"It begins with absence and desire,
It begins with blood and fear,
It begins with a discovery of witches, "
This trilogy is like no other paranormal book Ive ever read, The world is huge and the author not only takes us around the world but also tells us about its history through the Book of Life.
The protagonist of the story has distanced herself from her magic and any other supernatural concept in the world after she lost her parents as a child.
The protagonists lack of knowledge allows the reader to learn everything about this mystical world gradually and I loved that facts about the world werent just dropped here and there randomly in an attempt to make the reader understand whats going on.
The protagonist, Diana Bishop, is one of the Bishop witches, a very well known family of witches, But ever since she was a child Diana could never cast a proper spell and her powers never seemed to have truly manifested.
Since her parents death Diana has made it a point to live a human life with the barest hint of magic in it.
She is a history professor, a scholar, who has won quite a few awards, and is now dabbling in alchemy,
One day, Diana Bishop calls a magic book, Ashmole, from the Bodleian library, not knowing its significance, In a futile attempt to avoid the magical world she sends the book back, but she doesnt realise that the second the book opened for her there was no turning back.
The book, Ashmole, also known as the Book of Origins is coveted by allmagical and supernatural species, Witches, vampires, and daemons have all lived lives separate from each other unbeknownst to humans who live in blissful ignorance, Whenever two or more of their kind are around humans they tend to draw attention but human disbelief covers it up, Once the book of life was called witches, vampires, and daemons are following Diana to figure out how she called on a book no one has seen for centuries and each of them want to make it their own with a desperate need to make it to the top of the food chain.
And as always we have the cliche paranormal forbidden romance, but I enjoyed it all the same, I feel like at this point there is so much literature out in the world that no matter what you write it will end up being at least slightly cliche in reference to something else.
Anyways, in this book Diana meets Matthew de Clairmont one of the most powerful vampires alive or should I say dead after she finds Ashmole.
Matthew, like the others, wants to know the contents of the book of life, but not to destroy another species but to find out how to protect them all from extinction as they seem to be getting weaker by every generation.
Putting aside the, again cliche, vampire possessiveness, Matthew is a pretty great guy, easy on the eyes, and his character mixes with dianas very well.
Im writing this review after reading all three books, dont worry there are no
spoilers, and can confidently say that every single character introduced throughout the trilogy plays off of the other characters amazingly and they each have a role of their own.
Even the humans introduced in this books and later play a great role in the overall plot, I loved that even though it is a paranormal series the author ignore the human, and technological, aspect of the world and incorporated it in the perfect way.
The de Clermont family hierarchy s fascinating and just gets more interesting and complex through the series, The characteristics of vampire and their habits is explained well and slightly hilarious as the protagonist knows about as much as we do.
There is one sentence in the third book that really cracked me up, If you dont want to know Im putting it under spoilers below this sentence,
I well aware that Im reviewing the first book but I must say the third book is my favorite among the three but I figured I might as well provide some incentive to start and/or end this series if youre not one of the hundred thousand people who have read it.
The first book acts a great introduction to a huge plot behind the scenes and is concluded fabulously in the third book.
The characters each have unique personalities and draw out different sides in each other, The story is put down very well and I had a great time making my way through it despite all the new releases vying for my attention.
For any of you havent read this book yet, vampires dont sparkle, witches dont boil babies, and daemons are not demons or the daemons from Phillip Pullmans His dark Materials.
If youre planning on reading this book, I hope you have a great time, First of all, I thought this book was fantastic and I CANNOT wait for the second in the series because the ending of the book, I won't give details, has you CONSTANTLY WONDERING and yearning for more.
Though it doesn't beat the Harry Potter series and nothing ever will, it sure is up there in the running with my favorites.
Have I found a new series after Potter Well, I won't get too carried away, but this book is one of my favorites.
I have only two complaints about this book,
My first complaint is that the beginning/midmiddle was slow, until Matthew came into play, and during select amounts of scientific detail.
The more the book went on, the better it got, and the more I couldn't stop reading, I felt like I was in a rut during the middle, but that one thing happened and I kept on trucking, thankfully.
The second is the fact that Diana Bishop, having a P, h. D, seemed immature and naive during a couple parts of the book, But, I'm sure she will grow as a person throughout the next two books, These complaints are STRICTLY my opinion,
I have read many reviews regarding this book and at some point they irritate me: many readers relate this book to the "Twilight Saga," however, that idea is wonky because the book deals with witches, demons and vampires with a history and past intertwining all of them together.
Yes, there are some points in the book where the romance seems a bit "Twilighty, " However, that was not the author's intention and I'm sure I just took it that way because I had read Twilight first the only vampire books I have ever read, and probably the only ones I'll EVER compare other vampire stories to.
Sad, I KNOW!.
If you've read Twilight, you may or may not compare the romance to it, but I feel that Diana and Matthew's relationship was far less awkward, more natural, and sweet.
I would NOT compare the actual idea and "being" of a Vampire, because Ms, Harkness does an EXCELLENT and far better job at describing a vampire and how they function, I wish Ms. Meyer would have taken some advice from our dear old Deborah,
Moving on from my soapbox, the book was fascinating, The author included so much historic detail that I, a fellow historian, also love and strive to learn about, Her explanations and enormous amounts of detail provided awesome imagery that really helped me read and cherish the book,
I loved it, the characters, and the complete storyline and until the next book, I will be hanging on by a thin thread.
Thanks for reading! : HOLY, FREAKING. CRAP. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just finished this book last night, and I was blown away by it, This is easily going to be the best book that I will read this year, and is going in my toplist of best fiction books of all time! Excellent fiction is not always easy to come by.
I don't mind mediocre reads from time to time, but it is SO GREAT to be totally stunned by an indescribably excellent book every once in awhile!
For one thing, this book is so wellwritten.
The author has a beautiful way with words, and her descriptions are eloquent and lovely, There was a seamless flow to this book that was exquisite, Nothing was choppy or out of place the rhythm, pacing, and phrases used flowed so effortlessly that I was never distracted by the writing or the language as sometimes happens in fiction.
Because of this, I was able to get completely lost in this world and boy was I! "Spellbound" is the only proper way to describe it.
Also, the characters were strong and interesting, Knowing that this is the first in what is supposed to be a trilogy, you get a good base understanding of the main and supporting characters with the full knowledge that a deeper relationship with them will come as the story continues to unfold.
I have read a few reviews that say the beginning of this book is boring I did not find it so.
I was instantly mesmerized and drawn in, I knew that the author was setting the stage for all that was to come, and while it may seem slow at first, you will be very grateful as you continue in the book.
Once I got into the "thick" of things, I was grateful to have waded through the beginning, as it gave me a strong foundation for all of the character developments and plot twists that arose throughout the story.
MY ONLY COMPLAINT: Now I have to wait for the next book! However will I do that!! I tend to get very emotionally involved with books and characters that I love I already miss spending time with these characters and I am desperate to continue living in their magical world! Dear Ms.
Harkness, I am under your spell, please put me out of my misery and publish the next installment soon!!!!
June,UPDATE: Since I first read this book and posted the above review, I have read the booktimes.
I literally NEVER get tired of it!
September,UPDATE: Finished myth reread,
July,UPDATE: Finished myth reread,
November,UPDATE: Finished myth reread,
March,beginningth reread
July,finishedth reread
October,finishedth reread
September,: finishedth reread ed by: sitelinkRabid Reads
This book.
Have you ever liked something almost against your will Something that encompasses roughly half of the things you hate in reference to said thing Something that makes you scratch your head in wonder, b/c you cant figure out why on earth you arent terribly bothered by those detested things in this situation
Welcome to my life.
This book has:
, What can be construed as instalove, Matthew and Diana are drawn to each other from the moment they meet, BUT its so subtle that you arent sure thats what is happening.
And thats probably why it gets a pass,
I never really thought about it before this book forced me too, but its the things that instalove seems to be comprised of, rather than the instalove itself, that I take issue withfluttery eyelashes, wild proclamations of ardent, enduring but wholly untried love, and the accompanying false sense of urgency.
PUKE. Get a room, already. And preferably AFTER the inevitable danger has passed,
But none of those things are an issue here, By the time it becomes obvious that, yes, these two feel more for each other than trepidation and annoyance, enough time has elapsed to almost warrant the depth of emotion, and the rest can be chalked up to fate, animal instinct, mating imperative, etc.
. A super, special snowflake who denies her super, special snowflakeness, Not only is Diana the last in a powerful line of matriarchal witches, her father was a powerful warlock in his own right.
So powerful that a union between her mother and father was strongly discouraged by the powers that be, Mom and Dad said, “Screw you, hippies!” and Diana was the result, But when her parents were killed when Diana was seven, she assumes their deaths were the result of their abilities and refuses to have anything to do with magic.
B/c that always works out so well, sighs
But again, it gets a pass, Diana is being just as ridiculous as every MC who tries to ignore their gifts, but this time you cant help but be sympathetic.
Shes not being obstinate simply to be a pain in the arse, She understandably believes that nothing good can come from using magic, so shes not going to do it, And thats not the only reason it gets a pass, but I cant tell you the other one, Suffice it to say, theres a darn good reason Diana isnt using magic, and that reason is not even remotely her fault.
. Super, secret information withholding, And this is perhaps the one I have the hardest time with, I cannot stand it when someone in a position of authority, older, more experienced, etc, unilaterally decides who gets to know what, HATE it. ltIm audibly grinding my teeth right now,
But Matthew its kind of the same thing that happens when I read historical romance, Am I overly fond of a womans only option being to marry and marry well, have children, keep house NO, Im NOT. But thats the way things were, and getting mad about it isnt going to change anything, and besides, Dukes are HAWT,
So is Matthew, AND hes ayear old vampire, so he kind falls under that same umbrella, and really, he means well, I got frustrated with him a few times, but it was obvious that he was trying, and I imagine itd be pretty darn hard to attempt major behavior modifications to habitsyears in the making.
So yeah. Yet another pass.
The good news is that having talked it out, Im no longer banging my head against a wall, I now know why I like this book despite the major book peeves lurking around every corner, And besides those peeves getting passes, A Discovery of Witches is just entertaining, It might have taken me awhile to like Diana, but I instantly respected her, and I was as gone for Matthew as she was the moment he showed up.
In the LIBRARY. At OXFORD.
Lots of bookish fun in this book,
Alsowhile I have no complaints about the pacing in the frontof the book, the lastis just riveting, The second that Matthew and Diana show up at her childhood home, I could not put the book down, The house is sentient and highly opinionated, Its also full of the ghosts of Bishops past, also opinionated, A couple of new secondaries show up, one of which is absolutely darling, GAH. This book is awesome, just read it, Highly recommended. .