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A review by novelsbycaitlin
The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell
3.0
I cant decide if I want to rate it 3 1/2 or a four.
Okay, I'll admit. I love historical novels. In fact, I love history, so when I read the description that this would be taking place in the Victorian era, New York. I was in. In other words, again, this may be a little bias review.
The book starts off slow, even feels a little tedious. Mitchell wants everything to feel authentic in the book. The clothes, the environment, the city, the dialogue, even the narrative. And that's where it gets tedious. For the first two or three chapters I pushed myself through. It's hard getting use to MItchell's...old? style of writing. But once you get past it, suddenly you're reading a sentence and you understand it without really knowing how. In other words, you've read enough to comprehend it on your own. Yea, I know, I'm making no sense but we all do it. We'll read something, half assed, but we still understand what we're reading, just not to it's full extent. Plus, while I'm not reading a bunch of YA, I'm reading stuff like, Reflections of the Revolution in France and The Vindication of the Rights of Women. Or The Poor Man's Opera. So reading tedious/ old writing isn't something new to me.
Mitchell does a wonderful job at bringing us to the Victorian era in Baltimore. I'm not gonna lie, I was sqeeing like a little fan girl when she first described Baltimore, with the docks and all those sailors. Oh boy. And the best part? Through out the book this historical aspect continues. But I'm not a historian, so I can't tell you if everything was accurate, but man, it seemed pretty damn close.
For once I wasn't ready to stab the MC. Amelia was actually a pretty efficient character. She knew her place in society and she knew what a lady should and shouldn't do, but just because she knows, doesn't mean she actually does. Everything she does made sense. When she started giving "fortunes" out to others, I loved how she stood tall, making sure no one took her as a crazy fraud, nor did she want them to take her as a scary witch. Plus Zora was like her manager, but not pushy, and inspired by money (they didn't charge a fee for fortunes). Zora overall was a great friend/character and I loved her just as much as I like Amelia. My point is, the characters were decent and believable. There weren't any cliches (well, it's the in the Victorian Era, so lets hope there will never be any usual stereotypes) so everything felt fresh.
The romance was actually nice for once. Usually, I'm rolling my eyes at romance in YA novels now a days. Honestly, everything is driven by love, when in reality, love isn't the center of the world. But in The Vespertine, the romance was sweet. Probably because it started off slow, but also, because Amelia knew her loving Nathaniel was impossible, him being on the bottom of the social chain. (I loved how Mitchell really made it clear that society was important. All the girls dreamed of getting married, living there life with a man that they weren't suppose to be with. It was a very romantic idea, marrying below you for love, but you could tell they all were aware of how difficult life would be if they actually do that, especially Amelia.) But of course, she's attracted to him, without a reason. Not like I haven't heard that one before. Nathaniel wasn't your typical Male Lead. He had depth but at the same time, I felt we hardly got to know him. I think I'd like the couple better if I Nathaniel revealed himself a bit more.
The plot was the weakest point in the book. Let's say, about half way, things start to boil, but it's tiny tiny bubbles. Near the end it reaches boiling point. The water is spewing over, getting everywhere, and then all the sudden it stops. The end. When the plot wasn't in motion, either romance development or society/world building was in play. Honestly, I'm confused. It ended so fast, and so sad, but what the heck? I mean, there's no cliff hanger, but I keep asking myself, "What the hell is up with fire and wind?" "Why are they so attracted to each other?" "What are they gonna do now?" "Why so sudden?" Unanswered questions leave potential for a sequel, but I feel these unanswered questions, are big ones. Something you can't just ignore.
Thus instead of the four I want to give, The Vespertine gets a 3 1/2.
Okay, I'll admit. I love historical novels. In fact, I love history, so when I read the description that this would be taking place in the Victorian era, New York. I was in. In other words, again, this may be a little bias review.
The book starts off slow, even feels a little tedious. Mitchell wants everything to feel authentic in the book. The clothes, the environment, the city, the dialogue, even the narrative. And that's where it gets tedious. For the first two or three chapters I pushed myself through. It's hard getting use to MItchell's...old? style of writing. But once you get past it, suddenly you're reading a sentence and you understand it without really knowing how. In other words, you've read enough to comprehend it on your own. Yea, I know, I'm making no sense but we all do it. We'll read something, half assed, but we still understand what we're reading, just not to it's full extent. Plus, while I'm not reading a bunch of YA, I'm reading stuff like, Reflections of the Revolution in France and The Vindication of the Rights of Women. Or The Poor Man's Opera. So reading tedious/ old writing isn't something new to me.
Mitchell does a wonderful job at bringing us to the Victorian era in Baltimore. I'm not gonna lie, I was sqeeing like a little fan girl when she first described Baltimore, with the docks and all those sailors. Oh boy. And the best part? Through out the book this historical aspect continues. But I'm not a historian, so I can't tell you if everything was accurate, but man, it seemed pretty damn close.
For once I wasn't ready to stab the MC. Amelia was actually a pretty efficient character. She knew her place in society and she knew what a lady should and shouldn't do, but just because she knows, doesn't mean she actually does. Everything she does made sense. When she started giving "fortunes" out to others, I loved how she stood tall, making sure no one took her as a crazy fraud, nor did she want them to take her as a scary witch. Plus Zora was like her manager, but not pushy, and inspired by money (they didn't charge a fee for fortunes). Zora overall was a great friend/character and I loved her just as much as I like Amelia. My point is, the characters were decent and believable. There weren't any cliches (well, it's the in the Victorian Era, so lets hope there will never be any usual stereotypes) so everything felt fresh.
The romance was actually nice for once. Usually, I'm rolling my eyes at romance in YA novels now a days. Honestly, everything is driven by love, when in reality, love isn't the center of the world. But in The Vespertine, the romance was sweet. Probably because it started off slow, but also, because Amelia knew her loving Nathaniel was impossible, him being on the bottom of the social chain. (I loved how Mitchell really made it clear that society was important. All the girls dreamed of getting married, living there life with a man that they weren't suppose to be with. It was a very romantic idea, marrying below you for love, but you could tell they all were aware of how difficult life would be if they actually do that, especially Amelia.) But of course, she's attracted to him, without a reason. Not like I haven't heard that one before. Nathaniel wasn't your typical Male Lead. He had depth but at the same time, I felt we hardly got to know him. I think I'd like the couple better if I Nathaniel revealed himself a bit more.
The plot was the weakest point in the book. Let's say, about half way, things start to boil, but it's tiny tiny bubbles. Near the end it reaches boiling point. The water is spewing over, getting everywhere, and then all the sudden it stops. The end. When the plot wasn't in motion, either romance development or society/world building was in play. Honestly, I'm confused. It ended so fast, and so sad, but what the heck? I mean, there's no cliff hanger, but I keep asking myself, "What the hell is up with fire and wind?" "Why are they so attracted to each other?" "What are they gonna do now?" "Why so sudden?" Unanswered questions leave potential for a sequel, but I feel these unanswered questions, are big ones. Something you can't just ignore.
Thus instead of the four I want to give, The Vespertine gets a 3 1/2.