A Discovery of Witches by Debroah Harkness [Book Review] 12

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Summary

“Deborah Harkness’s sparkling debut, A Discovery of Witches, has brought her into the spotlight and galvanized fans around the world. In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.

Harkness has created a universe to rival those of Anne Rice, Diana Gabaldon, and Elizabeth Kostova, and she adds a scholar’s depth to this riveting tale of magic and suspense. The story continues in book two, Shadow of Night, and concludes with The Book of Life.”

–From Amazon.com

Review

This book was a Christmas gift and boy am I glad that I got it. Apparently there is a tv show based on the book that had season 1 come out last year, and I remember seeing the trailer and thinking ‘oh this will be a good show’ and then completely forgot about it. So, my mum got me this book for Christmas and immediately people on bookstagram lit up saying things like, ‘you’re going to love it. that book is amazing’, or similar statements. So I was immediately excited.

My gosh was it amazing.

So well written it kept you captivated!

I honestly couldn’t put this book down. It’s a pretty meaty read, into the 500 pages or so, with small font and larger pages, but I honestly couldn’t put it down. I devoured it in a week. The writing, while the sentences weren’t complex like older stories, no short like new stories, were just so well structured with descriptive language. I mean, it was just so descriptive and there was so much beautiful stuff going on. I don’t even know how to describe it. It was kind of like watching a movie in my head, because Harkness explained everything that I just got to go along for a ride. Which I really did love!

The story was so unique – even though you had the cliche romance.

When it became clear that there was going to be romance, I had a moment of ‘oh no, this is going to be some sappy YA romance thing with witches and vampires’ but boy was I wrong! Yes, there was romance but that was only part of the story. There was so much traveling, so many things going on, and it was such a new twist on the witchy stories. I don’t really read many books that have witches in it, now that I think about it. Or at least not frequently. So, this was really refreshing.

The setting was fantastic – so much traveling all over!

I really loved the setting in England and then traveling all around the world and the adventures! I mean come on, who doesn’t like a book with some traveling? But it was like a good kind of traveling. I know sometimes authors have characters move around a lot for a new setting and to fill space, but in this, the traveling was necessary and incredibly intricate to the story! Also the settings that they traveled to, from the small apartment to the massive family mansion that Matthew had…ugh, so beautiful! My mind imagined going from this small little quaint cottage-like room to this Dracula-style mansion…just with more style and light!

Character development – thank god!

I really hate when there is no character development, but there was some here thank goodness. Diana went from someone who hated magic to needing it and accepting and growing and learning as a person. I also liked how Matthew went from this control freak to someone who trusted his partner. I know when I was talking to some people about the book, they didn’t like how dominant Matthew was, feeling that he was suffocating or controlling her, but for me I didn’t take it like that. He was protective and like this old-ass vampire. I mean, what do you expect! I think that their relationship developed beautifully throughout the book though – that is one thing that I can say.

Such an enjoyable ride as a read!

Honestly it was just such a fun ride. Towards the end, with one of the settings in the family house of Diana, I got this Practical Magic kind of vibe with the Aunts and just the entire setting. It was just so much fun and I had such a wonderful time reading it!

Because of all of this, I easily give this a 4/5 teacups. Honestly, I’m so tempted to give it a 5/5 but I don’t really ever do that. That is for the most perfect book. But know, that I do feel that it’s much closer to a 5 than a 4 (I just don’t have an image for that).

Get yourself a copy here and Happy Reading!