I wanted this book to blow me away and it just didn't quite get to that for me. It is still well worth reading; it just isn't something that I'll be raving about.

Mina is part of a long line of bell-keepers, or people who have to ring a bell every few hours to prevent the apocalypse. I feel like the background of this book could have been made much clearer because even after finishing the book, I feel like I don't "get" the bells themselves. This is an ambitious book in terms of the worldbuilding, but it also falls a little short of a coherent world. Several of the characters had depth and creativity to their personalities, but unfortunately, Mina and her boyfriend lacked that spark. I felt uninvolved and thought their dynamic did not match the overall vibe of the setting.

3.5 stars rounded up

I’m absolutely obsessed with this gothic fantasy, and honestly, What Wakes the Bells has become one of my favorite reads of the year! Elle Tesch’s debut novel is a dark, atmospheric journey that will totally transport you to the eerie, sentient city of Vaiwyn. The world-building in this book is magnificent there’s something so haunting about a city that lives, breathes, and even bleeds, and I couldn’t get enough of it.

Mina, our protagonist and Keeper of Vaiwyn’s bells, is thrown into a heart-pounding race against time when the bell she tends to peals thirteen times an ominous warning that unleashes an ancient evil hidden within the city’s walls. Suddenly, gargoyles and statues tear themselves free to hunt down the people, and Mina’s carefully controlled world spirals into chaos. Tesch’s writing is so vividly atmospheric that I felt like I was walking alongside Mina through the dark streets of Vaiwyn, bracing myself for whatever horrors lurked around each corner.

The stakes are incredibly high—Mina must navigate both the mysteries of her city and the shifting relationships with her loved ones, who may or may not be harboring dangerous secrets. The twists are relentless, and I won’t spoil anything, but the tension between Mina and the people closest to her had me on the edge of my seat.

If you're a fan of authors like Adalyn Grace, Margaret Rogerson, and V.E. Schwab, this is definitely the book for you. It’s got everything I crave in a gothic fantasy: intricate world-building, complex characters, and the perfect balance of danger and mystery. Elle Tesch is an author to watch—I can't wait to see what she does next!

What INCREDIBLE atmosphere - I’m in awe!! I loved the gothic vibes and the city as a whole, it sucked me in immediately. A sentient city?? Sign me up. Elle’s writing is lush and immersive, and I loved the Demi sexual representation. The worldbuilding is complex and twisty and kept me gripped from start to finish. I really enjoyed being in Mina’s head as she navigated both the city out to get her and her complicated family dynamics. The saints and the sentient city were my favourite parts, alongside Elle’s beautiful writing!

Holy shit what the hell was this? I was so intrigued by the premise but the execution was bad.

This was so badly paced and had zero worldbuilding until about the halfway mark and by then, I was checked out and was reading for the sheer denial that i have DNF'd everything that I had read this month. I could not tell you the first thing about the Saints or even the magical city that this is based in. A little conversation, or even an info dump, on the lore of everything really would have went a long way. It was also very obvious super early on who the evil guy was and I am not sure if it was supposed to be a plot twist or if we are supposed to believe that the MC is really that stupid, but it drove me crazy how she couldn't see the signs.

On that same note, the timeline is really weird. Like she talks about her dad dying and her grief with a very childlike viewpoint but it happened 8 months ago? She also talks about how she felt unprepared for her role, but she was supposed to start training at 16...which she was older than when her dad died? I don't know, the whole thing felt like the author couldn't decide what age she was supposed to be and was hoping no one paid attention to the details.

This will be popular with TikTok girlies and that tells you everything you need to know.

What Wakes the Bells by Elle Tasch is a solid debut effort that showcases the author’s creativity. The concept of a sentient city is super intriguing, and the action scenes are packed with intensity and visuals that had me hooked.

However, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me personally. I wanted more world-building related to the city itself and more backstory for the supporting cast of characters. That being said, I still enjoyed reading this book, and I think it would be fun for anyone who likes:

- old cities with a gothic vibe
- family secrets
- the "old evil vs. new guardian" trope

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A gorgeous fantasy debut. The worldbuilding was immersive and every character felt so real. I loved it.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Hmmm, this book was a tricky one for me to rate. On the one hand, the premise is soooo fun! It reminded me quite a bit of Disney's Encanto, only instead of a sentient house, make it a city. Even the family dynamics were similar, down to a strong female lead who clashes with the family matriarch, and a diverse cast of siblings. Unfortunately, it was also extremely predictable. As in, I knew each and every twist well before it was executed. And while this can create tension for a reader, this particular instance only made me impatient.

The worldbuilding was a mix of fleshed-out and vague. The city itself was enchanting, and I so enjoyed the details of how it operated and worked with its occupants. But I was never able to understand how this city fit in with the rest of the world. More than once I found myself asking, if this city is literally hunting and killing its citizens, why doesn't everyone simply evacuate---at least until the threat is resolved? It was a question that was never answered, and not only left me feeling frustrated, but feeling like no one in this world/story was very competent.

The prose was beautiful, the descriptions lush, and Max, our main character's love interest, was absolutely adorable. Their relationship was a real highlight of this book for me, and I always felt like I understood our main character's choices, even if I didn't agree with them.

Ultimately, while this book didn't sweep me away, I thought it was good, and I look forward to the author's next work.

This book has a fascinating concept, with the rich lore of the Saints adding depth to the story. The worldbuilding is immersive, and the main character is compelling, making it a solid YA fantasy mystery. At times, I found myself needing to go back and reread certain parts for clarity, but it didn’t take away from the overall experience.
I truly enjoyed this one!

What do you think of the idea of a sentient city? I don’t mean like cyberspace or AI sentient, but organically sentient: masonry repairs itself, it puts out fires, it repairs ripped up grass...it requires you to inter all bones underneath it with no covering in a labyrinth-like catacombs…

That’s the city of Vaiwyn, built by saints who are now long-gone, and guarded by vesper bells manned since the saints’ departure by the Strauss family. Never once have they slacked in their duties, until one night thirteen tolls ring out from one of the bells and unleash what the saints had trapped inside.

What Wakes the Bells was less dark than I was hoping, but it was still an enjoyable book. I love the concept of a sentient city that isn’t sentient by some futuristic means. I’d read a whole book just about a sentient city. That aspect of this book didn’t get as much attention as I wanted, but that’s because it had other matters to attend to, so that’s okay. It also had an interesting take on saints and how they develop and the roles they play in the world of this book that I found really fascinating and would’ve liked to learn more about. I also enjoyed the world itself, which is very reminiscent of Prague (of course it is) and happens to be one of my favorite settings for fantasy novels.

So, what’s missing? The characters. The characters just weren’t clicking for me. I wish I could have dialed in more to who they were, what they were going through, and become more invested in what happened to them, but I ended up forgetting about half of them most of the time. In my opinion, the B cast was too large for a book with this many moving parts. It ended up crowding space the book needed for other matters. 4⭐️


I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Action Adventure/Dark Fantasy/Fantasy/Romantasy/Standalone Fantasy Novel/Standalone Novel/YA Fantasy/YA Romantasy/YA Fiction

I requested this because I loved the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix when I was a teen. With the bell lore and gothic undertone, it was definitely a good match. I know this is geared towards younger readers, but the villain and resolution leans on the obvious side. Even so, I continued reading because I loved the worldbuilding and atmospheric layering at work. Predictable but enjoyable and worth experiencing. Fans of Veronica Roth's "When Among Crows" will really enjoy this insular adventure. Mina is 18 with the personality of a 24 year old much like the main characters in "Divine Rivals" by Rebecca Ross.

Much like the magical Casita in "Encanto", the City of Vaiwyn is alive. Every day, the roads and buildings repair and reshape themselves into what the citizens need. Centuries ago, the magic was wild and vicious until five Saints trapped the evil into five bells. They left a warning that if the bells every rung 13 times, the evil would be released. When Mina's father tragically died, she took up his position as the fifth bell keeper. Twice a day, she cuts the clapper to silence the bell. But the magical city keeps healing the bells and so she must cut the clapper again.

I loved that this fantasy provides a complex family dynamic surrounding Mina instead of making her all alone. She had a siblings and nieces and ancestors rather than being some lone entity. Mina's also been hiding her romantic partner from her family for fear of disapproval. There's a lot of interesting emotions at play. When her bell rings despite her preparations, her mom treats her like a failure. She's desperate to prove herself and save the home she loves. The city's magic turns bad and starts attacking people. Mina unravels secrets and lore about the original Saints and goes head to head with the great evil.

“‘They were destined for ruin, no matter how much love existed between them.’”

The Strauss family has watched over Vaiwyn’s bells for centuries, never letting them ring the dreaded thirteen tolls. When Mina, the youngest of the family, slips up and fails to stop her Vesper from ringing, a sleeping evil begins to haunt the streets of Vaiwyn, seeking mass destruction. As the living city is quickly overtaken by malice, the many statues decorating the structures come to life at night and terrorize the citizens, spreading an incurable disease that turns people to stone. The only way to end the massacre is to find the person possessed by the escaped evil and destroy them once and for all. With the help of the divine and her need for revenge, Mina will have to track down the wicked and find a way to end them. The host could be anyone, and she will have to decide what is best for the safety of Vaiwyn—and for herself.

As someone who only skims through the summary of a book before reading it, not even memorizing the back cover could have prepared me for the intricacies within What Wakes the Bells. The storyline itself is intriguing, featuring a living city and a bell that harbors a divine evil, and the uniqueness of the setting made this novel a ground-shaking debut for Tesch. Mina is a very lovable character, and I found it easy to relate to her personal and familial struggles. Something I enjoyed a lot was the previously established connection between Mina and Max. I don’t think I have ever read a book where the protagonist was already in a relationship with their love interest, and I liked being able to experience the pureness of their love from beginning to end. There are so many complex details in this novel, and every page reveals new, juicy details to the reader. Although a bit predictable, I did not find that the end of the story was too cliché. It fits well with the rest of the plot, and at no point did I stop to criticize the way everything unfolded. What Wakes the Bells impressed me to no end, and I am excited to see what other creative stories flow onto Tesch’s pages.

This was a bit intense at first and I definitely think there was a lot more description than necessary. However I am blown away at the ambition of this novel and how well it was packed in. It flowed well and this was categorized as YA but I think this is a book that many would like. I think it lost some of its momentum towards the end but overall I really enjoyed this!

What Wakes the Bells was an absolute atmospheric delight, This was a vibe and a very fun read. I found the characterization to be a bit lacking, and the worldbuilding and magic system to be overly opaque, but I did enjoy the ride because of how Tesch writes and carries the atmosphere.

In the town of Vaiwyn, Mina and her family are the Keepers. They are tasked with making sure the city bells do not ring at certain hours of the day. These bells, if allowed to ring, would herald a long-slumbering evil. One afternoon, Mina's bell rings out of nowhere and suddenly, the town is thrown into darkness with stone gargoyles and statues coming to life to attack the citizens. A slumbering Saint has been released from the bell and is out to wreak vengeance. Can Mina continue to keep the townspeople safe?

This book was an interesting concept for a YA novel with a town turning against its people to attack them and centuries-old beliefs in Saints and traditions to protect them. The world-building felt very tell not show, and the female main character is painted as a punching bag for both her town and her family. It's a decent standalone good vs. evil for teens, but it's lacking substance. I wish there had been more development of the main characters especially.

*** I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. ***

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC!

Have you ever read a book and with every word, every page, every chapter, just had a VISCERAL need to see every aspect brought to life in front of you via artwork or movie or anything, just so you’d be able to get further into this world?! Elle Tesch brings to life a gorgeously gothic world where you can SEE Mina and her family struggle to balance a duty passed down through generations with their every day lives. The struggle Mina feels to connect with Max, the heartaching way she dances around her issues with her Mother, all leading to emotional breakthroughs that felt more authentic than any other book I’ve read lately.

Then you add in a setting that evokes cathedrals, jewel toned colors, and the way the Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney soundtrack made you feel when you listened to it the first time, and oh my GOD don’t forget the sprinkle of ethereal terror you’ll feel when you look at any kind of statue for the next 3 months, and you’ve only got the bare beginning of What Wakes The Bells.

I first heard about this and pre-ordered the book back in June of last year, and when I was approved for the ARC I SCREAMED in excitement. Then I got nervous - what if this isn’t the book I wanted? And it wasn’t - it was so much more. Tesch brings to life so easily a lore that I am aching to know more about, and a world that seems infinitely buildable. She brings up complex ideas about consent and what it means, and the inner struggles we see come to life are truly written so well.

If you are looking for a book that will whisk you straight into battle, will elevate your heart rate and make your heart soar, this is 100% the book for you. I am so grateful to have been able to read and review this!

Ugh there’s nothing worse than one of your most anticipated reads of the year turning out to be a complete disappointment :(

In theory, there’s a lot to love about What Wakes the Bells, especially in the YA genre: fascinating worldbuilding, complex religion, demisexual rep, and complex family dynamics. Unfortunately, I found the execution lacking with all of them.

The worldbuilding and religion, while conceptually interesting, is incredibly lackluster and severely under-explained. Although the first 15% is exposition heavy, the proliferation of names and proper nouns associated with the world (everything seems to have a name, from the individual bells to the overly-complex dual-named saints) made it incredibly hard to comprehend and differentiate the characters. There’s simply too many characters and names introduced in the first part of the book that they all began blending together in my head, especially because almost all of them lack personality and dynamism aside from one defining character trait. Conceptually, the idea of a living city turning against its inhabitants is so intriguing, but it’s handled in a very stereotypical way that stripped the deadly situation of any actual emotional stakes. Additionally, despite being centuries-old superpowered beings who have seen a lot of crazy stuff in their lifetimes, they felt weirdly distant and indifferent to the entire conflict, even though their entire livelihoods and purpose depended on the conflict.

Another thing that irked me was the surprising flatness of the characters and relationships. There’s so many characters that it’s hard to feel connections to most of them, especially characters who (theoretically) influenced the plot like Quinn. The main character, Mina, was frustrating and impulsive without reason, and I simply could not understand some of her complaints about her family when her self-isolation seemed to be the cause of most of the issues. The complex and at-times adversary dynamic between Mina and her mother was interesting in the beginning of the book, but it dragged on terribly and their reconciliation at the ~70% mark felt obligatory rather than earned. As a demisexual/demiromantic reader, I was also really enthusiastic to see the romance between demisexual Mina and Max, but I honestly felt that nothing happened between them. Max’s entire character centers around being nice, and his chemistry with Mina was entirely lacking. While it’s refreshing that they’re already in a relationship when the book begins, I felt that it weirdly diminished the demisexual rep since their romance is only told through brief memories/flashbacks and their intimacy was easier to achieve; I would have been more interested to see their relationship slowly unfold as Mina learns to trust Max and transition from friends to romantic partners.

Lastly, the prose in this book was simultaneously descriptive yet SO annoying. Tesch’s writing is descriptive without verging into flowery, and I thought many descriptions of actions artfully entwined unique imagery with emotional resonance. However, one thing that I simply could not look past was her overreliance on italicized words for emphasis. Almost every page of my ARC had at least one word on the page that was italicized for no reason. I cannot even begin to count how many times my internal monologue got tripped up because random words were italicized. I understand that it’s meant for emphasis, but the writing by itself was enough to convey the emotional stakes. My brain literally slipped into editor mode and began correcting every italicized word; I found that no italics had exactly the same effect as italics. While I can excuse some of the italics, Tesch relies on them so much that it’s a very obvious crutch.

However, despite my complaints above, What Wakes the Bells isn’t a bad book. It had so many interesting elements, but I personally found everything underdeveloped and flat, though the degree of severity may be in part because I’ve been anticipating this book since the deal was announced. The proliferation of names and haphazardly-explained worldbuilding, distracting writing, and heavy-handed plot foreshadowing really inhibited my enjoyment of this book, but I would still encourage readers to pick this one up if the synopsis sounds interesting.

2/5 stars
Thank you to Fierce Reads (Macmillan) for the e-ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What Wakes the Bells was a fantastic book. I had a great time while reading it, and enjoyed so much of it. The atmosphere was creepy and whimsical, the characters were easy to root for, and the world-building was so intriguing. Mina was a great character to be in the head of, and I found myself really connecting to her imposter syndrome and worries of not being enough.

In this book, the saints are historic figures who saved the city from The Bane. They entrusted Mina's family to be the Vespers, people who protect the bells around the city, because if the bells were to ring at 1 o'clock then The Bane would be released. For years, the vespers have prevented this from occurring. Mina was thrust into her position as a vesper at a young age, since her father died. But then the unthinkable happens: Mina's bell rings, and The Bane is set free.

I really liked Mina. She was clearly just trying her best throughout the book, and I loved her relationships to most of the characters (her brother, her love interest, etc). I wish we could have seen more from a variety of the side characters, but what we got was enough for the novel. I think something that might throw some readers off is that she is already in a relationship with Max, her love interest, at the start of the book. I didn't mind it, but I can see that some readers might not enjoy it.

The world-building was very well done. I loved how the city was alive, how characters could talk to it and request it to send letters. I wish we would have gotten more around how the city came to be though. I liked how creepy and grim a lot of the more magical elements were (like the Saints' true appearances, the statues coming to life, etc), but I felt like it wasn't creepy or weird enough for what the author seemed to be trying to do.

The plot was mostly where my disappointment lies, and why I rated this book a 4 star instead of 4.5. It was predictable from very early on, and I called pretty much every twist since the "hints" were glaringly obvious.

(SPOILERS NEXT!!!) I could tell immediately that Mina was or was connected to the Lost Alchemist, and that Max was possessed by The Bane. I just wish it was a little less obvious, and also that we got more depth to the ending where Mina becomes a saint herself. I also wish The Bane was a little more complex, instead of just being a villain for villain's sake. We were given no reasoning on why the Alchemist loved the Bane, only that she did, and I wish we got more depth to that.

Overall, I really liked this book and will be buying myself a copy sometime soon, I just wish that the author had dug in a little deeper on some of the choices they made in this book.

This was high up on my list of anticipated reads for 2025, so I was super excited to get to read this early. This story was very good at cultivating the gothic vibes it was going for, and I think that the lyrical and lush writing definitely added to that atmosphere and depth of description. However, from a comprehension and immersion POV I don't really enjoy lyrical writing--if I have to think too much about how the story is being constructed before me, it pulls me out of the story over and over. This happened a bit here, but not too much where I stopped reading. The concept of the city was super interesting and I did like the characters, especially Mina, though some of the other characters felt a little undercooked. The pacing was also a little...silly? sometimes. Some scenes were super quick/movement was quick, but some scenes were walking across the same city but it took the entire day somehow? That's just a weird nitpick, but since the story wasn't super long those moments did kind of stick in my mind.
Overall, I enjoyed this and I do think that it is one of the better ones I've read this year! I'm really excited to get our physical copies in at my branch!

4.5⭐️

Thank you so much to Feiwel & Friends and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book!

Wow. This book had me intrigued from the very start. A sentient city that rebuilds itself and bells that release an evil if they ring thirteen times. It is an amazing concept and it was done beautifully.

Mina has felt her mother’s disappointment ever since she took on the role of a Keeper of one of the Vespers after her father’s passing. Now, with her lover at her side, she finally feels a tenuous peace. That is, until her bell tolls thirteen times and she her city remakes itself before her very eyes. Gargoyles and statues leap from their frozen states and wreak havoc on the city. The entity behind this? A spirit said to have been trapped in the bell for 1,000 years, now residing in a human host.

This book is utterly captivating. The pacing is incredible and it really keeps you engaged the entire time. Despite my ability to predict the out come rather early on, there was still enough suspense and intrigue to keep me engaged.

The family dynamics were incredibly interesting. We have a family grieving the loss of their father and despite him existing entirely off page, the loss is felt intimately through the characters actions. This is especially prevalent in Imogen, Mina’s mother. I think she is an incredibly interesting and well written character. Her actions are not excusable, but her motivations are understandable and that is a very important factor for a character that plays her role.

I also loved the romance element of this book. It is not a romantasy by any means, but there is an undercurrent of love and destiny that weaves its way through the entire story. I love the glimpses of Max and Mina’s love story that we get as the story progresses. Their love for each other is so beautiful and such a driving force for this story that I couldn’t help but love it.

Their writing style in this book is also very unique. I’m having trouble putting it into words but oftentimes, descriptions and actions are broken up with periods where they would be broken up with commas. This makes certain sections feel choppy but I personally enjoyed it. It was also stylistically consistent, which definitely makes a difference. If it was one or two sections that had it, I would wonder how far along we were in the editing process, but this didn’t feel like that at all.

The only thing I wish this book had is more world-building. The city and the Saints are established relatively quickly and are pretty simply, but the path to Sainthood is never clearly defined. This didn’t necessarily taint my experience reading this book, but I would’ve loved to know more about the world in general.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It feels like something I would’ve loved when I was younger and only reading YA, but I also enjoy it now.

Inspired by a Prague legend, the story follows a girl who is meant to keep out an evil from her sentient city as one of it's keepers... but when the bell peals the forbidden thirteen times, she knows that the evil has awoken... and its coming after her. Mina has spent her life training as part of the Strauss family duties to be a Bell Keeper, someone who is meant to prevent the Vespers from ringing or else it will wake the ancient evil. Yet when Mina fails to do so, an evil awakens and death and disease begin to take over her city. The evil is a long hidden secret and is closer to Mina than she could ever imagine. Only she can stop it but it might cost her everything. This book was marketed as a gothic fantasy, but it just felt... so lackluster if I am going to be honest. I am a huge fan of gothic fantasy stories but this one felt so YA, felt so much like nothing was actually happening, that the relationships were so underdeveloped, the romance was barely there, that the entire book just felt kind of boring to me. I really wanted to love this one but I just couldn't find myself actually liking it all that much. It's a forgettable read for me unfortunately. If you like slow "gothic" fantasy, give it a go, maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did.

Release Date: March 11, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*