This review is so overdue as it's been nearly a year since I read Vespertine, but I'm trying to finally catch up on my unwritten reviews and it says a lot that, despite my poor memory in general, I still remember this reading experience vividly enough to warrant a full review! In case you couldn't tell, Margaret Rogerson's books have made a tremendous impact on me, every last one of them, and while I can't possibly choose a favorite of her titles, I can tell you that Vespertine is as flawless as can be.

First, I have to say that I love fantasy books with interesting religious backdrops (especially with flawed churches and leaders—blame it on the religious trauma✨ of my upbringing), and this book does it so well! I was absolutely enthralled by the entire setting of the convents and the back story of the nuns' jobs. Most of all, I loved the orders of the spirits and the fact that they differed from one another so much, as well as how intricate the revenants were! I'd love a short story collection about each of them if the urge ever tickled Margaret's fancy because they were totally fascinating to me.

Of course, our revenant was the best of them, and honestly, I don't have words for how much I adored his banter with Artemisia. These two characters are so brilliantly suited to work alongside one another with their dry outlooks and senses of humor. I'm tempted to include a photo of my copy of this book at the end of the review just to show how many tabs I put in this book, because 90% of them were me highlighting bits of dialogue that made me smile or snicker.

More than anything else that I loved about this book, though, is the pure adoration I hold in my heart for Artemisia herself. She is brilliant, brave, kind, and incredibly over it—the sort of heroine who would give her last breath to save someone as long as they promise not to make too big a fuss about it at her headstone afterward. She doesn't fit in well with other people at all because she accidentally terrifies everyone, and as someone who was "the weird kid" who didn't know how to blend in or mask my matter-of-fact nature and macabre interests until the damage was done... well, let's just say that I felt very seen, and I'm pretty sure Artemisia and I would get along great (calmly, from opposite sides of the room, in contented silence).

In case I haven't gushed enough, let me be clear: Margaret Rogerson has hit it out of the park again and I fully recommend picking up a copy of Vespertine as soon as you can (along with all of her other books, because they're all delightful). I can't wait to see what she writes next.

I read a final copy I purchased myself, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also sent an early review copy by the author/publisher. All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: Artemisia is aromantic, asexual, has PTSD, and has physical scarring