Skip to main content

A Discovery Of Witches (The All Souls Trilogy Book 1) by Deborah Harkness Review

Hey ForeverBookers, 

Well, I've just reread my favourite book EVER for probably the TENTH time, baring in mind that it's over 600 pages! The book's called A Discovery Of Witches and it's by Deborah Harkness. 

This is an ADULT book because some of the situations are bloody and brutal. 

It's my favourite book because I love romance, as you know if you've read my previous reviews. I love the characters, especially Diana and Matthew. Diana, a witch doesn't practice magic because of her parents' deaths. She's scared that if she uses magic, she'll die just like her parents. Matthew, a vampire is a scientist but when he meets Diana he becomes someone with a purpose. 

Spoilers below...

We start with Diana in the Bodlian Library, Oxford, England. She's a historian and is reading manuscripts when the novel starts. 
She asks to view a certain manuscript called Ashmole 782. This manuscript is mysterious and what the novel is really based on. The characters focus on unveiling the manuscript's secrets. That's what they're trying to unlock.  It's forbidden for Diana and Matthew to be a In love because the congregation does not allow mixed couples between creatures. Of course Diana and Matthew ignore the congregation and are together anyway. 

Things that I loved besides the romance were: the sense of family this book has between everyone (not just our main couple), the funny moments that are spotted here and there, the settings that are described whimsically and most importantly the characters and the plot. This book certainly takes the reader on an adventure, covering at least 3 countries. One of those countries is England, where I'm from. It was nice to read about places that I recognise. 

We go to France from England and then to America with the characters. In France we meet Matthew's Vampire mother, Ysabeau and Marthe, her maid.  I enjoyed reading Diana's perception of them. She at first sees that Ysabeau doesn't like her. This changes when Matthew falls in love with her. I also enjoyed Matthew's protectiveness of Diana. 

In America, we meet Diana's aunts, her guardians since her parents' deaths. Sarah is a little affronted by Matthew but she gets along with him for Diana's sake. Emily seems to accept him. The LGBTQ spectrum is seen here as Diana's aunts are lesbians. The story isn't at all focused on that relationship though. It's just there. 

I obviously give this 5 stars because it's an old favourite and the story just encaptures  you and doesn't want to let go. I highly recommend it if you're a fan of paranormal romance, history, and science as those are the fields Diana and Matthew are interested in. 

Have you read A Discovery Of Witches? If you have what did you think? What was your favourite part, keeping the spoilers to a minimum. 

I'll be rereading the next book, Shadow Of Night next...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

American Royals (#1 American Royals) by Katharine McGee review

Hey ForeverBookers,   I’ve just finished American Royals by Katherine McGee and I LOVED it! If you love scandal and complicated love stories in a contemporary setting, then you will love it as well! Think a royal version of Gossip Girl and you have this book in a nutshell. American Royals follows six characters, all of the new adult age range that come together to create a story of intrigue and romance. There isn’t high action or really a plot outside of the romance which was fine with me as I really enjoy stories just focused on the romance. I appreciated how “American Royals” only focused on the six different characters. There weren’t loads of personalities to get to know, and they all followed the same pattern as they’re all from or have grown up around a certain standing in society. This made the characters easy to follow and understand. It is a character led story, without as I said, much plot.  What there is of a plot of American Royals is taken up with the ascension of ...
2 comments
Read more

City Of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments Book 2) by Cassandra Clare Review

Hi ForeverBookers,  I've just finished reading City Of Ashes and it was really good! I've read this book before again and I didn't think it was very good last time but now I think differently. It had everything from fighting demons, to laugh out loud parts, to heartfelt moments. The story starts from where City Of Bones finished so there will be minor spoilers below.  The characters continue developing in this second book. For example, Clary's best friend, Simon really takes on a new role as a vampire, as well as the other characters maturing too. This was good to see as it gave the story different levels that we haven't seen before. I especially enjoyed reading about Simon's transformations. There's a new character called Maia, who is a werewolf. There's some antagonism between Simon and her as in this series vampires and werewolves don't get on.   We meet Alec and Isabelle's parents here. Maryse, their mother is a strong character, who is angry...
Post a Comment
Read more

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty Review

Hi ForeverBookers,  How are you all today? I've just finished a great contemporary book! 4 Stars! NOTE: There are scenes of abuse and bullying in Big Little Lies so if you're sensitive about either of those topics this book maybe isn't for you.  Big Little Lies tells several stories at once. There's the story about the trivia night that runs throughout, the story of who one of the main character's father is, the story of an abuse victim, a story of a teenage girl putting her virginity up for sail in the internet and the main story for most of the book, little children lying about who bullied another child. All these stories were handled well.  We see the characters, both major and minor be interviewed throughout because of the murder that happened on trivia night. I'll be honest in saying that at the beginning of the book I thought that another character had been killed so it was a surprise to read what actually had happened.  Spoilers belo...
Post a Comment
Read more