About the Book
- Genres:
- Boy-Girl Romance
- Fantasy
- Voices:
- Asexual
- Cis Girl
- White (Non-Specified)
Cover Story: Suncatcher
BFF Charm: Yay
Talky Talk: Gothic
Bonus Factors: Living City, Saints
Relationship Status: Planning a Visit
Red alert! What Wakes the Bells features frightening imagery, minor body horror, on-page gore/death/murder, strained mother-daughter relationship, characters grieving the death of a parent, a side character with alcoholism, swearing, and sexual coercion. (Per the note in the front of the book.)
Cover Story: Suncatcher
This is either a really ornate stained glass window or a really ornate painting that’s meant to mimic stained glass. The imagery of the saints is pretty spot-on, regardless.
The Deal:
Mina Strauss is a Keeper, much like her mother, and her mother before her. For generations, the Strauss family has been tasked with making sure that the five giant bells across the city of Vaiwyn don’t ring out at one o’clock (a.m. or p.m.) and unleash an evil that will bring the city and its people to their knees.
But then Mina’s bell chimes. Even though she did everything by the book. And Vaiwyn, a living city with a mind of its own, begins to revolt. And it’s up to Mina to set things to rights. With a little help from some Saints.
BFF Charm: Yay
I like Mina very much. She’s a bright, intelligent young woman who loves her city and her family (even when her mom’s being a right shrew). She longs for people to believe in her and to trust in her abilities the way her father did before he passed. She’s definitely shaken when her bell rings and the city goes wild, but she pulls herself up by the bra straps and figures out a way to set everything to rights. I don’t think I’ve ever had the confidence she had, especially not at her age.
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
Mina is ace-spec (asexual spectrum) coded, although she never refers to herself as such. She’s never really had feelings about anyone, ever, but she recently started to have feelings for her best friend, Max. He cares for her, too, but is willing to take things slow so that she’s comfortable with how they progress. (He really is quite the gentleman.) Some things go down over the course of the book that puts a damper on their relationship, but by the end of the novel—sorry for the semi-spoiler—they’re back on track to being utterly adorable.
Talky Talk: Gothic
What Wakes the Bells is a dark academia novel with a gorgeous amount of unique imagery and world-building. Tesch has a way with words, and her characters pop off the page, even when they’re not part of the main cast.
When not marking the first hours silenced by their Bell Keepers, Arbutus and the other Vespers sing the sweetest melodies with their newly restored clappers. From the Ingmund Courts and Buchari University to the south; Elke Cathedral and Farvald Bank to the north; and Lyndell Hall on the island that splits the river in two. I couldn’t care less which bell clangs right now.
Breathing through this spiked heat in my heart, I half expect steam to billow from my ears, too.
Bonus Factor: Living City
Vaiwyn is a character in itself, and although it’s unusually unhappy for most of the book, the idea of such a thing is super fascinating. Holes in walls heal themselves, messages transmit through building walls, and windows and stained glass change on a whim. I don’t think I’d want to feel the city breathing, but I’d love to be able to ask it to remodel my home when I wanted to change something.
Bonus Factor: Saints
Part of Vaiwyn’s mythos is the story of six saints who were around at the city’s founding. The people of Vaiwyn worship their memories and the memories of their great deeds. Everyone thinks they’re long dead, but it turns out that they’ve been reincarnating for hundreds of years. Their appearances might seem human, but when they show their true selves, they’re vastly more interesting and god-like, in a biblical angel kind of way.
Relationship Status: Planning a Visit
Hey Book, I know Vaiwyn is busy repairing from the Big Bad, but I’m really interested in visiting, and soon. Is there a room open at the local inn? Let me know as soon as possible, so I can book that flight. K thanks!
Literary Matchmaking
Ava Reid’s A Study in Drowning (April’s FYABC selection!) is a dark academia novel with a building that also feels larger than life.
Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight Chronicle has a similarly creepy vibe, but with a lot more gore.
Samantha Shannon’s Bone Season series is another fantastical tale in which a city is like a character.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Feiwel & Friends, but got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. What Wakes the Bells is available now.
