Rather than expecting you to remember on your own. When you need to eat, when you’re sick or hurt, and whether it’s serious enough to seek help. But you have to promise that you’ll listen to me.’”
“…the longing I had felt that day and many days since was homesickness. Homesickness for a place I had never been, for the answers to questions I carried in my heart but for which I had no words. I hadn’t recognized it then, because I hadn’t understood what it felt like to have a home.”
“‘I’ll have you know that I’m very good-looking by undead standards…’”
“‘You are the worst vessel I’ve ever had…’”
“If power we’re a measure of worth, Charles wouldn’t have needed me at all.”
“I glanced around at her, Charles, Jean. The people in the hall. I felt the revenant, bristling with impatience. And I realized she was mistaken—I hadn’t been alone, not for some time.”
“Perhaps this was how history treated saints. It didn’t matter what was real, what had truly happened. Even as they lived, their lives passes into legend.”
“…I found myself crouched in an alley with my heart hammering, feeling like an idiot as the revenant flitted through my body searching for injuries, finding nothing.
‘What happened?’ it demanded for the fourth or fifth time. ‘What’s wrong with you?’”
“‘I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again.’”
“I knew then that we really were going to be all right, because I had survived it before, and I would survive it again.”
“The world was radiant. My thoughts were silver fire.”
“‘I don’t want to do it, which in my experience is the surest sign that I need to.’”
“‘Stop drying,’ I told him. A faint smile touched his lips. ‘Is that all?’”
This was an interesting read. I loved the magic system and the whole concept of spirits, nuns, and relics, but I think the world building is lacking. The world in this story feels bigger than one book to me. There were many times while reading that I found myself confused on the logistics of the world and the possibilities of the magic. There were also many times I wished for more detail and backstory. For example, I would’ve loved more time learning about the origins of the revenants and the Old Magic that is constantly referenced throughout the book. It just didn’t feel like the way things happen in this world was explained very clearly at the beginning.
I think the central issue of the story and the big bad was underwhelming. I liked the plot twist that Leander actually had no idea about Sarathiel and it was actually the Divine who was helping him, but I think Sarathiel’s overall purpose got lost in translation between the soldier spirits, him killing the Divine, and the rituals that Artemisia needed to do to save the world (at least I think that’s what she was trying to do). The stakes never felt very high to me and I think it’s due to the lack of detail I had with the world building.
I also think the side characters fell a little flat. The seeds of character complexity were there, but it felt like something was missing in their connection to Artemisia. I think their friendships could’ve been used a lot better and been more important in her story.
What I loved about this story was the dynamic between Artemisia and the revenant. They had really good banter and were both very blunt with each other. The revenant was hilarious, but I also loved seeing it’s softer side as the story progressed. I loved seeing their relationship build and the trust get developed. I especially loved the ending where Artemisia realized Rathanael had decided to sacrifice himself in order to save her and destroy Sarathiel. Their connection was the best part of this book and it’s what occurred for most of the story, which makes sense because she was literally a vessel for it. Overall, I enjoyed reading this. It could’ve been better in terms of the world building, but Artemisia and the revenant’s relationship made it enjoyable.
Favorite Quotes:
“‘You miss feeling things. You like being in a human body.’
‘That doesn’t mean I want to be in yours!’”
“‘Have you ever considered that your body carries you?’”
“‘No, and I don’t see why it matters. Humans are so tedious. Oh, you have dangly bits. Congratulations, you’re going to put on armor and swing a sword about. Oh, you’ve ended up with the other kind. Too bad—time to either have babies or become a nun.’”
“‘I’ll remind you,’ it said finally. ‘Rather than expecting you to remember on your own. When you need to eat, when you’re sick or hurt, and whether it’s serious enough to seek help. But you have to promise that you’ll listen to me.’”
“…the longing I had felt that day and many days since was homesickness. Homesickness for a place I had never been, for the answers to questions I carried in my heart but for which I had no words. I hadn’t recognized it then, because I hadn’t understood what it felt like to have a home.”
“‘I’ll have you know that I’m very good-looking by undead standards…’”
“‘You are the worst vessel I’ve ever had…’”
“If power we’re a measure of worth, Charles wouldn’t have needed me at all.”
“I glanced around at her, Charles, Jean. The people in the hall. I felt the revenant, bristling with impatience. And I realized she was mistaken—I hadn’t been alone, not for some time.”
“Perhaps this was how history treated saints. It didn’t matter what was real, what had truly happened. Even as they lived, their lives passes into legend.”
“…I found myself crouched in an alley with my heart hammering, feeling like an idiot as the revenant flitted through my body searching for injuries, finding nothing.
‘What happened?’ it demanded for the fourth or fifth time. ‘What’s wrong with you?’”
“‘I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again.’”
“I knew then that we really were going to be all right, because I had survived it before, and I would survive it again.”
“The world was radiant. My thoughts were silver fire.”
“‘I don’t want to do it, which in my experience is the surest sign that I need to.’”
“‘Stop drying,’ I told him. A faint smile touched his lips. ‘Is that all?’”
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, and Eating disorder
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
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
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
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
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
nrogers_1030's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Blood
Minor: Suicide
bluejayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
- 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
4.75
I did not have very high hopes for this book. The cover made me think of a Dark and Edgy YA fantasy from the 2000s, and the protagonist’s name seemed to fit the stereotype. And I have read so many books about warrior nuns. I was a little intrigued by the idea of learning how to deal with a revenant from the revenant, though, and I was in the middle of a string of DNF books so I figured one more couldn’t hurt.
And then it actually turned out to be good.
So the nuns here aren’t full-on warrior nuns. They’re trained with holy daggers and censers of holy incense because their job isn’t to fight people, it’s to fight the spirits of the dead, who tend to possess people. They also take care of the dead because properly buried people don’t tend to become malicious spirits. Artemisia is quite talented, but she doesn’t get people at all and is always misunderstanding what they want and would be perfectly happy living in the abbey and caring for corpses her whole life. I absolutely headcanon her as autistic. The book implies nothing of the sort and it could very easily be read as a result of the same childhood trauma that gives her limited use of her hands, but her struggles with understanding people and societal rules and what seemed like sensory overload were very relatable.
This book is also full of delightful tropes, such as:
- I reluctantly agreed to have an obnoxious presence share my head to deal with an even worse situation and I can’t get them out but we’re starting to get along
- The church says that’s evil but turns out they’re lying (including bonus: person discovering this is dedicated to the church and has to grapple with the fact that they lied)
- No one expects the protagonist to be absurdly powerful
- Oops! I accidentally became a folk hero (including bonus trope: the church is Big Mad about it)
The plot itself also holds a few surprises. It’s dark and full of the rampaging dead, but it also seems fairly straightforward until the end when you discover it is not at all what you thought. There are several unexpected allies, a very nice horse, the complexities of trying to keep your identity secret from the authorities when the masses know you as a hero, death-defying escapes, fantastic displays of magic, creeping around in crypts, and important choices. Artemisia learns that just because people don’t make sense to her doesn’t mean she can’t have friends, the dynamic between her and the revenant is great, and there’s plenty of magic and adventure. I also appreciated the religion aspect, which struck me as Catholicism if Catholics were more concerned with making the dead stay dead than going somewhere in particular after death.
I know it wasn’t perfect and I’m liking it more in this review than when I actually read it – I think my opinion is enhanced by the fact that I didn’t expect to like it very much – but it was a highly enjoyable read. The characters were good, the plot was solid with some interesting twists, I love seeing disabled protagonists, and I’m always down for the Protagonist Is Absurdly Powerful and Reluctant Allies With The Voice In My Head tropes. I was pleasantly surprised when how enjoyable Vespertine actually is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, and War
Minor: Child death, Vomit, Suicide, and Death of parent
Dead bodies, mind control, having someone else inside your headthewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, and Murder
Moderate: Self harm, Confinement, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Suicide
jenna36's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Self harm
Moderate: Blood, Death, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Child abuse
Minor: Suicide