A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness – Review

Published: February 8, 2011

Publisher: Penguin Books

Genre: Fantasy

Series: All Souls Trilogy #1

Pages: 579 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 2.5/5.0

Synopsis:

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery, so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks, but her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries–and she’s the only creature who can break its spell.

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This book is in the works to become a tv series sometime in 2018 and as such I was curious to see what was so appealing. I picked up the audiobook and was initially pretty intrigued – scholars, alchemy, history, and paranormal creatures all mixed in one book was working well. Until the insta-love happened. Oh my god. Why? Why would you ruin a perfectly decent book by making it into this Twilight-esque monstrosity???

I can’t say the author copied Twilight, as there are a great many differences ranging from the fact that both characters are “creatures” to the overall difference and complexity of the plot. One things for sure though, there were a number of moments where I thought, “that’s funny, this sure reminds of something else”. Here’s some SPOILERY bullet points:

• One thing I know for certain – Matthew Clairmont is a vampire. At least he doesn’t sparkle.
• Diana falls irrevocably in love with him *gag me with a field mouse*
• Their love is suspect at best, forbidden at worst.
• Also, Matthew is super, super rich like apparently all vampires are. Aren’t there any that just can’t manage their finances?
• Matthew is controlling and I’m SO over the “vampires are just soooo territorial and they just can’t help it” thing. Try something new folks.
• Diana ultimately ignores his list of flaws (which is a mile long)
• Matthew kisses Diana, tells her he loves her and NOW THEY’RE MARRIED. WHAT. And she’s just like “cool, okay”. Apparently she didn’t get the terms and conditions.
• There’s a paranormal ruling body that makes sure creatures don’t attract human attention. Volturi, anyone?
• Matthew is 1500+ years old and knew practically everyone of historical significance and got signed books from them as well. He also does yoga.

There were some things I really liked about this book too, so it wasn’t an entirely negative experience.

• Diana, Matthew, and a fair number of those they associate with are scholars.
• This is set in Oxford – love a good collegiate setting.
• Libraries everywhere.
• They mystery of Ashmole 782.
• The Knights of Lazarus – such a cool concept.

Overall, A Discovery of Witches was not entirely awful but I had a great many issues with it, despite it’s addictive nature. I don’t know that I’ll continue the series though I am curious at what happens next, particularly now that Diana and Matthew are going to the past. I’m disappointed that what I consider to be better books aren’t being picked up for tv or movie series, but I can see why this was. It’s appealing to those looking for a paranormal romance fix akin to Twilight, but it’s not YA. I may actually check out the show when it debuts to see if perhaps it amends the issues I have with the book.