Book Title: A Discovery of Witches
Author: Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy #1
Date Started: May 3rd 2013
Date Completed: May 6th 2013
Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Mystery, Adventure, Thriller
Rating: Five stars
Review:
I liked this book. I loved this book through to around 500 pages and then I loved it again at the end. But it turned a little bit too typical for about 100 pages, but I still really enjoyed it and it's the best romance novel I've ever read (as in books based around a romance plot, which (if you read my reviews) you know isn't really my sort of thing).
A Discovery of Witches begins in Oxford, following the story of Diana Bishop - a witch who avoids using her gifts since her parents were murdered years before. Diana is a historian and spends the majority of her time inspecting old manuscripts for lectures she can give her students later in the term. But when Diana breaks the magical seal on a manuscript that's been lost for decades by accident, she starts to find herself stalked by all kinds of creatures from the magical world - other witches, vampires and daemons. When events start circling her, Diana is forced to put her trust in a creature she has been warned about her entire life.
I loved the writing. It's a bit harder than the usual books I read, probably because the novel is aimed more strongly at adults than my age. But it wasn't hard enough to deter me from finishing the book. I really loved all the descriptions and the imagery created with such little information was staggering.
I really admire Harkness for including panic attacks in Diana's character, since it's something that I feel is quite hard to understand and empathise with if you don't suffer from them yourself. But they were brilliantly described in here, and she didn't leave out the after effects too. (Which leads me to suspect the author suffers from them?) I also thought it worked with the story - rather than putting it in there because she could.
I approve of the pacing for the book. We jump literally straight into the plot, even though there may not be much action for a while. A friend told me this book took a while to get into, and I understand her reasoning, but actually I enjoyed it right from the start. Even though there wasn't anything big going on, I really enjoyed the smaller parts and the realism.
I love the characters. It scared me a little bit how similar I was to Diana (I look like her, I think like her, we have the same interests, do the same hobbies, have the same conditions etc (although admittedly, my parents weren't murdered in Nigeria when I was 7, but you get my point)) but I found that actually aided the story because I was able to relate to the protagonist more.
Matthew's cool. To be honest, I've read better male-interests, but there's nothing wrong with him and his chemistry with Diana was good.
But Marcus - oh Marcus. Marcus is awesome, perfect, amazing, brilliant. Marcus is by far my favourite character. I suppose he would be the geeky one in the love triangle if this was a typical love story - but thankfully it's not because that would be really weird (if you've read the book you'll understand).
The detail of the history of magic and everything else was astounding. You can tell the author sat down for a good long while and considered how everything was going to work out and how everything came to be. And that is a hard thing to do - I know from experience. I initially wasn't going to include this paragraph, but I feel that actually it deserves to be said.
The plot line was interesting and, for the most part, original. I was slightly disappointed after having read around 500 pages to get to a part that was so like Twilight, I was frankly surprised it wasn't based off that series. When I first started reading this book, I called it Twilight for adults. I had no idea how right I was. Luckily, it picked up again by the end again and I was left really liking it.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes romance, and also fantasy. You may find it takes a while to get into, but I liked it right from the start (although the first chapter is a bit hard going). This is the biggest book I've read this year and it took me about three days - that's how much I liked it. Definitely check it out.
I liked this book. I loved this book through to around 500 pages and then I loved it again at the end. But it turned a little bit too typical for about 100 pages, but I still really enjoyed it and it's the best romance novel I've ever read (as in books based around a romance plot, which (if you read my reviews) you know isn't really my sort of thing).
A Discovery of Witches begins in Oxford, following the story of Diana Bishop - a witch who avoids using her gifts since her parents were murdered years before. Diana is a historian and spends the majority of her time inspecting old manuscripts for lectures she can give her students later in the term. But when Diana breaks the magical seal on a manuscript that's been lost for decades by accident, she starts to find herself stalked by all kinds of creatures from the magical world - other witches, vampires and daemons. When events start circling her, Diana is forced to put her trust in a creature she has been warned about her entire life.
I loved the writing. It's a bit harder than the usual books I read, probably because the novel is aimed more strongly at adults than my age. But it wasn't hard enough to deter me from finishing the book. I really loved all the descriptions and the imagery created with such little information was staggering.
I really admire Harkness for including panic attacks in Diana's character, since it's something that I feel is quite hard to understand and empathise with if you don't suffer from them yourself. But they were brilliantly described in here, and she didn't leave out the after effects too. (Which leads me to suspect the author suffers from them?) I also thought it worked with the story - rather than putting it in there because she could.
I approve of the pacing for the book. We jump literally straight into the plot, even though there may not be much action for a while. A friend told me this book took a while to get into, and I understand her reasoning, but actually I enjoyed it right from the start. Even though there wasn't anything big going on, I really enjoyed the smaller parts and the realism.
I love the characters. It scared me a little bit how similar I was to Diana (I look like her, I think like her, we have the same interests, do the same hobbies, have the same conditions etc (although admittedly, my parents weren't murdered in Nigeria when I was 7, but you get my point)) but I found that actually aided the story because I was able to relate to the protagonist more.
Matthew's cool. To be honest, I've read better male-interests, but there's nothing wrong with him and his chemistry with Diana was good.
But Marcus - oh Marcus. Marcus is awesome, perfect, amazing, brilliant. Marcus is by far my favourite character. I suppose he would be the geeky one in the love triangle if this was a typical love story - but thankfully it's not because that would be really weird (if you've read the book you'll understand).
The detail of the history of magic and everything else was astounding. You can tell the author sat down for a good long while and considered how everything was going to work out and how everything came to be. And that is a hard thing to do - I know from experience. I initially wasn't going to include this paragraph, but I feel that actually it deserves to be said.
The plot line was interesting and, for the most part, original. I was slightly disappointed after having read around 500 pages to get to a part that was so like Twilight, I was frankly surprised it wasn't based off that series. When I first started reading this book, I called it Twilight for adults. I had no idea how right I was. Luckily, it picked up again by the end again and I was left really liking it.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes romance, and also fantasy. You may find it takes a while to get into, but I liked it right from the start (although the first chapter is a bit hard going). This is the biggest book I've read this year and it took me about three days - that's how much I liked it. Definitely check it out.
Image Source: http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/320x480/d_f/
Discovery_Of_Witches_gl_30s_320x480.jpg
Discovery_Of_Witches_gl_30s_320x480.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment