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allnee's review against another edition
The book focuses too much on a romance that I find tedious.
_nem_'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
4.5
This was delightful with several twists and turns. The characters all seem so real. Definitely a good potrayal of how vampires, witches and demons could exist in the modern world.
I did like how new bits of magic kept being added. You didn't know where it was going to go next. And the whole DNA tie in was fascinating.
blubbiblub's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
jgtruesdell's review against another edition
4.0
Reread this and the second in the trilogy in anticipation of the final book. I loved it as much today as I did a few years ago. If you like fantasy - vampires, witches, daemons this series is for you. The genetic science and some of the history mad my head spin but still fabulous.
emilyb_chicago's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the story, writing and the characters. I highly recommend this one - definitely a step above my normal paranormal novel.
bigbookslilreads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Twilight fanfiction? Or at least Twilight 2.0.
I went into this thinking it would be a more mature take on this kind of romance given the age of the characters. I expected more animosity maybe, at least more autonomous characters. But the MC is a sad and fragile mop that I can't bear to read about and unfortunately the romantic interest is not much better in terms of personality. The MC is constantly in trouble, sleepy or recovering from something, and so is just dragged around from place to place. Also she acts like a codependent 16 year old instead of the 30-something she is supposed to be. In fact, I think the vampire is also not acting his supposed age, and the romance is the most rushed I have seen so far (3 weeks!!), with it also being the most dragged ever (almost 700 pages!!)
I appreciated the academic aspect of it, but it's also a bit "overrated" in that it does not really understand how academia works? Or at least it's very optimistic about it. The world-building is also interesting, and that's what I'd be more curious to learn about, but I won't continue with the series. That's the best I can say about this!
I went into this thinking it would be a more mature take on this kind of romance given the age of the characters. I expected more animosity maybe, at least more autonomous characters. But the MC is a sad and fragile mop that I can't bear to read about and unfortunately the romantic interest is not much better in terms of personality. The MC is constantly in trouble, sleepy or recovering from something, and so is just dragged around from place to place. Also she acts like a codependent 16 year old instead of the 30-something she is supposed to be. In fact, I think the vampire is also not acting his supposed age, and the romance is the most rushed I have seen so far (3 weeks!!), with it also being the most dragged ever (almost 700 pages!!)
I appreciated the academic aspect of it, but it's also a bit "overrated" in that it does not really understand how academia works? Or at least it's very optimistic about it. The world-building is also interesting, and that's what I'd be more curious to learn about, but I won't continue with the series. That's the best I can say about this!
tomasthanes's review against another edition
4.0
This novel is the first book in the "All Souls Trilogy" by Deborah Harkness.
It is well written, researched, and plotted. I'm hoping that the quality of the first book carries over into the second and third.
It's funny. There's a quote from People magazine on the Amazon page for this book: "a wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter and Twilight”. This book (to me) was far better written than any of the Twilight books (which, to be fair, were targeted at a different demographic). I thought that it was a cross between Harry Potter and Outlander.
There were a number of venues in which the characters existed: Oxford (England), Sept-Tours (France - fictitious?), and Madison, WI. The author described each of these places as if she'd spent time walking around them.
There were lots of references to medieval literature (English and French). I'm grateful that she provided the English translation for each French phrase she used. This includes "Ashmole 782" which, according to a post on the web (https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/1379/the-dark-of-harkness/), "does existing outside of Harkness' fictional world though its whereabouts are currently unknown" and it was "...originally donated to the Bodleian Library at Oxford in 1858". This adds a touch of authenticity to this fictional work.
Scents abound in this book. The heroine, Diana, smells certain ways as does Matthew. At the end of the book, their scents change "cinnamon and blackthorn, honeysuckle and chamomile".
Why 4 stars and not 5? The author described witches as sympathetic characters (as J.K. Rowling did in the Harry Potter series). I don't know whether this is true or not.
In addition, she used the word "daemon" to describe human-like creatures very differently from the common use of this term. To be fair, demon means an evil creature while daemon is either a background process in a UNIX/LINUX-like operating system that provides a service or a "benevolent and noble spirit in Greek mythology". The author is probably using "daemon" in that sense to re-brand it? See the previous paragraph.
It is well written, researched, and plotted. I'm hoping that the quality of the first book carries over into the second and third.
It's funny. There's a quote from People magazine on the Amazon page for this book: "a wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter and Twilight”. This book (to me) was far better written than any of the Twilight books (which, to be fair, were targeted at a different demographic). I thought that it was a cross between Harry Potter and Outlander.
There were a number of venues in which the characters existed: Oxford (England), Sept-Tours (France - fictitious?), and Madison, WI. The author described each of these places as if she'd spent time walking around them.
There were lots of references to medieval literature (English and French). I'm grateful that she provided the English translation for each French phrase she used. This includes "Ashmole 782" which, according to a post on the web (https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/1379/the-dark-of-harkness/), "does existing outside of Harkness' fictional world though its whereabouts are currently unknown" and it was "...originally donated to the Bodleian Library at Oxford in 1858". This adds a touch of authenticity to this fictional work.
Scents abound in this book. The heroine, Diana, smells certain ways as does Matthew. At the end of the book, their scents change "cinnamon and blackthorn, honeysuckle and chamomile".
Why 4 stars and not 5? The author described witches as sympathetic characters (as J.K. Rowling did in the Harry Potter series). I don't know whether this is true or not.
In addition, she used the word "daemon" to describe human-like creatures very differently from the common use of this term. To be fair, demon means an evil creature while daemon is either a background process in a UNIX/LINUX-like operating system that provides a service or a "benevolent and noble spirit in Greek mythology". The author is probably using "daemon" in that sense to re-brand it? See the previous paragraph.
tintinneryshahz's review against another edition
1.0
DNF at 50%, I was not expecting this to be so bad, and it was in fact, very bad.
sade's review against another edition
1.0
"A faded Aubusson rug stretched across the floors anchored with a collection of original William Morris funiture. Somehow the fifteenth century architecture, the eighteenth century rug and the nineteenth century rough hewn oak looked splendid together and gave the rooms the atmosphere of a select Edwardian gentlemen's club"
[b:A Discovery of Witches|8667848|A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy, #1)|Deborah Harkness|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525097370l/8667848._SY75_.jpg|13190160] is many things. An ode to old architecture, Oxford, Oxford University, the Ashmolean Musem, yoga, spelling out the exact clothes characters wear, Darwin, tea drinking, Wine drinking, even more wine drinking (seriously drinking wine was crazy in this book, i'm still unsure how no-one ever got drunk with the amount of wine consumed), horseback riding,
At over 500 pages, i'm tempted to believe that Deborah Harkness in her spare time, dabbles in finding inventive ways to torture people.
Spoiler
Dear Diary,
Today i used my call slip to request books. Turns out one of the books in the pile was enscrolled. The Ashmole 782. Fancy that!!! Really didn't want to get into the whole witchy thing because as you know witchcraft isn't my thing. Returned book back to Sean.
Ever loving not witch, Diana.
laurenelopez's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5