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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
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:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book has a lot of things that I normally like it, but it didn’t dragged me to that word. So many times, my attention drifted away while reading it… the idea is so good, and the story in itself is fine, but the experience of reading it was not exciting…
At the end, I quite enjoyed it, but I felt that all the rules the author presents to us are broken to solve the problems. And I realised that I missed so many details of the lore, cause most of the time I wasn’t interested in what the main character was saying.
So the main character is the same old “I’m a different girl who doesn’t fit here, that’s why I’ll be your saviour”… but the Revenant, this character is nice! To be honest I enjoyed much more the other characters, some of them have very good characters arch!
A part of me would like to read more of this world, and another says “it’s enough”
At the end, I quite enjoyed it, but I felt that all the rules the author presents to us are broken to solve the problems. And I realised that I missed so many details of the lore, cause most of the time I wasn’t interested in what the main character was saying.
So the main character is the same old “I’m a different girl who doesn’t fit here, that’s why I’ll be your saviour”… but the Revenant, this character is nice! To be honest I enjoyed much more the other characters, some of them have very good characters arch!
A part of me would like to read more of this world, and another says “it’s enough”
challenging
tense
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
First of all, a HUGE thanks to NetGalley for providing me an early copy of this book to review!
Like all of Margaret Rogerson's books, what struck me most about this was how absolutely vivid the world she created was. The setting itself, yes, but also the spirits, the magic...
And of course, the people.
Artemisia is such a wonderful character, I adore her with every fiber of my being. And the revenant...I would die for her revenant without hesitation. The friendship that grows between them is just...oh my god. The author once described this book as a medieval Venom, and it is exactly that. The relationship between Artemisia and her revenant is gloriously well done, it grows so organically that it feels absolutely true to read.
The side characters, too, we so incredibly well crafted and brought so much to the story. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing where certain characters go in future books......
And the plot! So interesting! I don't think I've ever read a similar sort of story and that's always so much fun. A lot of this book was set-up and explanation, but it never felt that way. Again, the author manages to introduce concepts and magic and sinister happenings so beautifully organically, and if there's any sort of info-dumping, it certainly never read that way to me.
I also need to say: may all the gods bless Margaret Rogerson, because there was no romance in this. It absolutely didn't need it, and it was like a breath of fresh air to have a book that was focused on plot and developing relationships that wouldn't end up with kissing. I don't know if she plans to keep Artemisia romance-free, but I definitely got aro-ace vibes off her, and honestly I'm living for a character like this. There aren't enough, especially main characters.
Finally, I enjoyed the way this book was incredibly self-contained, but left just enough of an opening for more. Not all trilogies do this well, and I love it when they do. It's hard to wait for next installments and cliffhangers are the worst!
Like all of Margaret Rogerson's books, what struck me most about this was how absolutely vivid the world she created was. The setting itself, yes, but also the spirits, the magic...
And of course, the people.
Artemisia is such a wonderful character, I adore her with every fiber of my being. And the revenant...I would die for her revenant without hesitation. The friendship that grows between them is just...oh my god. The author once described this book as a medieval Venom, and it is exactly that. The relationship between Artemisia and her revenant is gloriously well done, it grows so organically that it feels absolutely true to read.
The side characters, too, we so incredibly well crafted and brought so much to the story. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing where certain characters go in future books......
And the plot! So interesting! I don't think I've ever read a similar sort of story and that's always so much fun. A lot of this book was set-up and explanation, but it never felt that way. Again, the author manages to introduce concepts and magic and sinister happenings so beautifully organically, and if there's any sort of info-dumping, it certainly never read that way to me.
I also need to say: may all the gods bless Margaret Rogerson, because there was no romance in this. It absolutely didn't need it, and it was like a breath of fresh air to have a book that was focused on plot and developing relationships that wouldn't end up with kissing. I don't know if she plans to keep Artemisia romance-free, but I definitely got aro-ace vibes off her, and honestly I'm living for a character like this. There aren't enough, especially main characters.
Finally, I enjoyed the way this book was incredibly self-contained, but left just enough of an opening for more. Not all trilogies do this well, and I love it when they do. It's hard to wait for next installments and cliffhangers are the worst!
As a big fan of An Enchantment of Ravens and Sorcery of Thorns, I was very excited when I saw Margaret Rogerson was bringing out Vespertine this year and, while it’s terribly shallow, I have to admit the cover alone had me hooked – Rogerson always gets the best covers!
It can be risky to love an authors work and to then pick up another, your expectation is so high, however Vespertine was consistent, just like the authors previous work and was a delight to read. There are similarities with the previous work, beautiful cover aside, the protagonist is a young woman seeking freedom, she’s kind and blossoms on the page into a bold, brave woman and Artemisia is very easy to love and root for. This book is different in the sense that the previous books had quite a strong romantic element to it, which of course I loved because they were beautifully done, but Vespertine doesn’t have a dashing, complicated male character to be swooned over and actually, I loved it more for that because this book was Artemisia’s story to tell.
Artemisia is training to be a grey sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the dead so that their souls can move on and not endanger the living instead. There are various spirits, of people who have died in various ways, who can cause their own specific threats, and it’s a delightful addition to the world building to have these different categorisations of spirits wrecking havoc. When the convent is attacked by soldiers possessed and threatening the women in the church, Artemisia steps out from the shadows she chooses to hide in and awakens a revenant, a powerful and deadly spirit that has the power to destroy her foes but also destroy her in the process.
What I loved most about this book, and what made it such an enjoyable read, is the relationship between Artemisia and the revenant, who she can hear speaking to her, who can take over her body, who could overpower and possess her body. This revenant is a complex character, they can do terrible things and yet they are also a victim, wielded and trapped in an a relic for centuries, you come to care for this character and it’s vulnerability beneath the villainous banter. In many ways the revenant is the greatest companion Artemisia has ever had and vice versa and this unlikely friendship really is the heart of the book. There is also Artemisia’s growing acceptance of herself, her hands are scarred from a childhood fire, she feels weird and unlikeable, and then she becomes a Saint and she can no longer hide from the eyes of people.
This isn’t an overly complicated book, it doesn’t go to a variety of locations, there aren’t endless characters introduced (but enough on both counts to keep it interesting) and while the pacing may be a little off at times, the constant dynamic between the 2 main characters doesn’t make one page feel unnecessary.
Thank you so much NetGalley for the early review copy, I am a very happy reader
It can be risky to love an authors work and to then pick up another, your expectation is so high, however Vespertine was consistent, just like the authors previous work and was a delight to read. There are similarities with the previous work, beautiful cover aside, the protagonist is a young woman seeking freedom, she’s kind and blossoms on the page into a bold, brave woman and Artemisia is very easy to love and root for. This book is different in the sense that the previous books had quite a strong romantic element to it, which of course I loved because they were beautifully done, but Vespertine doesn’t have a dashing, complicated male character to be swooned over and actually, I loved it more for that because this book was Artemisia’s story to tell.
Artemisia is training to be a grey sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the dead so that their souls can move on and not endanger the living instead. There are various spirits, of people who have died in various ways, who can cause their own specific threats, and it’s a delightful addition to the world building to have these different categorisations of spirits wrecking havoc. When the convent is attacked by soldiers possessed and threatening the women in the church, Artemisia steps out from the shadows she chooses to hide in and awakens a revenant, a powerful and deadly spirit that has the power to destroy her foes but also destroy her in the process.
What I loved most about this book, and what made it such an enjoyable read, is the relationship between Artemisia and the revenant, who she can hear speaking to her, who can take over her body, who could overpower and possess her body. This revenant is a complex character, they can do terrible things and yet they are also a victim, wielded and trapped in an a relic for centuries, you come to care for this character and it’s vulnerability beneath the villainous banter. In many ways the revenant is the greatest companion Artemisia has ever had and vice versa and this unlikely friendship really is the heart of the book. There is also Artemisia’s growing acceptance of herself, her hands are scarred from a childhood fire, she feels weird and unlikeable, and then she becomes a Saint and she can no longer hide from the eyes of people.
This isn’t an overly complicated book, it doesn’t go to a variety of locations, there aren’t endless characters introduced (but enough on both counts to keep it interesting) and while the pacing may be a little off at times, the constant dynamic between the 2 main characters doesn’t make one page feel unnecessary.
Thank you so much NetGalley for the early review copy, I am a very happy reader
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
No
Libby/audio
This isn’t my favorite book by this author, but it was still interesting.
It starts out slowly, and it isn’t a romance, so i had a difficult time latching on to it.
Artemesia is very like Wednesday Adams. Socially awkward, misses social clues, seems cold as ice. She winds up having a very good reason explained for it, but its not explained until about 60ish% through, where its disclosed organically. I feel like i could have been more attached to her had i known earlier, but as i said, it’s more organic this way.
If you are a fan of say, One Dark Window, you will probably enjoy this story also.
I enjoyed the friendship between the 2 MCs, the twist had me fooled until the reveal, and I’m glad it worked out as it did.
Im not usually a fan of religious themes in books, but this book is making an observation about how fear of bad stuff can lead to covering up the truth, and after a few generations it becomes superstition, and eventually you end up doing the same thing or worse because the knowledge is lost about how to do it properly. I thought that was kind of interesting.
The animals were a nice touch too.
Art has an interesting and heartbreaking backstory, and the way her brain developed due to it is just heartbreaking. I was very happy to see how much she actually cares, and to see that she gets to make some real friends.
The ending is very open-ended, definitely room to continue the story.
This isn’t my favorite book by this author, but it was still interesting.
It starts out slowly, and it isn’t a romance, so i had a difficult time latching on to it.
Artemesia is very like Wednesday Adams. Socially awkward, misses social clues, seems cold as ice. She winds up having a very good reason explained for it, but its not explained until about 60ish% through, where its disclosed organically. I feel like i could have been more attached to her had i known earlier, but as i said, it’s more organic this way.
If you are a fan of say, One Dark Window, you will probably enjoy this story also.
I enjoyed the friendship between the 2 MCs, the twist had me fooled until the reveal, and I’m glad it worked out as it did.
Im not usually a fan of religious themes in books, but this book is making an observation about how fear of bad stuff can lead to covering up the truth, and after a few generations it becomes superstition, and eventually you end up doing the same thing or worse because the knowledge is lost about how to do it properly. I thought that was kind of interesting.
The animals were a nice touch too.
Art has an interesting and heartbreaking backstory, and the way her brain developed due to it is just heartbreaking. I was very happy to see how much she actually cares, and to see that she gets to make some real friends.
The ending is very open-ended, definitely room to continue the story.
Absolutely loved this book. I am never disappointed with Margaret Rogerson's writing and I am so glad I bought it because it will be staying on my bookshelf for a very long time.
The writing is beautiful and the characters are so unique yet fit into the tropes that I love. The relationships between characters are so special and warm that I was tearing up at some parts. I was on the edge of my seat the WHOLE TIME and I love that. I can't wait to read even more works by this author!
The writing is beautiful and the characters are so unique yet fit into the tropes that I love. The relationships between characters are so special and warm that I was tearing up at some parts. I was on the edge of my seat the WHOLE TIME and I love that. I can't wait to read even more works by this author!
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced