A Discovery of Witches
2011 • 592 pages
Ratings7
Average rating3.2
15
Ratings7
Average rating3.2
**An epic, richly inventive, historically sweeping, magical romance.**
When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires.
Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire genticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing.
As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels.
Series
4 primary books5 released booksAll Souls is a 6-book series with 5 primary works first released in 2011 with contributions by Deborah Harkness.
Reviews with the most likes.
Strangely uneven, with a couple of small continuity errors. Also, there's the feminism thing I noted: Diana is always being hovered over or scooped up in someone's arms or watched over or protected or ordered about...
It's five stars in some places, for I love a historical mystery, set at a prestigious university for bonus points! But then it's three or even two stars in some places, for the above strange misogyny and the peculiar coy attitude towards sex.
Will I read the sequel? Yeah, probably. Eventually.
Okay, good escapist fun. Yes it is a bit slow paced but the world building is what held me in the story. I did skip the more romantic bits but they were few and generally short.
After 220 pages I am DNFing this book. I can't read any more about rowing, yoga or what wine you pair with which meal(with every course described in detail). This is a beloved novel, and I know I am in the minority, but it is too slow, and I need something in the story to keep me hooked. Nothing has really happened.
There were things I liked about this book, the history parts for example. But I couldn't like Diana an Matthew. I especially had problems with their relationship, it's one of my pet peeves when a person doesn't believe their significant other, or trust them to do anything, so that set my teeth on edge. I'm not sure I'll continue with the series.
