ENGLISH REVIEW: Saundra Mitchell - The Vespertine

The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


When writing a review, I usually start with a short description of what was the book about. This time, I'm going to skip that, because I'm not even sure I'd get all of it right. I've read many historical novels, some of them even using the old dialects but this...this was really something. So you can imagine my delight, when I got used to the language somewhere after the first quarter of the book and started to enjoy it. And oh, I enjoyed it very much :)

Despite the fact, that Amelia, our heroine, was living hundred years before I was even born, I found very easy to relate to her. It was funny to discover, that girls at the end of the 19th century had the same problems as girls at the beginning of the 21st century: who to love, what to wear, where to party.

To be honest, there isn't much of a suspense to speak about, but Saundra decided to shock us by dropping some serious bombs when you less expected it. It made the book almost unputdownable.

And of course I can't omit to tell you about Amelia's sweetheart, Nathaniel, whose every word made me giggle like a 15-year-old (which I'm not by a long shot). Even if I didn't have a soft spot for artists, I'd fall in love with his wit and protectiveness towards Amelia. Oh, and don't forget the looks! Yeah, he was definitely an eye-candy :)

What I didn't like about this book was it's ending. I wanted some drama, I even wanted the cliffhanger but what I got was the perfect closure of the first book and it just didn't feel right to me.

In spite of this, I loved the Vespertine and I'd recommend it to every YA paranormal fiction lover as well as any historical fiction lover.

The book brought a fresh air into the young adult genre and I can't wait for the next part of Amelia's and Nathaniel's journey.

Thank you, Harcourt Children's Books and NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review this amazing book.

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