Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A Discovery of Witches

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

27 reviews

karen_lo's review

adventurous challenging mysterious 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

3.5

3.5 stars
I enjoyed the vibes and rich descriptions of this book. It's very cozy to immerse yourself in the characters' routines and hobbies.
It's a sloooow burn (very slow) but beautifully written.
There were some aspects of the characters' personalities that I didn't like much, hence my punctuation. Overall, it's a great book for getting lost in Dark Academia vibes, fantasy, and lots of history! 📚

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gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

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wonderbeastlett's review

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adventurous hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

This is a forbidden romance type book between a witch and vampire. It also has cozy autumn, academia vibes as it is set on a campus.

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gansey_02's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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joey_paige's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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kat1105's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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what_karla_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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mloschi's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Good fantasy, with interesting world building and mystery. I liked the dark academia setting. I felt like conflicts within the plot happened and resolved very (almost too) quickly. But overall a good book for some escapism.

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bodagirl's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

This book kept my interest while reading, but didn't make me want to devour it. I think part of the issue is that the magic system and society are still being defined, as the POV is mostly from Diana, who has denied her heritage for so long, and Matthew, who keeps secrets from other characters and the reader. I'm also a little uncomfortable with Diana and Matthew's relationship; I'm getting the feeling that they are fated, which is fine, but the motivations for why they are drawn together at the start is really unclear. It started as "enemies to lovers" but within a few chapters it became some amorphous connection that

much later on turned into a possible fated mate situation

. I do appreciate that Harkness is stressing that Matthew comes from a very different age and his vampiric instincts make him act possessively, but it makes my modern sensibilities shudder a bit that Diana questions things so very rarely and often just accepts what she is being told.

The aspects of the story I really enjoyed were the historical elements that were woven in (though I wonder along with Diana how Matthew was able to know so many influential thinkers so well) and the idea that demons aren't actually from Hell, but rather randomly popped up as super creative or gifted people. However, the possible connection between "demonic" and some mental health disorders or the Autism spectrum in problematic, even though the demons we meet seem to be fairly well adjusted.

I grabbed the whole series from a used bookshop, so I will probably continue to see if it improves.

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stwriter92's review

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Let me start off by saying that I did not like this book. At all.

A Discovery of Witches centers on the story of a very powerful witch who doesn't understand her own powers and has an enormous destiny dropped on her like a ton of bricks. She falls in love with a vampire, which is extremely taboo. Oh, and she has exclusive access to a very important book. If the synopsis I am giving seems sloppy, it's because the organization of the above mentioned parts were sloppily slapped together into something that vaguely resembled a plot if you squinted hard enough. The entire thing read like a bad Twilight fanfiction for adults. I already don't like Twilight (don't come for me), so this was just annoying as all hell.

I am usually a fan of books that weave together the threads of different storylines. I loved the way this was done in books I have read and reviewed in the past such as The Golem and the Jinni, The Lord of the Rings, and The Priory of the Orange Tree. However, unlike these books, the threads that "wove" this story together started to fray at the edges after the first stitch. This is probably because the threads themselves were not substantial enough to carry the story forward.

I found the two protagonists to be incredibly dull, insufferable, and selfish. I couldn't find a single thing I liked about either of them. Both Diana and Matthew were the most annoying characters I have read in recent times. Nothing about them made me feel sympathetic towards them or their "plight." They seemed to put the love they had above everyone else, oftentimes dragging unwilling participants into a game that should have ended as soon as it had started. The relationship between them is incredibly toxic, with Matthew being over-controlling and overbearing and Diana enabling him by being very "deer in the headlights." Matthew is absolutely dripping with red flags. He has an uncontrollable temper and constantly exerts his strength over Diana to control her. For example, early on in the book, they get into an argument. When Diana tries to leave, the following scene ensues:

"Let me go, Matthew," I struggled in his arms.
"No"
No man had ever refused when I asked him to stop doing something---whether it was blowing his nose in the library or trying to slip a hand up my shirt after a movie. I struggled again. Matthew's arms got tighter.
"Stop fighting me," he sounded amused. "You'll get tired long before I do, I assure you." (p. 191).

He will often talk to her as if she's a defenseless, naive child that he needs to take care of, which also puts a horrible taste in my mouth. On top of that, he drops this gem on her: "I will kill you myself before I let anyone hurt you" (p. 281). How, how, how does that make sense? God, I hate over-possessive love interests. Oh, and did I mention that he watches her sleep? The ick levels are high with this one. On top of this, he keeps so many secrets from her! At some point, they have the "no more secrets" conversation, but he still continues to keep secrets from her. And she just lets him!

Diana isn't a gem, either. Matthew calls her "ma lionne," but I think "mon oiseau" or even "mon ver" would have been more appropriate. There is nothing really courageous about her. She runs away from everything and only does whatever her own selfish heart wants. She pretends to care about other characters, but will side with Matthew the minute things get ugly. When other characters try to make her see the way her and Matthew's actions affect those around them, she refuses to take accountability for anything and refuses to allow any blame to be put on Matthew either. In her eyes, everyone else is wrong. I noticed this throughout, but there's a part where Matthew's mother, Ysabeau (who I love so, so, so much) tries to convince Diana to think twice before choosing to be with Matthew.

"This is not a game, Diana! Matthew would willingly turn his back on creatures he has known for centuries to protect your right to be whatever you imagine you want to be in your fleeting life. I'm begging you not to let him do it. They will kill him if he persists."
"He's his own man, Ysabeau," I said coldly. "I don't tell Matthew what to do" (p. 276)

Did I mention that the Very Important Book that this is supposed to be about ends up being super irrelevant? I would expect that a book that everyone wants to get their hands on would be put in a place of higher importance than the toxic romance between an overbearing vampire and a very boring witch. But I guess I was wrong!

I really only enjoyed the side characters in this book. I loved Hamish, Sarah, Em, Marcus, Miriam, and (when they appeared in the last few chapters) Nathaniel and Sophie. Not to mention, I adored Ysabeau and Marthe to death. If the story was written about these characters instead of about Diana and Matthew, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

This is one of the few times I will not be continuing a series. Usually I try to push through to see if the story gets better, but I am so uninterested and turned off by the mere thought of having to read about Matthew and Diana pretend to care about other people in two more books. No thank you.

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