Review: Vespertine

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book from Goodreads.
I enjoyed this book. I was immediately drawn into the atmosphere of this book, and the story soon took off in a way that made me not want to put the book down. Artemisia is a young girl living in a convent, haunted by trauma in her past, and when she is confronted by evil spirits she must decided whether to trust one of the most powerful spirits of all--The Revenant--to help her defeat the spirits that are threatening her fellow sisters, her fellow countrymen, and her world. She could use the Revenant to save everyone, but could lose herself in the process.
The atmosphere that the author is able to evoke is completely immersive. The descriptions and settings were so well done. The reader really gets a feel for the dark, Gothic, eerie, and ethereal world the characters are living in. Artemisia is also very compelling, and a heroine who is easy to root for. The Revenant is also a fascinating character, which is saying a lot, considering it is really just a "spirit" who is communing with Artemisia in her head.
The world-building is quite good. The author uses words and terms that are slightly similar to real-world things, which gives the reader and idea of what is going on or what the author wants you to associate things with.
I got a little lost about 1/3 of the way through the book, because I realized I wasn't really sure why Artemisia had embarked upon her quest to literally save her world and why she was going where she was going and doing the things she was doing. I had to go back and reread, and I still was a bit confused. But I just kept going, and despite the ambiguity of how Artemisia ended up fighting to save a city full of people, I enjoyed her journey and was rooting for her the whole way. That being said, the ending was a bit anticlimactic. I was waiting for a big bang and it was more like a loud pop... That being said, I still liked the ending.
I have enjoyed every book this author has written. I am glad this book will get a sequel at least, because I am very interested to see what else Artemisia and the Revenant will do together, not to mention the other characters in the book, especially Leander. If you enjoy YA fantasy, I would recommend this book

View all my reviews