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saroreen's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Death, Sexual assault, War, Torture, Child death, and Child abuse
Minor: Racism
redheadsuperpowers's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I stick by my description of this series as Twilight for adults, but it's so well written, and I enjoyed this close to the series so much. It tied up all the major plot points, and the minor ones left open are likely to close with the next series set in this universe. (The first of those books is out!) The relationship between the main characters, Diana and Matthew, settles some, easing how annoyed I was with male lead in the second book. The family moments were many, and one scene made me cry. I was disappointed with one major plot point though. It's a spoiler, so I won't share it, but I was like 'wait, what? Why? Who?' and the book did not answer that point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, Stalking, Torture, Body horror, and Forced institutionalization
keepcalmblogon's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I’ve decided to do a series review of A Discovery of Witches because these books are so thick but they don’t have enough differentiation from story to story in order to be reviewed separately. I don’t mean that as a detriment either, of course each book has its own story arc, but the overarching storyline flows so clearly from book to book, it’s no wonder they were made into a TV series.
Now, I have to admit, I do think these books are LOOONG to the point I felt they could have benefited from some cuts, but in the end they are five stars. Diana and Matthew have got to be one of my favorite fantasy couples. Diana is such a strong, independent woman and Matthew is a classic alpha male, but Diana has no problem putting him in his place! Their almost enemies-to-lovers romance gives me the tingles and their epic love is world shattering.
I recommend this series to all the readers out there looking for a fall read this spooky season!
Now, I have to admit, I do think these books are LOOONG to the point I felt they could have benefited from some cuts, but in the end they are five stars. Diana and Matthew have got to be one of my favorite fantasy couples. Diana is such a strong, independent woman and Matthew is a classic alpha male, but Diana has no problem putting him in his place! Their almost enemies-to-lovers romance gives me the tingles and their epic love is world shattering.
I recommend this series to all the readers out there looking for a fall read this spooky season!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual assault
artmajorese's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I mostly picked this one up because I'm a completionist, I needed something to do on a 5-hour flight, and I had already powered through book 2. To my surprise, I enjoyed reading the book! Expect a convoluted plot, which to me felt a little bit un-earned in its resolution. Most of the book is spent doing things OTHER than solving the central problem. But if you can suspend your disbelief, you'll find some fun character development moments and (finally) the answer to "what's the deal with Ashmore 782?"
Heads up that the main subplot contains a lot of sexual violence, including incest and sexual violence against children.
Heads up that the main subplot contains a lot of sexual violence, including incest and sexual violence against children.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Confinement
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
adearen's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The book is generally slow and disjointed until about the last 100 or so pages when the story line finally starts to resolve. The first book was the best in the series and the author honestly lost track of the narrative by trying to flesh out characters and live that while interesting and that I enjoyed in the end led to a rather convoluted storyline through most of books 2 and 3. Finall resolving only in the final arc of book 3, when Diana is finally allowed to be the awesomely powerful witch the author has been trying to convince us she is since book 1.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Body horror, and Sexual violence
cassandrareads_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
notesappwitch's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
a very satisfying conclusion, though i felt parts of it were slightly rushed. i would have loved less of benjamin being a creep and more about the book of life itself of the congragation. (of the whole trilogy, the second was my favorite)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Torture
the antagonist is very tonally different from the rest of the series and his goal is tomarylinaris's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
4.0
Out of the trilogy I probably enjoyed this book the most. If the second book was the Matthew-centered one, this one was Diana-centered. We finally got to see the one and only friend she apparently had before meeting Matthew, we meet the witch-community of her home-town and see her being an active part of the plot, while Matthew take a little bit of a back seat.
The story of this one was the most interesting and overall strongest of all three. I loved that we got to see some characters again, I would’ve thought we would’ve left in Book 2 and how they brought interesting directions for the plot.
I was surprise how graphically evil the villain of the book was, considering that both previous book were quite tame when it came to violence and even sexual scenes.
Being honest, the relationship of Matthew and Diana was a bit of a let down. It was incredibly insta-lovey in Book 1 and since then they somehow went through the same relationship problems again and again. While they have some nice moments they have a general feeling of not being earned. A lot of the time these two feel like a couple that has been married for twenty years now, who can’t quite stand each other and have forgotten how partners should work together and can’t communicate properly. It was not overly distracting but it certainly was something I - again - took note of in the beginning of the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Violence, Miscarriage, Death, Torture, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Child death
theespressoedition's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Reading The Book of Life was such an interesting experience. My opinions about it went up and down, inside out, and backward before I came to the end.
Going into it, my mind was so open because I was looking forward to learning more about Matthew and Diana, now that they were back in the present day. So much had happened in Shadow of Night and knowing that this was the trilogy's finale, I figured it would begin to wrap things up relatively early on.
Instead, we were met with a ton of crazy twists, character additions, and new storylines right at the beginning, which totally threw me off. Opening the book with Em's death made me feel completely blindsided. I loved Diana's special relationship with her, and it broke my heart that right after Diana came home and was hoping for some normalcy, she's instead met with news of her aunt's death. That's just awful! From that point on, I held everything much more loosely.
I'm a quick reader. I know that about myself. It takes me an average of about three days to finish a book - even relatively long ones. However, The Book of Life took me well over a week to complete! When I reached the 30% mark, I looked at my progress and felt winded. So much had happened and yet there was still so much book to get through. Because of the slow pacing of these novels, I began to feel bored. I wanted more action, less description.
I messaged a friend of mine who just adores this series and began to talk with her about my feelings. It wound up being incredibly helpful, talking with her, because I was able to uncover the elements I really enjoyed - like the character development for Gallowglass, Marcus, Sarah, and Diana. Diana especially came into her own in this book, after learning so much about her magic in Shadow of Night. It was really neat to see that incredible growth in her, not only when it came to her skills, but even in the way she began to relate with Matthew.
Additionally, one of the things I learned is that these are the kind of books you need to set aside time to read. Instead of trying to squeeze them in, you need to really dwell on them and let yourself just be absorbed in the story. Allow it to take you to all of the places it's trying to go and you'll appreciate it much more. Don't attempt to rush through it like I originally did. After chatting with my friend, I found myself excited to get back into the world, and over the next couple of days, I really focused on my reading. It made the ending so much more satisfying than I could possibly express.
There are a lot of really gruesome moments in this particular installment in the trilogy. I've been sitting here, trying to figure out how to talk about them without giving away spoilers, because they include characters that simultaneously are and aren't a major focus in the other books. That sounds confusing, but once you begin reading, you'll understand what I mean. The vampire killer in London is a large part of this book. And their story is incredibly saddening and even a bit angering. It's also very bloody. In addition to that, you'll learn about another member of Matthew's family, who happens to be an incredibly graphic torturer and sexually abusive individual. This subject matter was really challenging for me to read, and I did skim parts of it because of the really gory nature. Please be aware of this going into the book. I do wish there had been content warnings for these things and unfortunately, there were not.
If I had to give the entire series a rating, I would probably say it receives 4 stars. It's a wonderfully-written trilogy with well-rounded characters and tons of world-building. If you ever wanted to feel like "creatures" were real, this book will accomplish that. The research that went into it made it feel so much more realistic than any other supernatural/paranormal series I've ever read. The ending was great but did leave me wanting to learn more about certain characters. I hope Deborah Harkness continues to write about them as the years go on.
Going into it, my mind was so open because I was looking forward to learning more about Matthew and Diana, now that they were back in the present day. So much had happened in Shadow of Night and knowing that this was the trilogy's finale, I figured it would begin to wrap things up relatively early on.
Instead, we were met with a ton of crazy twists, character additions, and new storylines right at the beginning, which totally threw me off.
I'm a quick reader. I know that about myself. It takes me an average of about three days to finish a book - even relatively long ones. However, The Book of Life took me well over a week to complete! When I reached the 30% mark, I looked at my progress and felt winded. So much had happened and yet there was still so much book to get through. Because of the slow pacing of these novels, I began to feel bored. I wanted more action, less description.
I messaged a friend of mine who just adores this series and began to talk with her about my feelings. It wound up being incredibly helpful, talking with her, because I was able to uncover the elements I really enjoyed - like the character development for Gallowglass, Marcus, Sarah, and Diana. Diana especially came into her own in this book, after learning so much about her magic in Shadow of Night. It was really neat to see that incredible growth in her, not only when it came to her skills, but even in the way she began to relate with Matthew.
Additionally, one of the things I learned is that these are the kind of books you need to set aside time to read. Instead of trying to squeeze them in, you need to really dwell on them and let yourself just be absorbed in the story. Allow it to take you to all of the places it's trying to go and you'll appreciate it much more. Don't attempt to rush through it like I originally did. After chatting with my friend, I found myself excited to get back into the world, and over the next couple of days, I really focused on my reading. It made the ending so much more satisfying than I could possibly express.
There are a lot of really gruesome moments in this particular installment in the trilogy. I've been sitting here, trying to figure out how to talk about them without giving away spoilers, because they include characters that simultaneously are and aren't a major focus in the other books. That sounds confusing, but once you begin reading, you'll understand what I mean. The vampire killer in London is a large part of this book. And their story is incredibly saddening and even a bit angering. It's also very bloody. In addition to that, you'll learn about another member of Matthew's family, who happens to be an incredibly graphic torturer and sexually abusive individual. This subject matter was really challenging for me to read, and I did skim parts of it because of the really gory nature. Please be aware of this going into the book. I do wish there had been content warnings for these things and unfortunately, there were not.
If I had to give the entire series a rating, I would probably say it receives 4 stars. It's a wonderfully-written trilogy with well-rounded characters and tons of world-building. If you ever wanted to feel like "creatures" were real, this book will accomplish that. The research that went into it made it feel so much more realistic than any other supernatural/paranormal series I've ever read. The ending was great but did leave me wanting to learn more about certain characters. I hope Deborah Harkness continues to write about them as the years go on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Rape, Torture, Gore, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content
comraderowan94's review against another edition
There was triggering content
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture