While I enjoyed the writing in What Wakes the Bells, I found the world just wasn’t for me. It could be because of my comprehension skills, but it took a lot for me to push through this book. The storyline was compelling, the prose enchanting, but something in it fell flat for me and I am still mulling over what that could be.
That said, in no way did I hate this book. I found Mina’s courage and her determination to protect those she loves deeply inspiring, and the twists in this book while predictable, were very intriguing.

Overall it was a fun read, I just didn’t love it as much as I wanted to. I definitely would recommend this if you’re someone who enjoys magic, dark romance (sort of) and mystery.

Absolutely loved this. The writing was so poetic and vivid and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Going to be doing a reread sooner rather than later.

This book had so much potential but fell flat for me. I enjoyed the idea of the sentient city and the magic aspect of the city but the flowery writing took away from the story. I would have enjoyed more depth to the characters because I did not feel invested in them at all while reading. I DNF'd this book at 68.5% in. I wanted to like this book so much, but it was not for me. Hopefully others can connect with this book more than I.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for this arc!

Some books pull you in with breakneck plots. What Wakes the Bells takes a different approach, drawing you into its world like a slow, creeping fog. Elle Tesch’s debut is gothic urban fantasy at its most atmospheric, turning the city of Vaiwyn into something that feels less like a backdrop and more like a restless, sentient thing.

Mina, the Keeper of Bells, knows the city’s rhythms, the way it breathes. But when her bell tolls an impossible thirteen times, everything starts to unravel. Statues stalk the streets, architecture seems to hold grudges, and old Saints stir where they shouldn’t.

The premise is intriguing, and Tesch leans into it with rich, layered worldbuilding. Vaiwyn feels immersive, detailed, and quietly menacing—though at times, the sheer density of description slows the pacing more than it needs to.

What stands out most is how the book handles its themes of preservation and corruption. The conflict isn’t just about stopping a supernatural force; it’s about questioning what we protect, and whether safeguarding something is the same as keeping it unchanged. It’s a fascinating undercurrent and one that feels strikingly parallel with the world we're navigating right now.

The pacing mirrors the bells themselves—measured and deliberate, then suddenly, brutally fast. Some of the action sequences hit hard (the gargoyles are a highlight), but others feel muted, including the final confrontation, showcasing a thoughtful see-saw.

What Wakes the Bells isn’t without its rough edges. But it’s compelling, thematically rich, and full of ideas that linger long after the last page. Elle Tesch is a writer to watch, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for what she does next.

Very confusing history, didn't love it. thought Mina and Max were very cute but that's about all I enjoyed. DNF @35%.

Very atmospheric. World building was very well done-- it had to be, for a gothic fantasy. I love the idea of a sentient city. Very much appreciate the ace representation. We need books to have this more.

Giving Huntch Back of Notre Dame, this book has an interesting storyline but got muddied up by too many other side stories. Lovers to Enemies would have been good if the story could have just been more focused.

Book Review: What Wakes the Bells by Elle Tesch
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

What Wakes the Bells by Elle Tesch is a beautifully written journey into a world dripping with emotion, mystery, and captivating lore. From the very first page, Tesch's writing draws you in with its lyrical prose and vivid imagery. This is a prime example of a "show, don't tell" book for me. The descriptions were so vivid and the emotional undercurrents so well executed that I felt fully absorbed in the world of the characters.

One of the most impressive aspects of the novel is how Tesch manages to keep the reader engaged with an already established relationship at the beginning of the book. Rather than relying on typical fantasy tropes, the relationship feels lived-in, and the way Tesch unveils its backstory adds layers to the characters’ dynamic. The snippets of their past, revealed bit by bit, kept me hooked as I wanted to know more about how they had gotten to this point. Especially with the main character's thoughts and opinions on love hitting very close to home.

The plot twists were a bit predictable for me, but that’s likely a result of my familiarity with YA Fantasy and the tropes that often come with it. I figured out the major twists about 10% into the book, which kept the suspense from being as intense as I would have liked. However, that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story—if anything, it made me savor the time I had in Tesch's world learning about the city, the saints, and the general machinations of these character's lives, instead of trying to find the culprit.

Overall, What Wakes the Bells is a beautifully written and immersive experience. Elle Tesch’s skill with language and her ability to build an intriguing world made for a compelling read. It may not have had the most mind-bending twists, but the richness of the world and the relationship dynamics were more than enough to keep me hooked. If you're a fan of well-crafted fantasy with intricate world-building and a focus on character relationships, this book is definitely worth reading.

WHAT WAKES THE BELLS is a beautiful story set against a backdrop of a lush, sentient city. I loved the uniqueness of the magic in this book; it's unlike anything I've ever read before. The demisexual rep was a breath of fresh air in a market of insta love stories. The twists were exciting and unpredictable, and I enjoyed how the author tied everything together in the end!

DNF at 48%. The author does a great job at capturing the Gothic atmosphere, but the more I read: the more lost I felt, as while there were concepts of good world building with the city of Vaiwyn and the saints, I just didn’t really grasp how it all fit, and nothing really felt grounded.

First I want to say that the cover is absolutely gorgeous!!!

Rating: 3.5 stars

It was really fun imagining the City of Vaiwyn and learning about its magic & origin. I mean how cool is it that it was basically build from the bones of a mythical creature with the help of the saints magic. The vibes are giving Edinburg on a cozy rainy day with a hint of the Vatican city and Paris catacombs. I would personally love to live in a city filled with magic that interacts with its citizens.

I appreciated that the author went over briefly the backstory of each saint and why the evil should not be awaken by the bells.
(I also thought it was nice that the Saints are based-of of real Saints).
I would love for the author to write a book that is specifically about the saints and the corruption of its city that led to the alchemist tragic love story.

The characters were not bad characters but I personally was not able to fully connect with them.
Like I felt like everyone that was supposed to keep the city safe did A LOT & NOTHING at the same time once chaos broke loose.
Because the book highly focused on Mina's and her mothers strained relationship, I appreciated their individual and relationship growth at the end of the book.

Mina and her love interest Max were so cute it was nice to see a written healthy relationship! lol

Thank you NetGalley & Elle Tesch for the arc! (:

Lush and immersive, What Wakes The Bells is such a wonderful debut. It completely had me glued to my seat, transported into its world. Thank you to Elle Tesch and Netgalley for the ARC! I loved it!!!

While this has plenty of interesting world-building and creativity, I had a hard time with the writing style.

The main thing I loved about the story is that it had an already established relationship. I loved the representation and this isn’t often seen in YA. The descriptions were vivid and immersive and the world building was phenomenal. Mina is a complex character and was written incredibly well. Overall I enjoyed this story and can’t wait to read Elle’s next book !

I was blown away by this debut. It’s well-written, and I love the characters and plot. But the true stand out is the world building. It is a masterpiece. It has saints and relics, bell towers, gargoyles, lore, and so much more. I felt like I was in Vaiwyn, and it was a beautiful experience.

What Wakes the Bells by Elle Tesch is a beautifully atmospheric gothic fantasy that draws readers into the eerie, sentient city of Vaiwyn. Mina Strauss, a devoted Keeper, must prevent the Vesper Bells from ringing—because when they do, something dark awakens. When an unexpected toll disrupts the city, statues come to life, and chaos spreads, forcing Mina to uncover a sinister truth lurking among those she trusts most.
Elle Tesch masterfully crafts a haunting and immersive world filled with mystery, magic, and deep emotions. The prose is lyrical, the setting is richly detailed, and the relationships—both romantic and platonic—are deeply compelling. It was such a fun read! People need to go read this book!

I've had my eye on this book for quite some time, and while I don't regret reading it, I'm not sure if I was just expecting something else or what, but I just didn't seem to connect with it. Before I get into what didn't work for me though, I want to commend Tesch for the originality of the story here, because it was honestly a fascinating world that was created, and that really did make it a lot of fun to read. Now unfortunately for me I think there were more things that just didn't work for me than things that did. That world building was great, but I feel like there were also enough little inconsistencies that I was taken out of the story. Without being too spoiler-y I think one of the big ones was how the bell towers worked. Each tower has a keeper, and each keeper makes sure the bells don't ring at 1 o'clock, but they also do other jobs in the community. That's fine, but considering making sure the bells don't ring at 1 is such a big deal (I am slightly unsure if it's 1 in the morning and at night, or if only one of those times is really the important one) it seems odd that there's only ever one person in charge of each bell. Why wouldn't you have more than one person there so the keepers get a break, and so that mistakes don't happen? And then you also give them each another also very important job? That just seems like a little too much. I think my other big issue was the writing. There wasn't anything overly wrong with it, it just didn't seem to...flow, for lack of a better term. I just felt like I had to focus on it a LOT, and even then something about it just made it so I couldn't help but need to re-read things in order to digest them. These things very much seem to be a me problem though, because so far this book has fairly decent early ratings, so please don't let my "issues" with it stop you from giving it a try. I think it has great potential, and with such a cool concept I do think it has the potential to become big, it was just a miss for me overall. I'll still be curious to see what Tesch comes up with next, and I will say that the relationship between our M and FMC was excellent here, so whatever Tesch does next I hope that's one element they keep.

What Wakes the Bells is such a fun read!

Though I personally saw some plot points and guessed some twists and turns, I still absolutely enjoyed every second of this read. It’s very well written and supremely entertaining.

The story revolves around our MFC Mina and her generations long family legacy of keeping the magical bells of the living city of Vaiwyn from tolling and releasing an evil being that’s been locked away in the Vesper bells for centuries. When the worst happens and her bell mysteriously tolls, gargoyles wake in the night and evil terrorizes citizens, while the living city starts behaving in peculiar ways. The evil hides in someone and Mina must find it and cleanse her city. She is driven by the loss of family and innocents and won’t stop until peace is brought back to Vaiwyn.

This book has AMAZING world building and unique magic and lore. These are my favorite types of reads, the books that brings something new to the vast fantasy genre.

I recommend this book to teens, YA, and adults as any and all would enjoy the ride this book delivers.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

4/5 stars. Absolutely delightful debut novel by Elle Tesch. Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.
There is so much that this book has going for it. It's got a dark Gothic vibe, an amazing set of characters with great representation among them, a FMC with a complicated relationship with her mother and who is also dealing with the loss of her father, and a beautiful yet tragic yet hopeful story. The pacing of the book was good. Some of the book's "ah-ha" moments were very obvious to me, but I enjoyed the story nonetheless. I truly loved the ending. No spice. There is a romantic love interest involved in the story, but it is done so well and respectfully. All in all, I recommend this book.

I sadly guessed every plot twist to come from this book around the 35% mark. But even with its predictability, it was a very interesting and fast paced read. The world was very compelling, with a sentient city and statues that come to life in the night. Even though the villain doesn’t come into the story truly until about the 70% mark, he was probably my favorite character. Through-out the entire book the pace is pretty fast and makes you want more, even with how predictable it was which is a plus!

I normally get pretty bored once I’ve figured out everything but the world was what kept me reading, (sentient city, who needs anything else tbh). I only had a few troubles with this book; one was that because the plot was predictable, it made me want to smack the main character because of how blind she was to A LOT of things. Not only with people and their actions around her but with not trying certain things that I would assume anyone else would do in specific scenarios. The other would be that sometimes it became a bit confusing, the world did make sense overall but every so often there would be times I would have to reread and feel like I was missing something and that there was a hole that just wasn't being filled. Definitely will be recommending though because I’m always on the lookout for fantasy stand-alones and especially interested in ones with unique worlds!

actual rating 3.75