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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I got it recommended from an friend. It took some time to get into but it was worth it. To be honest the story feels long, but due to this you get to know the characters more and more, cant wait what will happen in the next book
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Diana Bishop is a historian of science and also, incidentally, the daughter of two of the most powerful witches of their generation. Matthew Clairmont is a leading geneticist and also, incidentally, a vampire. Their chance encounter at the Bodleian Library turns out to be much more than it first seems when a mysterious manuscript has all the magical beings of England descending upon Oxford.
This is sort of a hot mess of a book: there's just way too much going on for any of it be done particularly well. There are witches, daemons, vampires; academia and manuscripts; science and history; time travel; elemental magic; English country houses and French chateaus. Lots of individual points of interest, but Harkness doesn't juggle the pieces well. As a result, this reads a lot like an early draft: there's a lot of promise, but there are also pacing issues and a lack of focus. It feels scattered, and reading it is sort of a slog at times.
I think the biggest weak point is the central romance between Diana and Matthew--we're told about how it develops, but I as the reader never feel it. It especially suffers because Matthew turns out to be every alpha male vampire cliche; I think I started rolling my eyes when he started using French endearments for Diana.
All that said, I can see how this novel became a hit, and I fully expect the sequel to be one too. The mishmash of genres and utter lack of subtlety reminds me a lot of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series; I imagine they share a lot of the same audience.
This is sort of a hot mess of a book: there's just way too much going on for any of it be done particularly well. There are witches, daemons, vampires; academia and manuscripts; science and history; time travel; elemental magic; English country houses and French chateaus. Lots of individual points of interest, but Harkness doesn't juggle the pieces well. As a result, this reads a lot like an early draft: there's a lot of promise, but there are also pacing issues and a lack of focus. It feels scattered, and reading it is sort of a slog at times.
I think the biggest weak point is the central romance between Diana and Matthew--we're told about how it develops, but I as the reader never feel it. It especially suffers because Matthew turns out to be every alpha male vampire cliche; I think I started rolling my eyes when he started using French endearments for Diana.
All that said, I can see how this novel became a hit, and I fully expect the sequel to be one too. The mishmash of genres and utter lack of subtlety reminds me a lot of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series; I imagine they share a lot of the same audience.
Just terrible. Squee’s review on Goodreads sums it up perfectly.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s really hard for me to rate this book because there is potential there but man oh man did it fall flat. I enjoyed it until I got to a point where I was thinking, goodness I am almost done and I feel like we keep going over the same information. Then we had the same chain of events but just in different settings. Super frustrating.
I do love history, the details there were fun. I do love how the author tied science, DNA, and all that into the story. It gave it more depth than other vampire/witch books I have read.
****SPOILER****
I also hated how quick they jumped to the conclusion that time travel was for sure the way to go. Like uhhhhhh... sure okay. Yup you guys nailed it. Totally makes sense. And that was where I knew that there is more than likely not going to be a second book for me.
I do love history, the details there were fun. I do love how the author tied science, DNA, and all that into the story. It gave it more depth than other vampire/witch books I have read.
****SPOILER****
I also hated how quick they jumped to the conclusion that time travel was for sure the way to go. Like uhhhhhh... sure okay. Yup you guys nailed it. Totally makes sense. And that was where I knew that there is more than likely not going to be a second book for me.