From page one, Vespertine pulled me in and refused to let me go. It follows 17 year-old Artemisia, a nun who has the ability to see and cleanse the spirits of the dead. But when her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia awakens an ancient spirit. It is a revenant, a being of extraordinary power, and the only one who can help Artemisia save her world from a hidden evil... if it doesn’t betray her first. Margaret Rogerson’s latest novel is captivatingly dark, with excellent worldbuilding and strong characters. It is filled with action-packed scenes and witty banter that will leave you laughing out loud. This book is perfect for fans of Robert Jackson Bennett’s, Foundryside, and Leigh Bardugo’s, Ninth House. I simply could not get enough!

Rogerson presents another complex and vivid fantasy where a flawed heroine must battle evil to save a wolrd that doesn't always accept her. A young novice, Artemesia, is in training to become a humble Gray Sister, ministering to the dead and helping their spirits to pass on peacefully. Her covenant is attacked by Undead soldiers, and she must reluctantly form an alliance with a Revenant, or ancient spirit, who must guide her as she becomes a vespertine, or priestess trainted to wield a high relic. Rogerson's world building is unapologetically steeped in Catholic hierarchies and rituals, and a secular reader may struggle with the deep dive into rituals and symbols that often seem less fantasy than medieval. The relationship between Artemesia and the Revenant is complex and often rewarding, and provides some welcome humour, but Artemesia is a little less sparky than the evil spirit. She does grow as a character enough to sustain interest in whether she will become a leader, a martyr or an unwilling sacrifice to preserve a religion that treats young women unkindly, but this reader wanted her to leave the whole mess behind and see a future that didn't involve her serving an outworn creed. Rogerson is a lovely writer who paces her stories nicely and gives her characters room to be immature - but in this case the religion, familiar or not, all too easily pushes in to fill in the spaces where Artemesia could develop her own voice. Sadly in our own world, that happens all too often to young women who don't fit the mold they're cast for. In which case kudos to Rogerson for creating a more complex work than the average quest fantasy. And the Joan of Arc cover illustration certainly presents that theme nicely!

Verpertine is a dark story that follows a Nun and a revenant. What is a revenant? Well look at it this way, this is a story about a Nun possessed by a very powerful soul and their journey to stop evil and find a balance between them. The story starts out in a very grey fashion it is haunting and atmospheric. I was immediately drawn into the story, it is a slower pace at first but that only creates the tension that needs to be there for the reader to really become apart of this story. Soon the actin takes place and the story takes off. It doesn't let up and it is one brilliant story. I LOVED every word.

This is a dark story, very dark and visceral at times and it did have one of my triggers mentioned very often, so fair waring. That said, this story is addictive and really well written. I was shocked and gasping and all those with every twist and turn.

The action, the world building, the magic theory, the history and the characters all blend together to make this story beautiful and adventurous. I devoured every page and will be reading this again and again. I will be buying this for my favorites shelf!

I received an ARC via Netgalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Margaret K. McElderry Books and I am leaving an honest review.

Triggers: animal death, human death, possession, violence, self harm, and ghosts.

First of all, thank you so much to Simon Teen for an ARC of Vespertine in exchange for an honest review!

Artemesia is training to become a Gray Sister when her covenant is attacked. She wakes up an ancient spirit attached to a saint's relic that also happens to be a revenant. With darkness coming, Artemesia must turn to the Revenant for guidance as she steps into the shoes of a vespertine, a priestess trained to wield a high relic.

I am a HUGE Margaret Rogerson fan. Sorcery of Thorns is by far one of my favorite YA and standalones to this day, so Vespertine was one of my most anticipated 2021 books! I will say, I struggled at first with the beginning of the book. I found it took a while to get accustomed to the world building, and even now I still don't necessarily understand it all.

I knew this might be a bit of a turn off for me, but I also struggled with so much religion. I don't know if it's based off Catholicism or aynthing specific, but it could be a lot at times. When they were battling spirits and it was more fantasy-esque, it was easier to read, but when it was more heavily religion-based, it was more difficult to enjoy.

I did enjoy Artemesia and the Revenant's relationship and their dialogue, but I do wish we got more feeling? from Artemesia. Just a bit more into that 1st person POV.

Now, I did read this following an amazing trip to Iceland, so it was a bit of a struggle getting back into reading, and this could be part of my problem. Definitely think this would make for a better audiobook!

Rogerson is a master. She takes what she could easily stretch into a two or three book series and turns it into one solid book. A brilliant story with original characters, this one is just as good as her previous books. Thanks to the publisher for the copy.

I received a digital arc from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Overall I loved this book so much. Compared to Margaret Rogerson’s other books, this one is so different in the sense that there was no romance. I was not expecting that when going in, but honestly this book didn’t need any. I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect when I first started reading it. There was enough going on that I had no idea what was happening at first, but everything is later explained and everything made sense in the end. I adored all of the characters in this book and I loved the friendships built throughout this story. The banter was everything and I loved reading the interactions between the revenant and Artemisia.
Overall I really loved this book. The plot, the characters, the ending, etc, we’re all fantastic. I loved how the author left it open for a sequel while still creating a satisfying ending to the book.

Again Margaret Rogerson wrote an amazing book. The world building, the characters, and the magic all were so unique and kept you wanting more. I loved reading the scenes between Artemisia and the reverent. I am so glad that there will be more books this time with these characters.

I've enjoyed every book from this author that I've read and this is no exception! From beginning to end, it was well written and paced. The characters really came off the page and the storyline kept me intrigued the whole time. It was hard to put it down!

I have LOVED Rogerson's other work and I've heard that there are going to be changed between the ARC and the finished version of this book-I'm curious what they'll be. As for the book I just finished-it wasn't for me. I'm not much for books with a religious leaning story-and this one was heavy on it. The world building was good. The side characters were awesome but our MC fell a little flat for me. I think I liked the spirit possessing her more than the human herself.

The plot felt a bit dragging at times and the battle scenes and actions scenes were a little convenient and fast. It's not a bad book, but it's not on par with where I feel her first two books are.

I devoured this book. I can't stop thinking about how good it is.

This is definitely my favorite book to date by Margaret Rogerson. I really loved the world building and I especially loved the revenant character. I think Margaret does such a great job writing nonhuman characters (I adored Silas from Sorcery of Thorns) - I was always looking forward to every comment the revenant made to Artemisia. It made me laugh so often.

Artemisia was also an amazing protagonist to read about. She's intelligent, resilient, powerful; but she's not without her "flaws." We only got glimpses of her trauma - through her social anxiety and through the memories she shared with the revenant - and my heart truly broke for her. I really loved watching her grow throughout the book.

5/5

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn’t put it down. It was similar to the Abhorsen books by Garth Nix but different enough to be fresh. The character was developed and I didn’t see the twist coming. I am looking forward to reading more books from Margaret Rogerson.

I've become a big fan of Margaret Rogerson's books this year, and so I was excited to have a chance to preview this newest release. There's a lot to love about "Vespertine," and also some significant warnings that I would give to our library teens.

What I love about Margaret Rogerson's writing are her brilliant heroines and her dry, sardonic humor. "Vespertine" doesn't disappoint here; the heroine Artemisia is endearingly creepy, and her grim, witty narrative holds a lot of interest.

I had a hard time embracing the subject matter and tone of "Vespertine". Rogerson's first book "An Enchantment of Ravens" was a spectacular adventure romance with some spooky elements on the edges. "Sorcery of Thorns" was significantly darker, but still had a lot of lighthearted moments and funny scenes. "Vespertine" goes full throttle into the realms of death and decay from the very first page. For readers like me who prefer their fantasy on the light side, this may be a disappointment.

Ultimately, I would recommend "Vespertine" to teens who are die-hard fans of the dark fantasy genre, but I would more likely point other fantasy lovers to Rogerson's earlier books.

I really enjoyed this book! Artemisia is great character. She's not perfect, and has been through a lot but that makes her so much more real and genuine.

She was possessed as a child and because of this, she couldn’t be around her family because the spirit tried to kill them. She also didn’t have friends because she was locked in a shed where she couldn’t hurt anyone. When a nun saves her and exorcises the spirit, she begins to train with the nuns. At the convent doesn’t have friends or talk much because of the trauma she endured. When the convent is attacked, Artemisia is forced to take a relic to help save everyone with the help of a strong spirit. I was really happy to see her relationship with revenant because it seemed like she started to have a friend in a way. I really enjoyed their banter!

Whoever attacked the convent is sending evil spirits to possess people who then attack and kill innocents. Artemisia is the only one who can stop this with the help of the Revenant. There were some twists I didn’t see coming and I really enjoyed her journey!

I also likes the other characters including Marguerite, Jean and Charles! Their isn’t any romance in this book but their might be potential for the next book! The book doesn’t really end in a cliffhanger which is nice! I can’t wait to see what happens next!

This was a read-in-one-day for me; the pacing and the banter between the main character and the revenant that haunts her made it unputdownable. Artemesia is a compelling heroine who doesn't connect well with others due to childhood trauma. However, her relationship with the revenant - who she becomes accidentally bound to during an attack on the convent where she was raised - alters her personal stakes while also contributing to the external, realm-ending stakes.

Secondary characters are complex and compelling, though the narrative stays strongly focused on Artemisia's understanding of the world. A subtle commentary on how history is cultivated and shared over time permeates the entire story.

Absolutely cannot wait until the next book!

This book just throws you right into it. It took me awhile to understand what was happening and the magical system. I think that is the part of the book i enjoyed the most.
The only reason I didn't enjoy it as much was there was no romance. Unlike the other two books this author has written it is not a standalone so maybe if develops so slowly we got nothing in this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC!

This book was a solid 3.5 stars for me. I really enjoyed the magical system and the world building and how Rogerson just drops you right into it. As well as the hierarchy of the clerics and the relics. At times I found it confusing but not to the point of being able to enjoy the story. There is a guide / appendix at the end of the book with the names and ranking of clerics and relics, I just would have appreciated this more at the beginning of the book.

I absolutely loved An Enchantment of Ravens and A Sorcery of Thorns and went into Vespertine thinking it would be another standalone fantasy romance. When in fact there is absolutely no romance at all in this, which is the main reason my rating is what it is.

This was still an enjoyable read and the character growth with Artemisia was amazing! The best parts of the book were her banter with the relic and watching her grow as a person and become more comfortable around people. She went from someone who abhorred interacting and being around others to finding people who made her feel comfortable and come out of her shell. Knowing that she was very socially awkward, anxious, and uncomfortable around people, the lack of romance made sense. There does seem to be potential for some romance in the future book(s).

Though this wasn’t my favorite book of Rogerson’s, I will definitely be reading the next book in the series.

Vespertine, what a ride! This book is amazing. There is no slow build up, it starts right in the middle of the action and takes you on a wild ride. From start to finish, I was hanging onto every word (and it’s been a while since I can honestly say I’ve done that).

The best thing about this book: NO CLIFFHANGER! There was closure to the story. Even though I wanted more… much much more (and there will be a sequel) I’m satisfied with how it all came together in the end.

Trigger Warnings: self-harm, eating disorder, anxiety, ptsd from child neglect/abuse (non-sexual).

Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses dead bodies so their souls don't rise as spirits. Others find Artemisia strange as she isn't very good at socializing or making friends or smiling, which is probably the result of being possessed as a baby and burning her hands to protect her family. When the convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia races for the only weapon that can possibly save them: a revenant bound to a saint's relic. The revenant threatens to possess her if she lets her guard down, but in order to defeat a greater threat Artemisia and the revenant come to an agreement. Will Artemisia be able to retain her sanity and freedom and be able to save her world?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the idea being the different spirits, what the can do, and how they can be used. I loved Artemisia’s strength. The revenant annoyed me at times, but it makes sense that they are that way after so long. I wish there was a little more of their history. I enjoyed the friendship in the book. There was basically no romance, which was a nice change. I always look forward to what this author will come out with next.

I honestly struggled to get going with this book. Thankfully it picked up and I was hooked till the end to find out how the story finished! In particular, I really enjoyed learning about Artemisia's back story. What lead her to coming to the convent, her story of being possessed. I felt a little lost at the beginning of the book, like maybe it took too long to learn any of those details about our main character.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, just as all the other books I've read by Rogerson.