The Black Bird Oracle
Ratings20
Average rating4.2
... I read this for the book of the month for the book club and I actually disliked this book.
It was extremely boring. Like... I it was so boring that I was falling asleep during the reading sprints.
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So this was a little bit of a disappointment. There's an AWFUL lot of Diana in this book, and almost almost no de Clermonts. The vampires are and have always been my favorite part of this world, so the lack of them is really felt for me. I'm going to say this is hitting at a 3.5ish stars. I still adore the characters and the world, but there just wasn't enough SUBSTANCE here. We do get a whole helluva lot of world-building, though, and a lot more information about witches. Which is good! We didn't know a whole lot about how magic works, and we certainly didn't know a lot about Diana's family. But again....not a WHOLE lot happens other than some serious character development.
The Black Bird Oracle is pretty definitively a part one to what will hopefully at least another book. It's a lot of set up for something that just isn't in this book. Unless I'm very much mistaken, it seems Harkness is setting up another series here in the All Souls world. (I do hope we'll get Gallowglass's book sooner rather than later, though, as he's my favorite.) ALSO, I do hope we'll see more from daemons at some point. They are extremely neglected in this world – I want to know more about them!
ANYWAY, the gist of the story is that Diana's family on her father's side finally makes an appearance in her life. They want to help train her in higher magics, and they want to be part of her life....finally. I didn't really understand why they waited so long to introduce themselves, but whatever. Magic, y'all. It seems there's a big, huge secret somewhere in Diana's family and we don't find out what it is in this book. LAME, but its a good set up for a few books.
Diana and Matthew's children, Becca and Philip are both huge characters in this book, which was entertaining. Learning more about them and what their strengths are was definitely fascinating.
So despite not hugely liking this one, I'll still pick up the next. I love this world, and these characters. I'll just hope the next one has more going on.
A good addition to the World of All Soul's and I'm excited for the rest of the trilogy. Although a lot happened in this book, it felt like not much happened at all until the very end. More witchy and less academia for this series so I do enjoy that.
Unfortunately, some of the characters that I loved from the original seriesfelt kind of annoying in this one (Sarah and Stephen and sometimes Matthew). Hopefully that changes as the story developes but it was something that I noticed while reading. Diana also made some questionable choices that I didn't really understand given her character growth previously.
Overall, I enjoyed this and it got me in the mood for some witchery. It really made me want to create my own oracle deck which if you read this you'll understand what I mean.
This was worth waiting for! I fell in love with A Discovery of Witches when I first read it on a random read from the library when it first came out years ago and have since been reading the subsequent books with having liked them just fine but this last one was more enjoyable to me because I love more of a witchy type of tale and found family. I thought this was going to be focusing on the children but Diana herself discovers new things deep within herself.
More magic and more secrets.
It's a delight being back in this universe. New discoveries (big and small), familiar faces, and significantly more magic. The vibes of this one made me wish it was already fall. Spooky and mysterious plots set in a community Diana hasn't fully experienced but where she clearly belongs.
This one feels different than the first three. I flew through it but I wasn't obsessed. The stakes seemed a little lower to me and there's a heavier focus on discovery and learning. The driving force of the plot comes from uncovering secrets instead of outright danger. The vampires are more of background/set dressing than key components of the plot, but in return you get a lot more knowledge about different branches of magic and covens. It felt like it ended a bit abruptly and definitely did some heavy lifting for future plot points.
Despite that I loved it. It does a good job giving you a refresher on relevant plot points from the first few books, although there were a few references I didn't remember and I just did a complete reread. I'm surprised at the direction some of the character development took. The romance is not the focus in this one, you get a bit, but this is truly about Diana's journey learning more about herself as a witch and as a member of the Proctor family.
There's clearly more to come and I'm looking forward to it.
Format note: I had access to both the ebook and a hard copy and would definitely recommend a hard copy. There are small drawings throughout that are whimsically nestled into the text in the hard copy, but appear in an awkward amount of blank space in the ebook. Not a deal breaker but the hard copy formatting is a delight.
It was so worth the wait! Deb always delivers when it comes to all souls!
We find Diana and Matthew living their beautiful life together with their twins Philip and Rebecca (Becca and Pip).
Diana receives a tarot card from the Proctors, a family she thought were all dead.... In finding out her family is still alive and a car ride away, Diana returns home and learns some uncomfortable truths about the lies her family told and a life path she didn't know she had a choice to follow.
OMG I already need book 6. The book is beautifully written and filled in a lot of answers that have been building in the series but it also covers a lot of uncomfortable topics.
My only con is the lack of Gallowglass. I understand why he is missing but I need him in the next book.
5 stars! No regrets for pre-ordering both the audio and the hardcover haha