sunrise on the reaping is for sure going to be a favorite book of 2025 for me. but before i get into anything, let me talk about my relationship with this series, because one thing about me - i do love to yap when i have a lot of love for a new book in an already beloved series. in 2020, during lockdown, i reread the hunger games series and i really loved the experience of reading them all over again and being able to appreciate them so much more. especially during a global pandemic, and while we lived under a wannabe dictator for a leader here in the us. well sadly, not as much as i wish has changed in 2025. but for a happier nostalgic bonus: the last book i ever remember buying with my mom at borders was the hunger games...more
“I need no protestations of your feelings. Love can be lost, and I am done with losing.”
let me just start this mini review with a big preface: you all know holly black is one of my favorite authors of all time, and her world of faerie is one of my favorite settings of all time, so just reading a new book by her, and being in this world again, was truly a joy to me and will be one of my favorite reading experiences of the year.
in the first book in this spin off duology starring oak, we get to go on a quest line adventure alongside him and Suren, while they both are contemplating the person they want to be versus the person their birthright is trying to lead them to be. i really enjoyed it and could not wait for this second book, especially because we all know holly black loves a good cliffhanger ending.
yet this second and final installment, despite picking up right where book one left off, felt so unlike the first book in this duology. i feel like a lot of people picked up the stolen heir wanting more of jude and cardan’s story, and were a little upset when they were given something completely different. and i almost feel like that sentiment was very heard, therefore this book feels way more like a continuation of jude and cardan’s story with oak struggling to be the main character alongside the plot that ultimately felt like a new set up for what is to come. and i don’t really know if this is a complaint or praise, but it for sure felt jarring and just overall was so very felt. and again, i know a lot more people will prefer this book, because again, way more jude and cardan and a big set up for what is cooking in elfhame next, but i do think it hindered my reading experience of this book a little bit.
and trust me, i love jude and cardan with the sum of my being. they are truly my otp of all otps and i am waiting with bated breath to see them in the undercity. i just wish we got more oak and wren, because i really did/do love their storyline, and this personally just felt so different in tone and set up from book one that it just made me feel a little sad for them. as always, i love madoc and all the complicated love and feelings involving him and his children. i love that something really big is happening with taryn and leander (and a tree) and i am absolutely quaking in waiting to find out. and overall, this world and these characters just mean everything to me and i will forever be thankful to get any and all stories set in the world of faerie from holly black.
trigger + content warnings: talk of infidelity in past (not mcs), poisoning, death, murder, torture, alcohol consumption, captivity, child abuse / abusive parents in past, mind control magic, drowning
“You don’t have to take up a sword. Survival is bravery, too.”
this is an dark academia story, set in a historical but different world than our own
“You don’t have to take up a sword. Survival is bravery, too.”
this is an dark academia story, set in a historical but different world than our own, where two regional factions (north and south) are at war with one another, and two students who are from different sides (and who attend the same university) are tasked with different academic missions at a very remote sea side manor that is falling into the sea. this is also a story about storytelling and finding safety and comfort and escapism in words and tales and myths. even if this story at the heart of this is about a fae king who will stop at nothing to take and take and take what his entitled self views as his.
this is very atmospheric and the writing is so very good. i loved the themes of this story and the emphasis on power in regards to reclaiming your life and agency and voice after really horrible things happen to you. and how there is so much power in knowing you aren’t alone, and that there is power in giving a voice to not only yourself but the others who were silenced before you, and the power of just knowing that people believe you.
but sadly, i just didn’t love the actual story of this one, even though it had so much that i did love. it felt very long and tedious to read, and it was so very predictable in every way. i don’t want to call this book boring, because it just seems wrong with all the aspects that i enjoyed, but i really had to force myself to pick this one up each night for some reason. maybe i just had too high of hopes for it and it really hindered my reading experience? ultimately, i just couldn’t connect with this story or the characters, even if i really respect the themes of this book and the care the author put into this story. but i also know this book will be very powerful to a lot of readers, so please know that i still recommend this and very much implore you to look at other reviews!
i just want to also note - the last line of this book is very powerful. i think it’s been a long while since the last sentence of a book made me pause the way this one did (and then the last acknowledgement being to zelda… was everything). very powerful, and i hope everyone reading this can feel lighter and safer and drown all their demons, too.
trigger + content warnings: predatory behavior, abuse of power, power imbalances, grooming, gaslighting, mentions of sexual assault, unwanted touching, sexism + misogyny, panic attacks, ptsd, nightmares, mention of war, spider mention, death, blood mentions, mention of loss of parent in past, car accident in past, abandonment, grief, incorrect medical diagonis, bad parenting, mention of parent abusing alcohol, a lot of talk of medication, a lot of smoking, blood mentions, mention of a dead animal, torture descriptions in past, talk of child death/sacrifice in past in a myth/story, and drowning
“I rarely share this part of my life with others, but I want to tell it to you now. A piece of armor, because I trust you. A glint of falling steel
“I rarely share this part of my life with others, but I want to tell it to you now. A piece of armor, because I trust you. A glint of falling steel, because I feel safe with you.”
i really wanted to read this one, because so many of you were recommending it to me! and i ended up reading this in two sittings, because i could not put it down. the writing is beyond beautiful and i feel the story is paced in a way that just makes it so compulsively readable! to write a book about beautiful writing you have to be able to write beautifully and rebecca ross truly delivered on that front. there is a good portion of this book where we see the two main characters writing letters back and forth to each other on their typewriters and some of the things Iris and Roman would write really would make me weep. i loved the first half of this book completely, and i really loved the middle with attie and marisol, but the reason i am giving this four stars is because the more we got to see this magical war of soldiers fighting for gods, the more i wanted to know about the actual war going on, and i still feel so clueless about so much. i feel like the next book will help fill in a lot of the things we didn’t get from this one (oh my god, that ending), but i did close this book maybe not as in love as i was opening it! but i still had a good time with this book, and I really think Iris is a favorite character of 2023 for me.
trigger + content warnings: war, war zones, battle, bombings, death, injury, medical treatments, needle mention, blood, gore, violence, anxiety, panic attacks, ptsd, alcoholism, vomit, loss of a loved one, loss of a parent, loss of a sibling, loss of a loved one in past, drowning, grief, depression, abandonment, insomnia mention
i am such a huge hafsah faizal fan, and i truly will anticipate and read everything they ever choose to create. their stories are always filled with si am such a huge hafsah faizal fan, and i truly will anticipate and read everything they ever choose to create. their stories are always filled with so much heart and i think i will forever just become so obsessed with the characters they write. and the main character of this book, arthie, was maybe the easiest to love yet.
arthie runs a bloodhouse, well, a tearoom during the day, but a bloodhouse at night - both safe spaces for her crew. because in this historical london, vampires and known and feared, especially because twenty years ago a vampire killer was never found. but when the tearoom is threatened, arthie must set out to find secrets and gather her crew (both old and new) for a heist that could maybe change everything.
and that mini synopsis sounds amazing, right? but this is also a story about colonialism and living in the country that colonized your family. this book also heavily talks about the difference between first and second (or 0 and 1) generation immigrants and how they view the world and their colonizers. this also deeply discusses racism and colorism and the difference of being biracial and/or being more white passing (and how those first visual impressions from people/oppressors can offer very different outcomes in every single situation). arthie is a very angry character, and that might not work for everyone, but the girls who get it are going to get it and are going to fall very quickly in love with her, and just want to protect her from a historical world that feels a lot like 2024 at times. also, there are two other povs as well, even though i just accidentally wrote up a paragraph on arthie. but i promise jin and flick (and laith and matteo) are amazing as well!
also, this central setting/backdrop being a teahouse? with tea and comfort and safety and gathering and community? that's a very heartfelt galaxy brain setting, if i do say so myself. this book really just had so much to easily feel very deeply and fall in love with.
it does have a cliffhanger ending though, which i am still screaming about, but i am also counting the days until i can get my hands on book two. this book actually has a lot of twists and turns that i did not see coming, which was very unexpected, but made the reading experience even more fun. overall, i really recommend this one and truly can’t wait to see what hafsah faizal does next.
trigger + content warnings: blood, violence, gore, racism, colorism, kidnapping in past, colonization, colonialism, fire, explosions, loss of family in past, grief, human trafficking, drugging, abusive parents, forced military / soldiers
there is something just extra cool and extra harrowing about all these stories taking place under the same ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss
there is something just extra cool and extra harrowing about all these stories taking place under the same moon on the same halloween night. very galaxy brain of these editors. Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane was my very personal favorite - it really meant the entire world to me. and Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle is one i feel so thankful to have been able to read, and i know it will sit inside my heart forever. but here are my thoughts on all the stories in this collection, and i think so many people are gonna have a good time with this one, especially if you read this during spooky season.
━━♡ Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia by Vanessa Montalban ★★
“If you would've just waited for me to tell you I felt the same, if you would've never come here, I'd be yours. We'd be ours.”
i was obsessed with this sinking abandoned hotel setting, but sadly that was one of the few things i did like about this short story. i kept waiting for a different kind of revenge story to start because of the set up, but, sadly again, i was let down.
tw/cw: drinking, drugs, mention of bullying in past, brief mention of seizure in past (insinuating bc of overdose or excessive drug use), death
━━♡ The Visitor by Kalynn Bayron ★★★
“They were like beacons in an endless abyss of grief.”
this story has a few lines that made me tear up. this is a very sweet and spooky tale about a girl and her father celebrating halloween and honoring someone they lost. i feel like the author did such a good job conveying so many different emotions and feelings in the different scenes in this short work, i was really impressed.
tw/cw: loss of a parent in the past, grief
━━♡ A Brief Intermission by Sara Farizan ★★★
“Whenever someone talks about the "good old days," they forget to mention who it was "good" for.”
okay truly, drive in movies are just the perfect creepy setting, especially ones that are closed for halloween because of a generational secret being kept. i really liked both of our main characters in this one, and i liked seeing this secret unravel alongside them.
tw/cw: blood, gore, brief hospital setting, mention of fatal car crash in past, microaggressions, vomiting, animal death (rats)
━━♡ Guested by Rebecca Kim Wells ★★★
“Mrs. Choi thought Guested parties were white people nonsense or the work of the devil. Sometimes both.”
you all know a story about sibling love is always going to get me, and this being told in second person really amplified all the feelings. i will say, i just didn't enjoy the ending of this one, but the concept was really unique and smart, and the writing was very captivating - i would love to read more from this author.
tw/cw: very brief mention of parents divorcing + death of a parent, possession, depression depiction
━━♡ Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle by Kosoko Jackson ★★★★★
“There is no God here tonight. Only me, and I am vengeful.”
this short story is worth reading the entire anthology for alone. this was truly everything for me and, even though it pulled on everything inside my heart, the very vulnerable, real, + raw feelings were just so powerful to me. this is exactly what i want in horror, because, at the end of the day, humans are more horrifying than any paranormal creature could ever dream of being.
tw/cw: needle imagery, toxic friendship, codependency depiction, chronic pain mention, homophobia, homophobic slurs, blood, abuse, ouija board, very brief mention of domestic abuse + parental abuse + loss of a parent + murder in past with a side character. this story has a central focus on a gay hate crime / gay bashing - please use caution while reading and make sure you're in the right headspace
━━♡ The Three Phases of Ghost Hunting by Alex Brown ★★★
“Terrifying Bob won't even mess with the Jollibee, which makes me sad on his behalf.”
my favorite part of this was just how filipinos really do normalize ghosts + spirits hahaha. but i really loved the set up of this one, and i felt like it's really different than anything else in this collection. i loved these characters instantly too, and the sibling relationship made my heart so happy in so few pages. i just really didn't love the end of this one and it left me more confused than anything else. but i would happily read a full-length story with this crew + their new friend!
tw/cw: talk of death + possession
━━♡ Nine Stops by Trang Thanh Tran ★★
“You can love something so hard that you hate it at the same time. Each shortcoming hurts more because you care. The city and my body are like that.”
ahhh, this one is going to be a bit hard to write feelings for just because this story is centered around one of those "if you dont do BLANK, then BLANK will happen" on the internet things - and i just loath those so much. but then it just got more and more gross and confusing, and added so much that just didn't need to be there, but felt like they were added because it was a halloween anthology. we got to see some heartfelt themes of grief and the helplessness you feel when you lose someone you love - and i loved that - but sadly everything else just overshadowed it for me.
tw/cw: asian hate crime, racism, loss of a loved one, grief depiction, graphic animal cruelty + death for a ritual, insect mention, blood
━━♡ Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane by Maya Gittleman ★★★★★
“The smell of sampaguita fills the air. It's coming from you, the magic that's always been you, that you've finally given yourself the ability to unlock.”
not only my favorite of the collection, but a brand new all time favorite short story. this was everything and so very powerful. i might be a little biased because i am fillipino (and i have a matching sampaguita tattoo with my cousin haha), but i think this story is truly just perfection, while being so deep in culture and so deep in heart. and i was weeping through the ending with a smile on my face. the author was so galaxy brain for this entire story, but the amount of hope it was able to evoke from me too. i really am speechless.
whatever this author does next, i will be in the publisher's emails begging for an arc, because these few pages truly made me feel not only seen, but like i am finding a brand new all time favorite author.
tw/cw: talk of loss of a parent in the past, mention of deaths, one sentence mention of whitening cream/treatment
━━♡ In You to Burn by Em X. Liu ★★
“Magic wasn't real, after all. There were better, more mundane ways to explain things.”
ah, i wish i would have loved this one more. i am not really sure what to say other than maybe the writing just wasn't for me. but the plot just seemed a little all over and i wasn't really sure where the story was going most of the time. it also felt very long to me.
tw/cw: fires, drinking, blood, death
━━♡ Anna by Shelly Page ★★★★
“I know that bone-deep loneliness that comes with being abandoned and the fear that it'll keep happening no matter what you do.”
okay i think this story was like exactly what i was expecting from this collection, and it just was really good and really halloween spooky. it was the paranormal scariest of them all for me, and i was really feeling the eeriness while reading (and while finishing). a good reminder why i love short story collections so much, because i am now very excited to read more from this author.
tw/cw: abandonment, child abuse in past, starvation, ouija board
━━♡ Hey There, Demons by Tara Sim ★★★★
“Halloween. One way or another, he was going to get rid of this poltergeist for good.”
oh this was just a good read all around, and so different in tone from the rest of the collection. and it just really made my heart overflow with happiness, while still being spooky. i know these are fictional characters, but i really wish them the best because they were able to get into my heart in so few pages!
tw/cw: ghost leaving scratches on children, blood, implied loss of a parent in past
━━♡ Save Me from Myself by Ayida Shonibar ★★★★
“Today, my outside resembles the way I feel within. ”
this really is the short story from this collection that is going to be the hardest (and most all over the place) to talk about. i loved this story, i loved what it was doing, i loved that i very easily could see how much this will mean to so many teens, especially queer bipoc teens, who i know are feeling these things, thinking these things, and seeing themselves like this main character. this is an important and powerful read, and was able to evoke so much emotion from me. but i just absolutely hated the end of this. i felt like it was for shock value and just felt terrible when the rest of this story was everything i could have hoped for for this collection. again, i feel like this is just a hard one to talk about, but it still is a bright, but heartbreaking, shining light in this collection for me.
tw/cw from author at start of this story: suicidal ideation, death tw/cw that i found additionally: mention of parent abandonment, loss of a friend, loss of a parent, and... so many intrusive thoughts
━━♡ Knickknack by Ryan Douglass ★★★
“And...how do we find a sacrifice worthy of his Clownliness?”
truly, very few things in this life are scarier than clowns. and a clown who is a ghost and kidnaps and kills children? like, i was unsettled from start to end! i also really enjoyed the queer rep in this because i think its a very relatable "is this person maybe queer too" highschool experience, and i know a lot of people will be able to relate. this was spooky and sweet and i had a good time with it.
tw/cw: murder in past, death in past, kidnapping, brief one sentence mention of parent alcohol addiction and cheating of a parent, just not the best parents in general, brief mention on bullying in past, mention of 4chan, ouija board.
“It's you. It will always be you, until the end of time.”
man oh man, maybe stephanie garber just can’t stick the landing of her series because this is exactly what happened to me with caraval trilogy. why did we get multiple povs all of the sudden? and one pov that felt so completely not needed! ahhhh, i still love evangeline and jacks but i just can’t help but feel so disappointed. and i will still read whatever this author creates next because i love her world, i love how she writes whimsy, i love her purple prose, but i think i really need to adjust my expectations for the last book. this last installment truly just felt rushed and messy. the build up of angst and suspense (and the cliffhanger from heck) from the previous books, to just everything thrown at us in this book and ending it with a very lackluster conclusion (and feelings).
trigger + content warnings: loss of a parent in past, loss of a loved one in past, extreme magical manipulation, gaslighting, death, murder, violence, gore, a lot of blood imagery, self harm to get blood for magic, brief moment of suicidal ideation, drugging, and a brief moment of drowning.
“In the morning, you can forget it. You can go back to pretending you don't like me, and I can pretend that I don't care. But for tonight, let me pretend you're mine.”
The inn setting/scene in this book deserves six stars. This is just such a fun series, that is filled with so much angst, and it truly feels impossible for me to stop turning the pages once i get sucked into stephanie garber’s worlds. I enjoyed this one even more than the first, and i will be begging flatiron for an arc of book three come this autumn - because that end? Sick and twisted in the best way imaginable.
“They are past-tensing my heart—my whole beating, bleeding, torn heart—right in front of me.”
I really enjoyed this one so much, much like most of
“They are past-tensing my heart—my whole beating, bleeding, torn heart—right in front of me.”
I really enjoyed this one so much, much like most of my friends on goodreads. I also adore an arthurian legend reimagining, and this one is for sure my new favorite – so smartly done and so galaxy brain, truly. The grief depiction in this is going to mean a lot to so many, and it was also very empathetically and powerfully done, in my opinion. I really love Bree, and she really captured my heart in this book.
trigger + content warnings: loss of a loved one/parent, hospital settings, talk of car accidents, grief, anxiety, harry potter character mention, racism, a lot of microaggression, talk of police brutality, blood depictions, harm to get blood, death, gore, violence, vomiting, animal death (boar), talk of rape in the past, child abuse in the past, slavery, generational trauma, panic attacks, ptsd, torture, magical compulsion, child birth
“Please don’t ever tell Jace I said he was a badass.”
This short story is just a transcript of voicemails that the Shadowhunters left for M
“Please don’t ever tell Jace I said he was a badass.”
This short story is just a transcript of voicemails that the Shadowhunters left for Magnus after the end of City of Lost Souls, when he and Alec broke up. It just wasn’t enjoyable and was a lot of harassment even though I know that it was coming from a place of good. I just, thought this was honestly a bit pointless, but I know it was supposed to be heartwarming. I will also say that I think it was a really poor choice for a concluding story, because it for sure finished the entire anthology on a low note.
“I'm lost for words over the million little ways we can hurt for family we hardly know.”
I really did love so much about this book, story, the char
“I'm lost for words over the million little ways we can hurt for family we hardly know.”
I really did love so much about this book, story, the characters. An eldest daughter, seeing all the sacrifices that her family who immigrated to the us are still making for her, while she feels not enough in all the different ways. Seeing colonization seep into everything, from generation after generation, and being unable to look away once you have opened your eyes to it. Feeling different enough in both words already, and being queer on top of it all. This is a very powerful read, with themes that really meant a lot to me. I loved the writing too. I just didn’t love this story, even if i still recommend completely because of the themes. And i will for sure pick up everything else this author does in the future.
author's cw/tw: internalized biphobia, body horror, bugs, systemic/interpersonal racism, colonialism, death of a parent, blood, bones, depiction of a hanging, murder, mention of domestic abuse. (Food is a significant, thematic thread throughout She Is a Haunting. While the book doesn’t discuss eating disorders, some of the conversations and depiction of food may be difficult for some readers.)
“Your sister may have inherited your father’s gift for strategy, but you're the one who got his bloodlust.”
i loved this, it was perfect /for me/,
“Your sister may have inherited your father’s gift for strategy, but you're the one who got his bloodlust.”
i loved this, it was perfect /for me/, but i still enjoyed the cruel prince a lot more (and jude + cardan a lot more). i also feel like some readers might not love that this is a quest storyline so they are constantly traveling throughout this, but that is also something i really enjoy in stories - so i feel extra biased. holly was really giving the creepy and dark fae side with this one and now i am forever screaming at the last scene.... well, until i get book two!
trigger + content warnings: kidnapping, parental abuse, physical abuse, torture, abandonment, gore, violence, drugging, vomiting, captivity, murder, blood depictions, self harm to get blood for magic, mention of animal death, suicide mention in past, mention of death in childbirth, ptsd depictions, and a few scenes with bugs/insects/spiders.
“The church has laws, yes. But the god I believe in would never embrace a man who turned his face from his son in shame. The god I believe in gave
“The church has laws, yes. But the god I believe in would never embrace a man who turned his face from his son in shame. The god I believe in gave Titian and Donatello their talents and they used them to celebrate the world in His beauty. The god I believe in gave me you.”
i feel like every time i sit down to write about a k ancrum story, i end up just wanting to talk about how much of a gift she is to the literary world. her books are everything, absolutely phenomenal, with some of the best prose i’ll ever read in my life, and icarus is no different. but from dedication to acknowledgment, the magic that is her and what she is doing for readers, especially young readers, just means everything to me as someone who is very invested in bookish spaces. i don’t know what kind of long winded preamble this is, but i just truly wish the best for her and her stories and i truly feel so much joy that the world has her books.
i am sure a lot of people know icarus and helios in greek mythos, but this story is such a fascinating take on those characters and the sins committed by their fathers. icarus is an art thief, taught and mastered by his artist father, to steal art and to replace it with replicas that his father has created. helios is a boy locked away in the house that icarus’s father likes him to steal from most, so one night their paths cross and their future changes from that meeting. they are both trapped by very different prisons created by their fathers, but together, maybe, they can actually look at the sun and have it be okay.
this is a beautiful story about how love can be messy, so messy, but it can always be so vast. it should be so vast, we all deserve it to be vast and welcoming and safe, always. this book really showcases how that love can look so different - from a conversation you were scared to have, to a safe bit of sleep and knowing you’re going to open your eyes safely too, to being allowed to be yourself and not have a door shut on you immediately after. truly, the friendships and love depicted in this book? some of the best i’ve ever read.
ahhhh, i feel like i want to say so much else, but reading this book truly felt like being enveloped in a warm light, even with this book having so much darkness for content. you will see my holding this up in my pfp for 2025, and it really is such a highlight of my reading year. i loved it with everything i am. please pick this one up, or request it from your libraries, and if you are able - please also purchase this for your local library, too. i think the world deeply needs more reminders that we are all deserving of outstretched hands.
content warnings from the author: Swearing, Underage Drug and Alcohol Use (moderate: cigarettes, drinking, heroin dependance mention-character is in recovery), Child Neglect, Sexual Scenes (Moderate), Child Abuse, Physical violence, Imprisonment, Severe Depression, Cancer Mention, LGBT Themes, Criminal Activity. This book would probably not be best for people who have sensitivity to parent/child domestic abuse.
trigger + content warnings: loss of a loved one, trauma, alcoholism, extreme alcohol withdrawals,, vomiting, seizures, grief depictions, anxiety, abusive parents/bad parents, grey area cheating, blood depictions, violence, gore, homophobia, misogyny, self harm, mention of loss of a child in the past, possession (against one's will), enchantment (against one's will), insect horror, kidnapping, harming of a baby (kind of spoilers but… (view spoiler)[a rune put on a baby forcefully) (hide spoiler)]...more
this is truly the highest of three star ratings, and i really recommend this to anyone who is into kpop especially. the romance was sweet and had me kthis is truly the highest of three star ratings, and i really recommend this to anyone who is into kpop especially. the romance was sweet and had me kicking my feet, with a smile on my face, during multiple chapters. i really appreciated this book talking about idol culture and the scarier sides like paparazzi/news press and "fans" stalking artists during their off-schedule events. and how some kids start training to become idols at such young ages, on top of how hard this industry is, where they also are now forced to carry the weight of bettering their families lives and becoming the main breadwinner, regardless if it was their dream. and the expectations of them not being able to date and share their love and happiness with anyone "new" while they are under contract (and doing so can jeopardize your blood family and the family you made with your group's lives)! it is so so easy to glamorize idol culture, but it can be really heartbreaking too.
also this book kind of touches on how society can treat single mothers living in SK and how stigmatized that is, and even how stigmatized talking about mental health (and grief in particular) can be in asia and in asian cultures. and even how... people can treat you when you talk about liking kpop (or making content about kpop... which... layers and always rooted in racism but), when kpop artists are so immensely talented, hard working, and just doing so many things that western artists could never dream of doing. but i am very biased... hehe!
i didnt mean to write so much above, but truly this book is a sweet romance and very much a feel good, happy book, but the author did a lot that i really appreciated and loved even more than that sweet romance.
tw/cw: loss of a parent, hospital depictions (past + present), cancer mentions, cancer treatment depiction, bullying, brief mention of dieting, unwanted pictures being taken/paparazzi, stalking by the press/"fans", misogynistic comments/names, grief depictions.
i have loved everything tessa has ever written, but sadly the possession in this one just did not work for me at all... i thought it was going to go in another direction, and it didn't and... ahhh, i dont know but i just was not vibing with it... even if i loved every other aspect of this story.
tw/cw: parental abuse, animal death (bird), misgendering (always in a negative light), possession + unwilling possession, blood depiction, getting blood for a spell/magic, drowning depiction, assault, loss of a loved one.
“I believe there are far more possibilities than happily ever after or tragedy. Every story has the potential for infinite endings.”
I didn’t know
“I believe there are far more possibilities than happily ever after or tragedy. Every story has the potential for infinite endings.”
I didn’t know how i’d feel about this one, because even though i loved jacks in the caraval series, he didn’t wrap up that trilogy on the best note for me. But I think i just really like stephanie garber’s writing, and she crafts a type of fairytale whimsy feeling that i just really vibe with as a reader. Yes, give me all the descriptions of clothes and food and gardens and magical doors, i want it all. And then throw in a magical prophecy, some twists and turns with deadly kisses, and some mysterious princes, and i am going to flip those pages with lightning speed. I had so much fun with this, truly. And dare i say, i even liked evangeline more than scarlett and donatella, pink hair and all. (view spoiler)[but their cameo did make my heart oh so happy. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[oh! and this book introduces vampires to this world! and i really was NOT expecting, haha! (hide spoiler)]
trigger + content warnings: blood depictions, self harm to get blood for magic, loss of loved ones (parents), death, violence, a little gore, a lot of magical compulsion, + a mean step parent / parental verbal abuse.
"If I could read humans’ minds, I wouldn’t have ended up trapped inside a little girl’s finger bone."
I have enjoyed everything that Margaret Rogerson has written thus far, but I do think Vespertine may possibly be my favorite of them all.
Artemisia is a Grey Sister, working alongside nuns at the convent, preparing dead bodies for their final rest. Before the convent, and when she was only a child, she was forced to use the most extreme measures to purge a revenant who was possessing her, and now has disabled hands. But because of her past, she likes to keep to herself and live a quiet life with very few friends. But when an army of possessed soldiers come to destroy the only place that has ever made her feel like home, she is forced to use a saint's relic that allows a very powerful revenant to share a body with her once again, while also protecting the monastery. But Artemisia quickly realizes these soldiers are not the only ones being possessed by so many different spirits of different powers, and the only hope for this world could be her and the spirit that is currently inhabiting her own body.
Word quickly sweeps across all the lands of a Vespertine who has the power to cleanse and save them all, but there are many who will stop at nothing to ensure she does not come into her full power with her revenant who remembers the past these people are trying to hide very well. But Artemisia must learn if she can even trust this spirit, especially because she has his relic which she must protect because if it is destroyed, the revenant will be destroyed with it.
"On this day, we honor her by denouncing the Raven King, bringer of the Sorrow, ruin of the Age of Kings. May his face remain forgotten. May history scorn his name."
I know the premise of possession can be a little questionable, but Artemisia and her revenant (and their banter) was truly my favorite part of their book. And their friendship, and their trust in one another, while also learning boundaries, was really enjoyable to read. Also, her having that relic and power over the revenant was very important for me, as a reader! And I think the author does a really beautiful job also always remembering and discussing Artemisia’s trauma from her past, while allowing her room to grow but to also decided for herself how she wants to heal and grow, regardless of how linearly the healing is throughout the story and throughout Artemisia’s life.
Artemisia is also very inspired from Joan of Arc, who was also believed to be a saint under divine guidance from a higher power to save her people, even though she was “just” a young and poor girl. Since this is the first book of this duology, I do hope Artemisia does not meet the same end, but the parallels were very subtle and loud at the same time, but always very beautiful.
"I wondered if I should pray. But the stars were gone, the Lady’s gaze obscured. I had no sign save the hundreds of voices chanting my name outside."
I also really loved this whole entire world and magic system. The different castes and hierarchy of spirits and discovering all their different levels and powers was so absolutely fascinating. Even how the cause of death would impact what kind of spirit manifested! I also loved every stop Artemisia and her revenant would make on this journey, and all the new things about these spirits we, as the reader, would learn alongside Artemisia. If you’ve read the author’s previous works, you know that they just really excel at world building and crafting the most beautiful settings, and Vespertine was no different. And I was happily exploring cities and inns, and cathedrals and crypts, with Artemisia.
Overall, I just really loved this and it was a true joy to pick up each time. The side characters were also very amazing, and each friendship that Artemisia chose to start really was beautiful. And I loved seeing Artemisia realize that she is deserving of safety and happiness, regardless of what happened to her in the past. And also seeing her realize that the family you choose will always be more important than the family you were born into. I really recommend this one for so many reasons, but I also think most of you know I just have a really big soft spot for magical fighting nuns always, too. Happy reading!
Content and Trigger Warnings: abandonment, child neglect + abuse in past, possession (the mc uses self-harm in the past + threats of suicide to get spirits to leave her body - both very brief mentions), brief mention of animal abuse, mention of animal deaths, blood depictions, vomiting, drugging, anxiety depictions, talk of plagues, loss of a loved one in the past, mention of spiders, talk of suicide, death, and please note this is a book about sharing a body with an ancient spirit, so i can see that making some people uncomfortable, please use caution!