What Wakes the Bells coming March 11th, 2025 from Feiwel & Friends; 336 pages
Content Warning: Death, foul language, strained mother-daughter relationship, sexual coercion, alcoholism
About the Author: “Elle Tesch has lived just east of Vancouver, British Columbia her entire life. Surrounded by forests and mountains, it was inevitable that she would daydream about what might lurk in those trees. She twists places she loves and writes what she knows best: hungry monsters, casually cruel villains, and ace-spec girls in the stories they deserve. When not writing, Elle can be found reading whatever she can get her hands on, wrestling with her current cross-stitch project, or re-watching Pride & Prejudice (2005) for the 72nd time. What Wakes the Bells is her debut novel” (Bio from Bookshop).
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The Strauss family has watched over Vaiwyn’s bells for centuries, never letting them ring the dreaded thirteen tolls. When Mina, the youngest of the family, slips up and fails to stop her Vesper from ringing, a sleeping evil haunts the streets of Vaiwyn seeking mass destruction. As the living city is quickly overtaken by malice, the many statues decorating the structures come to life at night and terrorize the citizens, spreading an incurable disease that turns people to stone. The only way to end the massacre is to find the person possessed by the escaped evil and destroy them once and for all. With the help of the divine and her need for revenge, Mina will have to track down the wicked and find a way to end them. The host could be anyone, and she will have to decide what is best for the safety of Vaiwyn, and for herself.
As someone who only skims through the summary of a book before reading it, not even memorizing the back cover could have prepared me for the intricacies within What Wakes the Bells. The storyline itself is intriguing, featuring a living city and a bell that harbors a divine evil, and the uniqueness of the setting made this novel a ground-shaking debut for Tesch. Mina is a very lovable character, and I found it easy to relate to her personal and familial struggles. Something I enjoyed a lot was the previously established connection between Mina and Max. I don’t think I have ever read a book where the protagonist was already in a relationship with their love interest, and I liked being able to experience the pureness of their love from beginning to end. There are so many complex details in this novel, and every page reveals new, juicy details to the reader. Although a bit predictable, I did not find that the end of the story was too cliché. It fits well with the rest of the plot, and at no point did I stop to criticize the way everything unfolded. What Wakes the Bells impressed me to no end, and I am excited to see what other creative stories flow onto Tesch’s pages.
What Wakes the Bells releases on March 11th, 2025.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Callie Andrews, Pine Reads Review Writer, Social Media, and Web