I've read this twice now, what a fab book! I love Artemesia and everything she does and goes through!

The banter is fab, and something I think Rogerson is particular good at, the characters are great throughout, and the setting feels very realistic. It's a sort of bittersweet story with moments of humour, and those are often some of my favourites.

Artemesia not knowing what to do was so relatable and a nice change from heroes who magically know everything that they need. I also love that it's not a romance story, again a nice change!

4.5 stars. Will likely be rereading again in the future!

Thank you so much to the publisher, the author, and netgalley for sending me an e-ARC to read. I gave this book three stars.

This was just okay for me, I enjoyed MR’s other books more than this. I’m pretty sure other readers will love it.. it’s definitely a case of it’s me and not you, I just didn’t t click with the characters or the story.

This book is Margaret Rogerson at her best! This was such atmospheric read that you can't get enough off and can't put down!

Another great fantasy from Margaret Rogerson. I think Sorcery of Thorns is still my favourite, but this came in a close second with its brilliant humour, solid writing, and likable characters. The world-building pretty captivating and I found myself looking forward to picking this back up whenever I wasn't reading it. The plot just got better and better as the book progressed, too.

3.5 stars

Artemisia lives in a convent in the land of Loraille, where the bodies of the deceased must be cleansed to prevent their spirits from rising and causing destruction.
Artemisia is happy to train to be a Gray Sister and work with the dead, especially as the other girls at the convent treat Artemisia differently because she was possessed by a horrible spirit as a child.
Everything changes when the convent is attacked and Artemisia ends up sharing her body with a revenant - a highly powerful and dangerous spirit bound to an ancient relic.
Artemisia is able to hear the revenant in her head despite lacking the knowledge of the long dead vespertines - high priestesses with the training to use high relics bound with powerful spirits. Artemisia will need to use all her strength to prevent the revenant from taking control of her body, but even that may not be enough.
A darkness is falling over Loraille. Can Artemisia stop it before it's too late?
Can she control the revenant, and even work together with it to save her land?

Having loved the author's last novel, I was looking forward to reading this new book.
Artemisia was a likeable and relatable protagonist. Her childhood wasn't easy and she struggled in some situations, which was very understandable, but she was determined to help others.
I liked a lot of the supporting characters, and enjoyed reading Artemisia's interactions with them, especially the revenant, who was possibly my favourite character.
The different spirits and the Old Magic were interesting, as was the setting.
The plot was interesting and held my attention, but I wasn't gripped. However, I didn't guess anything that happened and was kept wondering what would happen.
The writing style was easy to follow and I would happily read another book by the author.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend.

Margaret Rogerson truly is such an excellent author and I have yet to be disappointed in any of her works. This for me is probably the weakest of the three that she has released so far but it was still incredible.

Having read all of Rhos authors previous books I did enjoy this a lot and would recommend to others.

This book was very interesting and different from other books that I've read. Artemisia is an interesting character with a well thought-out backstory that relates to the person she is now! I loved the backchat from the Revenant - it really brought the story together. Hopefully there will be a second book as the door has been left wide open for that one

I'm incredibly behind on my reading and feel ashamed that I never got around to it on time. For some reason it is no longer on my kindle but I have a physical copy of the book.

Will update when I get around to reading it!

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

My initial thoughts were that it was a cross between Warrior Nun and Venom. To be honest I'd have liked to see some more Nun badassery but it was a pretty good read.

I enjoyed the world building and the general character development. Who doesn't like a pallid, sweaty, seemingly corrupt priest?
It took me a while to connect with our MC but in the end I liked her a lot, but I think I liked Marguerite even more.

Overall though a quick and enjoyable read with THE most stunning Charlie Bowater front cover.

I will always read books written by Margaret Rogerson, they have never failed to entertain me.

This one was a bit heavier on the world building which I adored (one thing I love most in books is solid world building)! The pace was a bit slower than that of sorcery, but the end definitely picked up and overall I really enjoyed the pacing when looking at the book as a whole.

The character building was sublime, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in this book and the development of Artemisia’s character was perfection.

Overall, an enjoying read!

This was an absolutely thrilling YA fantasy about a teenaged girl with mythical abilities who must defend her people against the spirits of the dead. I loved the mix of fantasy and mystery and I absolutely adored the character of Artemisia. She was such an amazing heroine and I was rooting for her all the way through the book. The writing is beautiful and really addictive and you feel instantly a part of Artemisia's world. If you like fantasy with strong female characters and non-stop action with a bit of a mystery thrown in then you will love this. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a chance to read and review.

This wasn’t my favourite book from Margaret Rogerson but I still really enjoyed it. The setting is something I really loved and would love to explore that further. I think the only thing that I found harder to get into was the characters, but by the end of the book I started to get really attached to them!

I really enjoyed Margaret Rogerson's previous works so expected to enjoy this too. Unfortunately I did not.

The world building is immense, so much is going on to the point I don't know what is even going on. There’s so many places and so many different types of ghosts that I couldn’t even keep up. All the ghost came with different abilities, but if you tied them to relics they had other abilities. It was too much to remember and I had a hard time even keeping up with the story.

I didn't enjoy the main character I have social anxiety and PTSD but found her far to self righteous and ridiculous.

a disappointing read.

I have to say I've read Margaret Rogersons past work and they've been "okay" however I really did enjoy this one I'm very pleased to say!

The world and the magic system was just so different from what she's previously worked on, . the different castes and hierarchy of spirits learning their different powers, and to top it off with how they died the level of impact it would lead to what kind of spirit they'd be, love love love!

It was jusy such a fun read, I think because I didn't expect much my enjoyment is just yup!

Another atmospheric and engaging offering from Margaret Rogerson that is sure to please both old and new fans. The world-building is richly detailed as always and the plot kept me fully engaged throughout. Highly recommended.

The dead of Loraille do not rest.

Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on. She’d rather deal with the dead than the living, who point and whisper about the odd girl who was once possessed by a violent spirit.

I'm so happy to say that I really enjoyed reading Vespertine.
The author's precious work 'Sorcery of Thorns' was a bit of a miss for me unfortunately but this latest release was a fun quick read.

It seemed based on Western fantasy models of knights/armies with hints taken from Catholicism with the saints and relics mentioned.
But still very much the author's own creation.

I really enjoyed the main character, and especially the relationship she built with the revenant. It introduced some light hearted humour aspects to the plot with their witty dialogue.
I also appreciated that there wasn't a romance plot at all really, which can be difficult to find especially in YA fantasy. So this would be perfect for readers who don't enjoy mixing their fantasy with romance.

I thought the magical workings of this world were well thought out and explained clearly. It was really interesting to learn about the different tiers of wraiths and ghostly beings.

Another huge bonus for me and something that made me specifically relate to Artemesia was her struggle with panic attacks and anxiety. It wasn't too explicitly dealt with, it was much more subtle but I thought it not only made sense considering her background but was great to see as mental health representation too.
I was really intrigued how the author related it to the revenant as well

I'm not sure if there is to be a sequel but it was left open ended enough for the world to expand whilst still having a satisfying conclusion for those who prefer stand alone stories.

I'll be honest, I did not know what to expect when I started reading this book, all I heard was ghosts, nuns and Margaret Rogerson and I knew I had to read it. Rogerson has a really beautiful way of writing and I love the worldbuilding in her books, there's no overwhelming info dumps, and there's always an intriguing plot, Vespertine is no exception. Vespertine has a really unique plot and definitely stands out amongst the YA books released in the last couple of years.

It's a little dark and creepy at times and would make a perfect book to read around Halloween, there's a few action scenes scattered nicely throughout this book, which I appreciated as they helped to move the plot along nicely without it becoming a Tom Cruise movie. I really loved Artemisia and her character development throughout the book, her relationship with the Revenant is the perfect blend of snark and care. Normally I like my books to have romance in them and whilst there's no romance in Vespertine, there is a little hint at a potential romance which I liked but I think ultimately the lack of romance really works in this novel as it allowed the plot to develop and the relationship between Artemisia and the revenant to grow, which is integral to the plot.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Children's UK for the E-ARC of Vespertine.