Summary
Vespertine is Margaret Rogerson's best book to date and while I'm sorry she had to go through so much suffering to the point where she doesn't want to write a sequel, I think it is a beautiful evolution of themes and ideas that she was just beginning to discover in her previous writing.
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Caitlin Davies
Narrator
1.17.2025
INCREDIBLE!
Finished!
My final review is posted here. This was an incredible experience.
Story this session: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars
Narration: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
1.15.2025
Absolutely Amazing!
Chapter 5 thru 13
Things have ABSOLUTELY taken off in this book! Margaret Rogerson really knows how to build and build and build into something amazing. I got NO sleep last night because I was totally sucked into the way the story just exploded. Every time I woke up I started back to where I remembered leaving off, I just kept going and going and I’d drift off again, only to wake up and start again. I was SO excited about where things were going.
I have said before that losing sleep because of a good book is the best reason to be tired the next day. I really love the feeling of getting pulled into a story; enthralled if you will, by the story … it gets inside and doesn’t let go and you don’t want to let it go. That’s the best kind of book experience to me and I don’t always have that.
I feel like Margaret has this trope she’s working on refining. I didn’t read An Enchantment Of Ravens (her first book), but I read Sorcery Of Thorns and loved it and what I loved best was the relationship between the bound and the binder. Vespertine has a similar situation and I feel like Margaret is trying to squeeze more out of the idea or show it in a different way. Similar to Stephen King’s books, I feel like she’s working out some idea or trying to get the right fit or maybe just trying out a different “skin” on the idea. Stephen King’s novels all felt like experiments and ideas that he kept flushing out and working on until everything kind of culminated in “It”. I feel like I’m witnessing something similar; an idea on a chalk board being worked and reworked by Margaret.
In my opinion, I feel like Sorcery of Thorns really nailed the relationship and Vespertine, though it came after, seems to be trying too hard with the same idea. It’s not BAD. Not by any means. I like seeing it done in a different way with a different binder with a very different set of circumstances.
I plan to go to bed an hour early just so I can spend more time with this book. I am really looking forward to listening to An Enchantment of Ravens after this.
I’m not sure if the narration is getting better or whether I’m just getting used to it … maybe both.
Story this session: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars
Narration: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
1.10.2025
Excited For This!
Chapter 1 thru 4
I didn’t get very far in my first listen but I can say that I really do love Margaret Rogerson’s worldbuilding.
I think that she has a rich vision of where her stories are going to take place before she begins anything else. I feel like the setting and how the world works are key components to how the characters move through the plot. It’s not a secondary thing. I think many books I have experienced are light on the world or the world doesn’t matter as much because its so heavily character driven. I like worlds in my stories … I like new realities that push me to try and put characters in a specific setting and understand their lives through not just their actions but how the world has shaped them. I think it’s important.
I have listened to Caitlin’s voicework before and I have chosen books because I like her work. But this is … strange. She sounds really different here and I assume it’s because she’s trying to give the character(s) a unique kind of feel or sound. My tribemate said she sounds like a light version of Jennifer Coolidge and I have to agree. It’s … odd and unlike anything I’ve heard her do before. It’s not … bad but it’s just a little irritating and distracting. I like the story so I’m pushing through.
I’m very excited to find out where this is going! Warrior nuns are absolutely a checkbox of mine. Add in ancient relics, powerful spirits, undead warriors, and mystical secrets and you absolutely have my undivided attention.
Story this session: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars
Narration: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars
