A Discovery of Witches

Very firmly in the did not like. I did finish it, but I grumbled and complained throughout. The other reviewers did a great job at highlighting the very toxic items. It's also a very long book with little payoff. I'm glad I got it from the library instead of buying it.

This book appeared as very often in my Goodreads suggestions and, against my instinct, I gave in and bought it for the kindle.

The book is well written, and the story was interesting enough for me to have read it until the end. However, I am not the biggest fan of this type of fantasy, and I don't plan on reading the remaining books of the series.

I recommend this book for anyone who likes fantasy with witches, vampires, and time travel.

I knew sexy twilight existed but I didn't know pretentious twilight existed until now lol.

Okay, good escapist fun. Yes it is a bit slow paced but the world building is what held me in the story. I did skip the more romantic bits but they were few and generally short.

Could have been brilliant but was SO. NOT. Did this book have an editor at all?? What kind of fantasy book reveals the existence of ghosts 90% of the way through in a way not at all relevant to the plot up until that point???? (Not a spoiler, just a fact - and evidence that it's terrible, because what kind of book has a reveal like that so close to the end without it being significant in any way to the events up until that point?!)

Deus ex machina after deus ex machina left me frustrated and exhausted. 2 stars for the concept and the descriptive work at the beginning, but zero stars for the characters, the romance or anything past page 150 for that matter.

Diana, a witch who avoids using magic, is studying alchemical history when she finds an old book covered in magic; she returns the book to the library archives, but witches, vampires, and demons are all hunting it, some bringing danger for Diana, and others. Especially ancient vampire Matthew. Who wants to know what is in the book as much as he wants to know Diana which in turn makes for a good story. Romance, supernatural, science, and history combined in an adventure story that makes the 600 pages just race by. I loved the relationship between Diana and Matthew and look forward to what happens next. I have started the show and prefer Mathew in the book versus the way he is portrayed in the show. The book is not a traditional romance but rather feels the story marries the supernatural and scientific as the story is based on Matthew's investigation of the scientific origins and perhaps extinction of the supernatural “species”. All the scientific investigations are combined with Diana's interest in history so this is really a book that requires lots of thoughtfulness and time. – and there is a lot of adventure as well. While I love the main characters, I will say that the supporting cast of characters is well done and well developed with lots of depth for example I love Mathews Mom and Diana's aunts. I know that the whole vampire, witch, demon thing has been done, done, and overdone throughout the years.... however, it is the strong characters and premise around the book that make this series for me. I cannot make the comparison like some readers that this is Harry Potter and Twilight I just do not see it at all. I love the setting and, the plot keeps you turning pages. This is day two of my snow day and, I have finished seven books and, the second in this series is being listened to as I write this. I am pleasantly surprised and slightly addicted to the story and writing style.

This book has a good premise, but the execution is not so great.

Diana Bishop is the daughter of two witches who were murdered when she was a child. Because of this she believes magic invites trouble, so she doesn't (or tries not to) use her own powers. Instead she becomes a historian of science, earns a PhD, and gets tenure at Yale. The story begins when she's at Oxford's Bodleian Library, looking at alchemical manuscripts. One of the texts she requests turns out to be bewitched. She hastily returns it to the stacks, but not before every “creature” (vampire, witch, or demon) in the vicinity notices that she has managed to call up a very important book that was supposed to have been lost for at least 150 years. Among these creatures is Matthew Clairmont, a 1500 year old vampire originally from France, now working as a professor of biochemistry at Oxford. He pays Diana a visit to find out what she knows...and the romance begins.

In many ways this is a straight up romance novel, with many romance novel tropes: independent, strong willed woman meets brooding, controlling man; forbidden love; independent, strong willed woman somehow needs rescuing all the time, to name a few. But it also wants to be a bit of an intellectual adventure. Matthew Clairmont is investigating the decline of creatures in modern times, so there's a lot of detail (I'm not competent to judge how accurate) about DNA research, tracing relationships between vampires, witches, and demons, and speculation about each species' origins. The lost alchemical manuscript is thought to shed light on these questions, which is why everyone is so eager to get their hands on it.

Then there is the question of why Diana doesn't seem to have the powers that her very powerful parents had. When she does try to use magic, it usually doesn't work very well, or she doesn't have control over it. Other witches are curious about her or suspicious of her, while she is exasperatedly trying to have a “normal” life. It becomes clear that she will need to look more deeply into what happened to her parents in order to understand her current situation, so this is also a bit of a coming of age story.

All of this is really appealing to me, but I wish it was put together better. Matthew and Diana are well rounded enough, but many of the secondary characters are flimsy. They pop up when M and D need someone to interact with, but they don't seem real in themselves. Sarah Bishop, the aunt that raised Diana after her parents were killed, is a lesbian, red haired and combative–that's about all we get. Other important characters get similar perfunctory treatment. There are many details and whole scenes which don't seem to further the story that I wish had been edited out. The overall effect is a jumble of undifferentiated blah-ness from which occasional scenes stand out as moving or interesting.

I will say that I liked the premise of the story well enough that I read the next two books in the trilogy hoping that the writing would get better. It didn't get much better, but I did confirm that I really liked the idea of this story. I won't be reviewing the other two books.

The first half plus of this book I would say is 5 stars. I gave it 4 because it becomes a bit Twilight-esque towards the end.

So slow to start with. I didn't even start enjoying this book until page 53. Even after that it took almost half the book to warm up.

The romance between Diana and Matthew was not convincing. While I was enjoying the story and characters by the end, the entire first part of their story just seemed off.

I also couldn't stand how dominating, controlling, and often violent Matthew was. It gave me serious domestic violence vibes. Luckily by the end of the story he had softened a bit or I might not have kept reading.

I stoped reading when I realized it was a supernatural romance. Wasn't what I was in the mood for.

****** 5 Stars ... and a crescent moon ********
It put me out of my good-books-drought.

Diana Bishop comes from a powerful family of witches but refuses to use her power. Witches have a way of weaving their power into every aspect of their lives, and she wants to earn her recognition for alchemic research without any magical influence. Then Ashmole 782 ends up in her research stack. When she touches the book, Diana recognizes it for what it is, a magically sealed manuscript. After a quick look through, she decides to return the book and never look back. Unfortunately, every witch, daemon, and vampire nearby knows Ashmole 782 has been found and wants it. Among those interested is Matthew Clairmont, a 500-year-old vampire who not only takes an interest in the manuscript but in Diana as well.

The scholarly atmosphere surrounding this first book was foreign to me and I have to admit I wasn't impressed. Reading about a character studying and researching alchemy should have been more interesting than it was. While I admit I would love to spend most of my days in a library, reading about a character doing just that isn't exciting. The amount of time Diana spends in the library baffles me as literally, nothing happens in it. Different creatures swarm her and at times threaten her, but we didn't need chapter upon chapter of this. Even the discovery of Ashmole 782 fell flat as again, she did nothing with it. The sad part is the most exciting thing Diana does is exercise and accidentally spark her fingers.

The amount of time Diana and Matthew spend drinking and describing different wines could have been totally cut out too. I understand the whole courtship thing, going on dates and fine dining, but I don't need to know what three different wines taste like and smell like in great detail all in one date. I'm also not a reader who enjoys the instant infatuation romances, unfortunately, this novel fell into that troupe.

I also suppose someone who enjoys history would like this book far more than I did. Every building Diana encounters seems to need a historical overview, including letting the reader know where modifications were made on top of the original work. The history of minor characters is also detailed, adding in the historical aspect as the vampires were from different time periods. Again, not my cup of tea.

The subplots were also pretty buried and didn't have enough detail in them. Diana's tragic past didn't even hit me with emotion, let alone the genetic discoveries Matthew made. The science behind DNA research made me cringe. I know nothing about genetics, don't go into detail on it. How many readers are actually going to have enough knowledge to understand it all?

Not a series I will be continuing. There was no action, no mystery and hardly any magic. This novel was just a slow boring story that never really seemed to go anywhere.

DNF at 72%. It started out so good. The first half was pretty great. But after about 55%, I had to force myself to read it. And eventually I just couldn't force it anymore. It was just insufferable.

This book has EVERYTHING. Which is maybe...too many things? Still..a mostly enjoyable trip.

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-122-a-discovery-of-witches/

Wow... I both loved and hated this book!

SPOILERS BELOW - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!



So, positives first. I loved the historical and scientific side to this book, its well written and interesting plus its an original take on ‘Creatures' and there origins. The origins side of the story really pulled me in, we all like to know where we come from and I would have loved to see more of that side.

Negatives, the co-dependent style romance ruined the story for me. Here we have Diana... a witch from a long line of witches who shuns all things witchy for no good reason (granted its explored and explained as the story goes on), when her powers start to develop and its made obvious she could be VERY powerful her every waking minute is spent thinking about Mathew to the point where she literately starts a flood by CRYING when he has to leave her. I'm all for a romance story line, but what could have been a great book (and series) was (in my opinion) ruined by the heavy romance. The vampire watches her sleep through the window and somehow that doesn't tell you he is a weird one!?

I dont get it. Whilst I would like to see how this story closes I dont think I have it in me to read any more about how Mathew smells of cinnamon. Not for me.

Three stars and those three are all for the scientific/historical elements.

The fact that it took me a month to read this book really says it all.

Little bit spoilery! But just slightly. No major spoilers, I promise!

I'm not really used to adult fantasy. But, this book surprised me in a good way!

I started watching the tv show thinking: ‘oh yeah, the book. I'd love to read it once, but I don't think I'll be able too.'
So, I started watching the tv show and I fell in love with Matthew and Diana. The world looked awesome and the story was so cool, so I started reading the book when I was on episode 7 ( yeah I might have binged it). I didn't want to spoil myself so I held off on watching the finale, but oh well I failed.

The book was a little bit slow at the beginning. I read 30 pages and I was like ‘what the hell did I just read?' But I picked it up shortly after new year and I continued. That was the moment that I knew I just found a new favorite book.

Diana and Matthew are goals. The relationship had some toxic elements, but pretty much all relationships have that. Not to forget that Diana and Matthew are not of the same species. Matthew is like that hot vampire boyfriend you just want to have, and Diana is that awesome witch you want to have as your friend. I was annoyed by Diana a few times, but that disappeared when I got to the backstory. Everything made much much more sense.

The other characters stole my heart. I absolutely loved Sarah and Em and Marcus and Miriam where so cool.

The villains in the story had a good and solid background, so that made their story even better.

I'm so ready for the second book, I just want to continue on with these characters and the world!

I loved the beginning
The mididle was a bit... irritating. A bit too much marysue. A bit too much romance tropes.
The end was lovely.

I'm not going to lie. I went from loving this book to hating this book pretty frequently. It started off with much of the content being over my head. Which actually made me really get into it since I love learning new things. I immediately liked the narrator and even liked the chapters that bounced to other characters' points of view. What I had the most issue with was how Diana seemed to go from being this strong woman to timid and love-stricken.

After I was finished with this book I realized I could hardly put it down. Even during the parts that made me roll my eyes. I also feel as though the points of the book that made me start to hate it were redeemed later. Looking back on it I realized that I completely loved it. The fact that I hated certain parts made me almost love it more because it made me need to keep going. Once I was finished I immediately had a need to read the next book in the series. And as far as I'm concerned that is what reading a good book is all about.

For those looking for some fantasy, history, love, and mystery I definitely recommend.


UPDATE from reread Jan. 2022: The above review still holds pretty true. However, since then, I have watched the tv series (about 3 times). And I must say I think I like the tv series better (I know, I know-that never happens). This book just has A LOT of unnecessary information, dialogue, and subplots. I get it for the world-building, but now that I am more familiar with the story I don't think it was necessary. I'm excited to read the next two books to see if my opinions have changed for those.

I was so excited when I found this at a bookstore - a book about magic with adult main characters! At All Souls! I've been to All Souls!

It turns out that I'm too old for this book. I bet I would have liked this as a teenager.... but maybe not post-#MeToo. It's just not at all fun to read about a man bossing around his girlfriend. We need a new vampire romance trope where the vampire men rate a cut above human men because they know how shitty toxic masculinity is since they've been living for thousands of years.

The characters don't feel like adults at all, sadly. I used to wonder if I would ever outgrow YA; not that I think that's something that should happen! But I've definitely outgrown this type of YA.

The beginning was slow but then it got good then REALLY good. It's been a long time that I read a book that took longer than a day to read and kept me engaged the entire time.
I loved it ❤️

Strangely uneven, with a couple of small continuity errors. Also, there's the feminism thing I noted: Diana is always being hovered over or scooped up in someone's arms or watched over or protected or ordered about...
It's five stars in some places, for I love a historical mystery, set at a prestigious university for bonus points! But then it's three or even two stars in some places, for the above strange misogyny and the peculiar coy attitude towards sex.
Will I read the sequel? Yeah, probably. Eventually.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fantasy novel by Deborah Harkness. Her character developmeant was good, and the historical and romantic elements of the book felt strong and connected rather than an afterthought. Like many good books I hear it's going to become a movie or tv series, hopefully Hollywood can do it justice.

I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to read the second. I could not put it down and I could not wait to see how it ended.

I enjoyed the book and will pick up the next in the series. The story and writing style reminded me of works by [a:Nora Roberts 625 Nora Roberts https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1505847251p2/625.jpg], so if you like her you will likely enjoy A Discovery of Witches.

Let me be clear, the only reason I picked this book up is that the TV adaptation of this stars Alex Kingston, and I LOVE Alex Kingston.

Diana Bishop is a witch who has rejected her witchy powers after the death of her parents under mysterious circumstances. She is a scholar and a science historian - and let me tell you, I completely love that the lead is a science historian. She is working at the Bodleian Library when she comes across a mysterious manuscript from the Ashmole collection called Ashmole 782. This long-lost manuscript is somehow enchanted and, for the first time in several centuries it has resurfaced and that too, to an untrained witch who has given up on her powers.

Now, the Bodleian is teeming with other supernatural beings - Daemons and Vampires. One Vampire, in particular, Matthew Clairmont, seems to be stalking her and is obsessed with her. Matthew, as it turns out, is actually a geneticist who has been working on the history of these supernatural beings, and that is why he, too, is interested in the Ashmole 782 because it is supposed to hold the answers to their origins.

As is the tradition of other witch-vampire books, Diana takes an instant dislike to Matthew and his ways, but then she eventually falls in love with him and there begins the romance, which is pretty rushed, in my opinion. For one, I completely hate the way their relationship evolves and the way he patronises her, and how he commands her to do things, though she doesn't listen to him that frequently. It is always put down to the way vampires usually are; that they are incredibly protective of their women, or the people they love, but to the extent that they expect the women to be very submissive. You have no idea how much I was cringing during some of the scenes, especially SPOILER their wedding, where it happens without HER CONSENT! I get it, vampires are ancient beings, but going along with these old, outdated traditions seem really stupid. The characterisation of the vampires could've been so much better, but we can't have everything, now can we?

The universe that Harkness creates, otherwise, is really really good! I like that she weaves in actual alchemical texts and helps to ground the fantastical elements in reality. It's a really well thought out and immersive universe. Her prose is wonderful, though sometimes it did get a tad annoying and exhausting with certain descriptions and explanations. That being said, I do love the way she talks about history - romantic with a heavy helping of academic, and her love for her field, really does come through in her books.

I adore Diana as a lead character, as stubborn and annoying she can be, that somehow makes her more real and that's what endears me to her. Ysabeau, on the other hand, Matthew's mother was such an interesting and amazing character, and the way her relationship with Diana develops over the course of the novel is such a treat. Their interaction towards the end is beautiful and touching, and I need more of that in the future books. I really hope it is there in the next two books.

All that said, I really did like this book and I'm waiting to read the next book. I'm glad that the series is over so that I can just binge-read it without any waiting. Though I am waiting for a while till I get to the next one, and that sounds like it'll be fun, because SPOILER it's a time travel adventure, and I'm a sucker for time travel romps.