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larebear 's review for:
The Book of Life
by Deborah Harkness
This review was originally posted on Book Disaster where you can check out more of my reviews.
I received an ARC of this book at ALA ’14.
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness is the last in the All Souls Trilogy and picks up where the last book left off. Diana and Matthew are back in the present and Diana is pregnant with twins. The gang is all back together again, minus Emily, who died while Diana and Matthew were in the past. This conclusion continues with Diana and Matthew looking for Ashmore 782 and it’s missing pages; their forbidden relationship; going against the Congregation; finding Matthew’s son Benjamin; the pregnancy and birth of the twins; and more.
Review hidden because of spoilers.
While I did like this book in the end, I did not like it as much as the other two novels. My big problem was how much of the story was focused on Diana’s pregnancy. I felt like it wasn’t that important to take up that much of the novel. Once the twins were born, I felt like the characters went back to their badassness.
I was pleased that The Book of Life followed the first two in that it changed locations more than once. This is important in a story like this where witches, demons, and vampires live everywhere, not just a single town. One can also see how different the characters are depending on their location and upbringing.
All the fight scenes and the looking/finding of the book of life were done very well. There was no glossing over during the fights and there were casualties on the good side too, so they didn’t seem like they were invincible. It wasn’t easy for Diana to search for the book and the missing pages, it spanned a large portion of the book and many geographical locations.
Diana and Matthew remain the main characters in this novel like they did the first too. I liked Diana’s hair change when she travels through time, but again, until the end half of I didn’t like her as much. Matthew was much of the same as he was in the other books, so no change in my opinion on liking him.
GALLOWGLASS (and Jack) IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER AND NO ONE CAN CHANGE MY MIND! He really is. I like that his this big guy who cares a ton for his family and is willing to step to the sidelines if it makes the people he cares about happy. His role wasn’t as big in this book as it was in the second, but I loved his parts. I wish he had found someone though.
I was ecstatic when Jack came into the story. I felt he was a vital part to Diana and Matthew’s family together. He really was their first child, even though he wasn’t born to them or made a vampire by them. His life was nothing before them and he spent years looking for them. Bringing him back also gave a deeper look into blood rage.
Every other character (except Emily and adding Pheobe) was back and it was nice getting to see them all come together and work to be a family. Everyone had their small part in bringing the family together and working through everything else that was thrown their way.
While I had a slow go through the first half of the book, it did pick up after Diana has the twins. The one thing that really disappointed me was that there was not more information about the actual book of life, which is where the book gets it’s title. So, the question is, are we going to get more information on the book of life or was that it?
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness is a decent ending to the thrilling All Souls Trilogy. It has everything between witches, vampires, demons, humans, physical fights and verbal arguments, studies into DNA, and tales of the past. This conclusion gets a 4/5 from me and I’ll be looking out for more from Harkness.
I received an ARC of this book at ALA ’14.
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness is the last in the All Souls Trilogy and picks up where the last book left off. Diana and Matthew are back in the present and Diana is pregnant with twins. The gang is all back together again, minus Emily, who died while Diana and Matthew were in the past. This conclusion continues with Diana and Matthew looking for Ashmore 782 and it’s missing pages; their forbidden relationship; going against the Congregation; finding Matthew’s son Benjamin; the pregnancy and birth of the twins; and more.
Review hidden because of spoilers.
Spoiler
First, like always, the cover, which I am in love with. I don’t usually dislike covers, but I really like this one because it has no people on the cover and has many images that tie into the novel. It matches the other covers in the series and the single cover doesn’t make it feel like there is too much going on.While I did like this book in the end, I did not like it as much as the other two novels. My big problem was how much of the story was focused on Diana’s pregnancy. I felt like it wasn’t that important to take up that much of the novel. Once the twins were born, I felt like the characters went back to their badassness.
I was pleased that The Book of Life followed the first two in that it changed locations more than once. This is important in a story like this where witches, demons, and vampires live everywhere, not just a single town. One can also see how different the characters are depending on their location and upbringing.
All the fight scenes and the looking/finding of the book of life were done very well. There was no glossing over during the fights and there were casualties on the good side too, so they didn’t seem like they were invincible. It wasn’t easy for Diana to search for the book and the missing pages, it spanned a large portion of the book and many geographical locations.
Diana and Matthew remain the main characters in this novel like they did the first too. I liked Diana’s hair change when she travels through time, but again, until the end half of I didn’t like her as much. Matthew was much of the same as he was in the other books, so no change in my opinion on liking him.
GALLOWGLASS (and Jack) IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER AND NO ONE CAN CHANGE MY MIND! He really is. I like that his this big guy who cares a ton for his family and is willing to step to the sidelines if it makes the people he cares about happy. His role wasn’t as big in this book as it was in the second, but I loved his parts. I wish he had found someone though.
I was ecstatic when Jack came into the story. I felt he was a vital part to Diana and Matthew’s family together. He really was their first child, even though he wasn’t born to them or made a vampire by them. His life was nothing before them and he spent years looking for them. Bringing him back also gave a deeper look into blood rage.
Every other character (except Emily and adding Pheobe) was back and it was nice getting to see them all come together and work to be a family. Everyone had their small part in bringing the family together and working through everything else that was thrown their way.
While I had a slow go through the first half of the book, it did pick up after Diana has the twins. The one thing that really disappointed me was that there was not more information about the actual book of life, which is where the book gets it’s title. So, the question is, are we going to get more information on the book of life or was that it?
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness is a decent ending to the thrilling All Souls Trilogy. It has everything between witches, vampires, demons, humans, physical fights and verbal arguments, studies into DNA, and tales of the past. This conclusion gets a 4/5 from me and I’ll be looking out for more from Harkness.