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alexangelas 's review for:
Vespertine
by Margaret Rogerson
In typical Margaret Rogerson fashion, the idea of this storyline is utterly original and the synopsis will draw you in like a moth to a flame. To say I was excited for this book (or any book from her) would be an understatement.
While I thoroughly enjoyed it overall, and often found myself longing to get back to it when I was away, it was difficult for me to want to be fully immersed in the story and I felt myself longing for more.
All the characters were quite bland and without much personality except for Rathanael and Marguerite. Rathanael was cranky and crabby in a way that (I think) the writer eventually meant to come off as endearing and lovable (think Silas from Sorcery of Thorns), but he was just cranky. Marguerite was sweet but had a quiet strength about her that I loved.
A lot of my problem, I suppose, dealt with Leander. In the beginning (and for the majority of the book), the main character is running from him because she’d rather stay at the monastery than train at Bonsaint. As a result (more or less) Leander is perceived the “bad guy”, but his “evilness” never felt that compelling to begin with.
The magic system was a little hard for me to understand; maybe I missed the explanation, but I could not remember how revanants come to exist. I understood that when people die, the type of spirit their soul manifests into depends on how they died, and that these spirits have power. But I thought revanants were also once human so I wasn’t sure how they became a revanant vs a typical spirit.
With all the types of spirits that are introduced in the beginning of the book, we rarely seen them throughout the book, which was a tad disappointing. I would have liked to see more of them.
I was a little surprised by the ending; it was lackluster and did not make me want to read book 2 ASAP, which is usually the case. I will pick it up anyway because I do love the author’s writing, but I’m not in need of it RIGHT NOW.
Note: there is absolutely no romance in this book, which made me sad, but it wasn’t a deal breaker.
Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this! It is my first ever ARC and I truly never thought I’d ever get the chance to read an ARC of a highly anticipated book, especially from an author I greatly admire
While I thoroughly enjoyed it overall, and often found myself longing to get back to it when I was away, it was difficult for me to want to be fully immersed in the story and I felt myself longing for more.
All the characters were quite bland and without much personality except for Rathanael and Marguerite. Rathanael was cranky and crabby in a way that (I think) the writer eventually meant to come off as endearing and lovable (think Silas from Sorcery of Thorns), but he was just cranky. Marguerite was sweet but had a quiet strength about her that I loved.
A lot of my problem, I suppose, dealt with Leander. In the beginning (and for the majority of the book), the main character is running from him because she’d rather stay at the monastery than train at Bonsaint. As a result (more or less) Leander is perceived the “bad guy”, but his “evilness” never felt that compelling to begin with.
The magic system was a little hard for me to understand; maybe I missed the explanation, but I could not remember how revanants come to exist. I understood that when people die, the type of spirit their soul manifests into depends on how they died, and that these spirits have power. But I thought revanants were also once human so I wasn’t sure how they became a revanant vs a typical spirit.
With all the types of spirits that are introduced in the beginning of the book, we rarely seen them throughout the book, which was a tad disappointing. I would have liked to see more of them.
I was a little surprised by the ending; it was lackluster and did not make me want to read book 2 ASAP, which is usually the case. I will pick it up anyway because I do love the author’s writing, but I’m not in need of it RIGHT NOW.
Note: there is absolutely no romance in this book, which made me sad, but it wasn’t a deal breaker.
Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this! It is my first ever ARC and I truly never thought I’d ever get the chance to read an ARC of a highly anticipated book, especially from an author I greatly admire