![\"Vespertine\"](\"https:\/\/writingya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Vespertine-196x300.jpg\")
One of Margaret Rogerson’s earlier books, Sorcery of Thorns<\/em>, was a finalist in a previous Cybils Awards year, so I was eager to read a new book by her, and Vespertine<\/em> not only didn’t disappoint, it ended up being the category winner for 2021<\/a>. From the jacket copy (which provides a much better summary than I could):<\/p>\nArtemisia 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.<\/em><\/p>\n
When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint\u2019s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being whose extraordinary power almost consumes her\u2014but 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.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This was my personal favorite of the group\u2014intriguing premise and world-building, and a page-turning adventure with plenty of twists and turns. The story also had really good creepiness and a reluctant yet relatable heroine. I wanted to see Artemisia succeed, to find her own inner strength so that she could fight for justice for herself and her world. I also enjoyed watching her open up to unusual and unexpected friendships and allies.<\/p>\n
For those who enjoy historical (or, anyway, historical-ish) fantasy–particularly if you enjoyed Robin LaFevers’s His Fair Assassin books–I highly recommend this one. The action is non-stop, but even better, the character is constantly thrown into difficult circumstances that test her tenacity, morality, and even her humanity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of Margaret Rogerson’s earlier books, Sorcery of Thorns, was a finalist in a previous Cybils Awards year, so I was eager to read…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115,116,119],"tags":[11,2,34,12,5],"class_list":["post-10178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-speculative-fiction","category-ya-all-the-way","tag-adventure","tag-af","tag-diversity","tag-fantasy-sci-fi","tag-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10178"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10180,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10178\/revisions\/10180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}