A review by zoenelson
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

The trilogy, overall, was entertaining. The romance was convincing and thoughtful; the supporting cast was mostly wonderful and I enjoyed the character progression. I remain impressed by Harkness' ability to ground this fantasy in our historical and scientific knowledge. 

This particular book did a few things well: it left enough open at the end for the reader to interpret as they please; it solidified Matthew and Diana's love story; and gave us more time with the supporting cast. I did not like that Harkness introduced
another existential conflict in the form of Benjamin raping witches to create a superior creature race. It's related to the main conflict but felt manufactured and was really dark without warning; it also distracted from the main conflict, so the resolution there felt unsatisfying even though it was desirable. I felt that the final battle scene was anticlimactic because there were no real trials or tribulations. Additionally, Matthew's refusal to form a scion was merely a plot tool and thus felt superficial and drew the story out. Speaking of which, this book, to me, felt very choppy trying to tie so many loose ends together which impacted the plot and pacing.


I wanted to rate this a 4.75 because I loved the first book and parts of the second, but choices to add so many elements in the second and third books diminished what the first book set up so well. 
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