Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

49 reviews

paper_elytra's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

Great world, well revealed. Would love more exploration of this world! Characters were Fierce and yet vulnerable, the fighting was swift. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse

flyfarther79's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Death

Minor: Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, and Panic attacks/disorders

nnniro411's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A beautifully written story with characters that jumped off the page. I just have to say I adored the revenant so much, it was hilarious, dark, endearing, sarcastic and a little bit of a mother hen. I immediately loved this disembodied demonic spirit as soon as it spoke. Revenant and Artemisia’s banter was fun to listen to and seeing them go from adversaries to friends was so much fun. I also loved the side characters and enjoyed the mystery that they gave. 
The world felt lived in and the world building was well done. We didn’t need exposition and instead taken into the world where we picked up the mythology as the adventure unfolded. I would not mind going back into this world if Roberson ever decided to continue the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Bullying, War, Abandonment, Torture, and Gore

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

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

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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

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

3.5

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, and Child abuse

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.

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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 head

thewildmageslibrary'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! 

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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

siannas_second_library's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Violence, and Self harm

Moderate: Blood, War, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit and Eating disorder