Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Vespertine

This book was sooooo good. I loved the main character and her revenant!! The way the author added depth and feelings to every character that came on the page was amazing. I really adore books that allow for villians to also be victims of pain and fear and I felt like this book did a great job of incorporating that wit a kind of anti-hero in the revenant as well as all the other spirits throughout the book. I really liked the different take on religion as well, while it was really similar to Christianity(?) with the blind belief of the people, the praying, and the saints, Rogerson also made it unique in the book by adding a more ghostlike twists that in my opinion added way more humanity to what the spirits were. Overall I really enjoyed this book and read it in one day 🤭 so 10/10

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rachelgreenreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was such a great story. The MC is a badass, neurodivergent and disabled nun, who allies with powerful spirit to uncover a vast magical plot, as well as the obscured history of the powers that be in her world. Rogerson writes power and humanity really well, while also making you love her complex and imperfect characters. Similarly to Sorcery of Thorns, she has her characters question what has been deemed wholly evil in her characters’ worlds, and if such a thing even exists. She artfully complicates concepts of good and evil, through characters and archetypes which are both fantastical and easy to relate to.

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marsh_mall0w's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.25

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nxpe's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Margaret Rogerson does not write a bad book- I am convinced. This book was so amazing, and I enjoyed it so much!

I was not expecting the extreme plot twists nearing the end, but they were very welcomed. I was convinced the priest had some sinister, horrendously evil plan... So, it being the Divine was a shock to me (I didn't mind though, she annoyed me a little bit).

I love the friendship development between Artemesia and Marguerite. I was worried because of the lack of romance in the book, but genuinely it wasn't needed. The friendship development between them and between Artemesia/revenant was beautiful. Also, I love the revenant! It was so funny, clever, and I love that it cared for it's vessels.

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chamaeleontis's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

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vaniavela's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? No

4.0

Artemisia is a Grey Sister who works alongside the nuns of the convent, preparing the corpses for their final resting place. But when an army of possessed soldiers comes to destroy the one place that has made her feel at home, she is forced to use the relic of a saint to protect the monastery.

The world building is simple but interesting, with well-developed themes of religion in that era. Although the pace is slow, we manage to immerse ourselves in this world and connect with the characters.

We have a main character with trauma and a sad backstory, which is one of the most used tropes in fantasy. I liked seeing the consequences of her childhood abuse in the present.
The writing was simple but kept me interested in her story from the beginning of the book. All the secondary characters were also good. I liked how versatile the revenant's personality was.

Overall, this was a good book.

tw: abandonment, child neglect, child abuse in past, possession, self-harm, threats of suicide, grief, brief mention of animal abuse, mention of animal deaths, blood depictions, vomiting, drugging, anxiety depictions, talk of plagues, loss of a loved one in the past, mention of spiders, death.

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krispy_reading's review

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I honestly tried, but I just stopped caring about the story. I even read along with an audiobook.
The overall concept seemed interesting, but any explanation of the world building, the Saints, or the Order of Spirits left my mind wandering. I was either bored, thinking about something else, or falling asleep while reading this book. The only interest I had was for the sassy revenant character. In conclusion, I guess I'll just have to see someone's review for ending spoilers.

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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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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