A review by sunlit_music
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Vespertine is a unique and deeply moving book about neurodivergent teen Artemisia, training to become a nun. Her peaceful life is tragically turned upside down when undead soldiers kill people at the nunnery where she lives. After accidentally awakening a deadly spirit, a revenant, Artemisia travels to the city of Bonsaint to find and defeat whoever is creating an army of of undead that can harm innocent humans. But Artemisia must be vigilant, for the revenant can possess her and take over her mind and body if she's not careful. 

My favourite parts are when
Artemisia becomes friends with the revenant and finds out that previous saints treated their spirits/revenants as friends.
The part where Artemisia finds out who the different spirits are is absolutely amazing. I felt like I was reading a historical adventure. Artemisia was sympathetic, likable, and relatable. My all time favourite character is Marguerite, oh my god. She goes through so much character development, and becomes so much braver and smarter! I love how she is underestimated, how Artemisia empathises with her, even though they are so different. I know this sounds kind of funny, but my other favourite character is the priest's horse! The horse was very charming, and their bond with Artemisia was sweet. I also liked the soldier Enguerrand. 
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