The Vespertine

by Saundra Mitchell

In 1889, when Amelia van den Broek leaves her brother's strict home for the freedom of a social season with cousins in Baltimore, she is surprised by her strong attraction to an unsuitable man, but more so by the dark visions she has each evening which have some believing that she is the cause, not merely the seer, of harm.

• ISBN10: 0547482477
• ISBN13: 9780547482477
• Publish Date: 7 March 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 9 July 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Houghton Mifflin
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[celinenyx]

Dark, gripping, excitingly Victorian with a twist! I absolutely loved it.

This book combines two genres, taking the best of both. It has the ambience of a great historical novel set in the late 19th century and the gripping excitement of a paranormal book. Then, throw in a vibrant romance and mischievous friends and you have the wonderful book The Vespertine.

Amelia van den Broek (Dutch last name! I'm allowed some patriotism at times) is sent to Baltimore to have her first and last season, where she hopes to find a suitable groom. In the middle of the excitement her visit there brings (attending dances, calling upon friends) she finds out she has a special gift. She can see the future in the final sun rays at sunset.

It's hard to decide what I loved most about this novel. I think I will go with the characters. Amelia makes a great protagonist. She has her own opinion and takes no reserves in making this clear. It was great to see a female character in a young-adult novel that actually stands up for herself, and can take care of herself. Overall Amelia was easy to relate to. For living in a completely different time (where holding hands in the park is scandalous) her motives are easy to understand.

Then we meet her one weak spot. Nathaniel Witherspoon. Is it a coincidence that his name rhymes with "swoon"? Because there is some definite swooning going on in the book, and the worst part is that you can't help but swoon with her. I think it's an incredible accomplishment if you can create a scorching tension between two characters in a setting where a slight touch on the wrist is like a kiss.

Then we have the beautiful writing. I was enthralled by it within a few pages, and it didn't release its steel grip on me until I had finished the book. I did have an issue with the writing though; Ms. Mitchell has the habit to only talk about the events that truly matter. How is that a bad thing, you ask? It means that if the event she wants to describe is over, we jump forward into the story an hour, or a day. It means that in the middle of a deeply romantic moment between Amelia & Nathaniel, the story is broken off, and we're at home again. Talk about an anti-climax.

The paranormal elements are subtle, yet different of what we are used to. We don't get a lot of explanation on how the powers work, but then again, we only know what Amelia knows. What I though was brilliant is that Amelia doesn't try to hide her powers. She actually uses them. If this is the smartest thing to do is another story, but I thought she handled her precognitive powers in a realistic way.

The plot is a swirling mixture of both cheerful events and absolutely dreadful moments. Ms. Mitchell isn't scared to throw some pretty horrifying things at us. There are definitely some "Oh No!" parts in this book that make you have to keep on reading. I devoured The Vespertine from beginning to end.

You can find this review and more over at Nyx Book Reviews

[rakesandrogues]

I’m a huge fan of historical novels so from the historic aspect, this book does not disappoint. I love this time period for all its balls and gowns and Saundra Mitchell wonderfully crafts Baltimore in the late 19th century.

I usually love forbidden romances, but I was not so much of a fan of this romance. I just did not feel it between Nathaniel and Amelia. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of Nathaniel. He’s forbidden, independent, and an artist. He doesn’t have to listen to the rules of etiquette, but he’s also not the “ideal” husband that Amelia should be looking for. He’s charming and seems like an overall nice guy. I love male characters that as a reader you can easily fall in love with. But I couldn’t get that with Nathaniel. Maybe if there were more scenes with him in the book I would be able to feel the chemistry between them.

I’m not so sure if I liked the format of the book… At first, I did not even notice that the book was switching back and forth from past and present, Maine and Baltimore. (I have a bad memory for dates and such.) But once I realized this, I thought that it made the book a bit anti-climactic. I knew that things were going to get downhill for Amelia. It killed the suspense. However, I was still interested in why she was “ruined” and why she was sent back to Maine. Still, because I knew that bad things were going to happen, I just found myself restless and waiting for the inevitable.

The paranormal entities of this book is a twist to the genre. I usually don’t see paranormal and historical mixed together so it was different. However, I do not think that the paranormal part of the book was executed as well as the historical. Half the time, I was really confused on what was going on. I had to keep rereading passages because I wasn’t understanding exactly what was happening. The descriptions were vague so I had difficulty imagining what was going on between the characters.

Nothing exciting really happens until the last twenty-five pages. Then, its jaw-dropper after the next jaw-dropper and I could not believe that so much drama could happen in such little time. I felt like the ending was a bit rushed. I’m left with a feeling that there could have been more, but the book just came to an end. I was really left unsatisfied, especially because just when the book started to pick up, it was already over.

I would still recommend this to fans of historical romances because based on my experience, there aren’t that many that deal outside of England. I love the location of Baltimore. I love this time period.