Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (The All Souls Trilogy, Book 1)

Synopsis: 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. (from the online description)

Review: My disappointment in this book comes as much from the book itself as my expectations.

This was recommended to me as an Urban Fantasy about a witch and a vampire who team up to protect a magical book. Sounds good, right?

I did not realize it centered on the romance between the two characters and not the mystery of the magical book. In fact, I would label this a paranormal romance and not an urban fantasy.

So much of the book was taken up by the two main characters talking (or in her case, sleeping and/or crying). It seemed to take too many of these conversations to move the story forward. The characters constantly talked about how it was forbidden for them to spend time together, but then constantly did with no consequences other than a few harsh words from their respective people groups. Brief spots of action (always followed by pages and pages of talking) helped a little, but the action often centered on the hero rescuing the heroine, and giving them more chances to talk (ugh!)

I’m also never a fan of insta-love. How are you willing to jeopardize the stability of the world, risk war among the supernatural groups, and endanger your families for someone you meet three weeks ago? Really? Shallow and unrealistic, to me. I was never able to connect with the main characters because of this, which made it difficult to finish the book.

The only redeeming quality was the history and lore and libraries – I loved reading about library built over centuries, the history of alchemy, etc. More of that and less lovey-dovey shit and the book would have been ten times better.

If you enjoy slow-paced paranormal romance, this is the book for you. But if you are looking for more adventure and fights and action – not so much. 

Bookmarks: 3 of 5

Awards: None

ISBN: 978-0-14-311968-5
Year Published: 2011
Date Finished: 6-10-2018
Pages: 577