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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i like margaret rogerson's writing, she definitely improved from enchantment of ravens to vespertine/a sorcery of thorns. the mc of vespertine, artemisia, was a really refreshingly unconventional character to follow - a stoic, deadpan nun that establishes a close relationship with the snarky revenant possessing her.
i can definitely tell leander will be the love interest, although there's no romance in this installment. will be waiting to see when the sequel comes out because i'm curious as to how rogerson will continue on with the story.
i can definitely tell leander will be the love interest, although there's no romance in this installment. will be waiting to see when the sequel comes out because i'm curious as to how rogerson will continue on with the story.
Dear Goodreads, please give us half stars too. 2.5 stars
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
I enjoy all of Rogerson’s books so. This one felt funny and interesting and I loved that it’s stand-alone (as all her books so far actually). I love the idea of Artemisia’s relationship with the Revenant and that it was this kind of sarcastic companionship-similar to Calcifer from Howl’s Moving Castle—another long time fave.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*I am happy to have received an ARC through a Goodreads giveaway.*
Aww man, this book had so much potential. The author herself wrote a humorous post apologizing for a sloppy ARC, so I'm not sure how much to criticize the version I read (because parts were very, very sloppy). I don't think I'll give up on the series yet due to a fantastic premise, but this wasn't the strongest start.
I was most excited about this being the start of a series and Rogerson having multiple books to explore her world building and characterization. Since she's previously only written standalones each book had to cram so much information into so few pages. A lot of interesting details or character moments had to be glossed over or summarized for the sake of space. While Vespertine has an expansive world with deep magical lore it seems that is where all of her effort went, because it followed the same writing style as her previous books. Everything from plot to characters stayed mostly superficial and I was left feeling pretty unsatisfied.
The last 100 or so pages felt like a fever dream. Revelations were being had, plot threads were tying up, and I had almost no idea what was happening (or why). It wasn't necessarily hard to pick up the general idea of what was going on, but the writing definitely needed another edit or two for clarity (this may be something that was fixed in the final draft?). Also, when I heard this was a series, I expected it to read like... a series. Imagine my surprise when I found a nearly standalone story with just enough of an open ending for spin offs.
I did love the world, the ideas behind the magic system, and Artemisia has all the makings of an interesting character. I just wish we got a deeper, meatier story, since that's what I was hoping for. This is an excellent choice for a fall read; it definitely gives off somewhat spooky vibes. I also read it in two sittings, so it clearly wasn't terrible.
I'm very anxious to read what other people have to say about the final published novel, and I hope the next entries improve on the ideas that were started in this one.
Aww man, this book had so much potential. The author herself wrote a humorous post apologizing for a sloppy ARC, so I'm not sure how much to criticize the version I read (because parts were very, very sloppy). I don't think I'll give up on the series yet due to a fantastic premise, but this wasn't the strongest start.
I was most excited about this being the start of a series and Rogerson having multiple books to explore her world building and characterization. Since she's previously only written standalones each book had to cram so much information into so few pages. A lot of interesting details or character moments had to be glossed over or summarized for the sake of space. While Vespertine has an expansive world with deep magical lore it seems that is where all of her effort went, because it followed the same writing style as her previous books. Everything from plot to characters stayed mostly superficial and I was left feeling pretty unsatisfied.
The last 100 or so pages felt like a fever dream. Revelations were being had, plot threads were tying up, and I had almost no idea what was happening (or why). It wasn't necessarily hard to pick up the general idea of what was going on, but the writing definitely needed another edit or two for clarity (this may be something that was fixed in the final draft?). Also, when I heard this was a series, I expected it to read like... a series. Imagine my surprise when I found a nearly standalone story with just enough of an open ending for spin offs.
I did love the world, the ideas behind the magic system, and Artemisia has all the makings of an interesting character. I just wish we got a deeper, meatier story, since that's what I was hoping for. This is an excellent choice for a fall read; it definitely gives off somewhat spooky vibes. I also read it in two sittings, so it clearly wasn't terrible.
I'm very anxious to read what other people have to say about the final published novel, and I hope the next entries improve on the ideas that were started in this one.