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girlonbooks 's review for:
A Discovery of Witches
by Deborah Harkness
First with the pros: the world building is absolutely phenomenal. I love anytime an author can successfully weave together fiction and history and myth and even religious text to be something of their own. That's a hard thing to do well. I find myself genuinely wanting to live in Harkness' world of witches and vampires and daemons and houses that grow of their own volition when you're expecting company. It is because of that aspect that I finished the book at all and plan to read the second one.
Now for the cons: the romantic element of this story - which is intended to be the driving force - is the most lackluster and unbelievable courtship I've ever read. And I've read some trash. Apart from being "fated" to come together, I really don't get what these two see in one another. They're interesting enough in their own right. I just don't get any sense of their actually enjoying being together. They are thrown together and seem to dislike one another at first. I was all for that. I love a slow burn. But then, next thing I know they're head over heels with little explanation as to why!! It all felt so very forced! Once I suspended my disbelief in their relationship enough to just accept that the author insisted on these two characters being together, I did come to rather enjoy the novel. Turns out I am willing to believe all manner of outrageous fantasy, but a boring relationship I just can not abide.
Now for the cons: the romantic element of this story - which is intended to be the driving force - is the most lackluster and unbelievable courtship I've ever read. And I've read some trash. Apart from being "fated" to come together, I really don't get what these two see in one another. They're interesting enough in their own right. I just don't get any sense of their actually enjoying being together. They are thrown together and seem to dislike one another at first. I was all for that. I love a slow burn. But then, next thing I know they're head over heels with little explanation as to why!! It all felt so very forced! Once I suspended my disbelief in their relationship enough to just accept that the author insisted on these two characters being together, I did come to rather enjoy the novel. Turns out I am willing to believe all manner of outrageous fantasy, but a boring relationship I just can not abide.