Vespertine

By: Margaret Rogerson

Narrated by: Caitlin Davies

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

An international best seller!

From the New York Times best-selling author of Sorcery of Thorns and An Enchantment of Ravens comes a thrilling, “dark coming-of-age adventure” (Culturess) about a teen girl with mythic abilities who must defend her world against restless spirits of the dead.

The spirits of the dead 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; otherwise, they will rise as ravenous, hungry spirits. She would rather deal with the dead than the living, who whisper about her scarred hands and troubled past.

When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being whose extraordinary power almost consumes her - but death has come, and only a vespertine, a priestess trained to wield a high relic, has any chance of stopping it. With all knowledge of vespertines lost to time, Artemisia turns to the last remaining expert for help: the revenant itself.

As she unravels a sinister mystery of saints, secrets, and dark magic, Artemisia discovers that facing this hidden evil might require her to betray everything she believes - if the revenant doesn’t betray her first.

©2021 Margaret Rogerson. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

LOVE this book!

I was hooked from the 1st chapter. Absolutely beautiful performance and story with thrilling takes on familiar elements and wonderful characters. I dearly hope there will be a sequel. These characters deserve to continue their story.

Excellent!

What a treat this book was! Excellent world building. Absolutely drama free, well grounded heroine. Plot was paced perfectly. Character growth was consistent but organic, so noticing our mc's growth from adolescent to adult happened effortlessly too. The narration was. very good, missing excellence only because of the narrators penchant for changing her voice volume overmuch when she changed characters. This excellent book is a rare event which I strongly encourage you to enjoy.

Excellent!

So creative and such a great performance by the narrator! I’m a little skeptical of fantasy YA, but this exceeded expectations in every way a book can! Def recommend :)

Enjoyable

I am a huge fan of this author. All her books are wonderful. I enjoyed reading about a main character who seems to be on the spectrum. She's strong in different ways than your average leading character. Rogerson shows that even though she's the type of person society treats as less than because she's different, she, and anyone who identifies with her, has a lot to offer the world. Once prejudices and preconceived notions are let go, the person underneath shines.
The Revenant was another wonderful character, and I'm glad its part wasn't as minimal.

I enjoyed the narrator, who is very talented. However, she wasn't quite the right fit for this book or cast of characters.

Nuns of death/joan of arc/neurodiversity representation

Read it. So metal, yet so soft. You want a joan of arc novel? We got you. You want autism and anxiety representation? We got you. You want a YA without a romance in it? We got you. You want NUNS of DEATH?? We. Got. You.
Just read it.

Lovely story , will never forget it

This book drew my attention from chapter one. I believe for me, I had bit of difficulty understanding the religious phrases or objects in story but eventually I caught on.
There was a very parallel relationship forming with her revenant . A “unlikely friendship” story is always lovely to read. I also noticed that the main character Was described to be on the Autism Spectrum, which I found really unique about her. She was very intelligent but disliked socializing, which is why I found it so pure when she formed a bond to her revenant.
She saw herself in the revenant, something that felt it couldn’t be cared for or truly loved. She was willing, despite the revenants countering, to put her own life on the line to save him. And he to her..
it was so lovely to witness however I do wish the story didn’t end right after they realized how much they could care for each other and make each other whole. It was a little saddening to see things end suddenly after a huge realization. I can’t wait to see more of their friendship tested and developed.

Wonderful story, perfected by Davies!

This story was one of those books you can’t put down. The author wrote a great story, however it was the talent of Caitlin Davies that brought the story to brilliant life!

There are so many really good audio books that could have been great if read by Caitlin.

so great!

great representation of autism. compelling story. brilliant dialogue. want more of this. everyone should read. Great heroine.

I didn't know this was a ya book at first

I was pleasantly surpised. There is some dope stuff in here. Good characters. Tight

Excellent

I loved it. I loved the characters and their story. I can't wait to listen to more by this author. The narration was excellent also.