Book Review: Vespertine

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

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This novel features a girl, Artemisia, who is training at a covenant to become a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the body of the dead so that their souls can continue without becoming spirits that want revenge. When her covenant is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia awakens and takes on a powerful spirit, the revenant, to defend her covenant. However, it is soon revealed that there is much more at stake and Artemisia might be the only one who is able to save everyone.

First, the characters. The revenant was by far my favorite character with its prickly attitude. The constant banter between Artemisia and the revenant was also extremely entertaining and engaging. As for Artemisia, my feelings vary a little more. Artemisia is portrayed as a socially anxious girl due to her tragic past. When she was young, Artemisia was possessed by an Ashgrim, a spirit that died from fire. Her family isolated her and in the end, Artemisia continuously burned herself to keep the Ashgrim away before getting help from the covenant and has physical scars to show her difficult past. Despite her past, Artemisia is able to rise up to the challenges presented. She was quite plain in my opinion though her character definitely grew on me as the story progressed. I also liked how there was no apparent love interest. I was able to solely invest myself in the characters without having to think about relationships and whether or not they were going to last.

The plot, in my opinion, was very slow at the beginning and I was unable to be fully engaged. However, the pace picked up near the middle as the plot started revealing the direction it was going in. I flew through the end as I got more invested in the story as well as the addition of more action packed scenes with higher stakes. A negative I have is that the plot twist was predictable. It wasn’t too hard to figure out who was behind the Old Magic and attacks and it was slightly frustrating at times when Artemisia wasn’t able to figure out until near the end even if there were obvious clues.

The worldbuilding was one of the stronger aspects of the novel after it got less confusing. The system present has a hierarchy with clerics, saints, nuns, the Divine, and more. At first, the new terminology prevented me from fully understanding the story and hindered my ability to be invested but because it was repeated many times throughout the novel, I was able to understand the system better by the end.

Overall, this book was a fun read, especially with the relationship between Artemisia and the revenant. I recommend this book to fantasy lovers who want something a little different from the typical fantasy world.

-Review by Teen Advisory Board Member, 12/19/21