A Discovery of Witches All Souls Series #1 by Deborah Harkness
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Web ID: 15626059Could not put it DOWN !
Read this series long before the miniseries came out and I could not put it down ! The TV show did a pretty good job of following the books.
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A Discovery Of Witches
Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches offers a rich and immersive experience that goes beyond the Netflix adaptation. After watching the series, I found the book to be much more detailed, delving deeper into the characters and their motivations, even though some minor changes were made. The storyline remains largely intact, yet the added layers of complexity enhance the overall narrative. I particularly enjoyed the intriguing magic system Harkness has crafted, which adds a unique dimension to the story. Overall, this book is a captivating read that deepens the enchanting world introduced in the show.
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Full series review
I’ve decided to do a series review of A Discovery of Witches because these books are so thick but they don’t have enough differentiation from story to story in order to be reviewed separately. I don’t mean that as a detriment either, of course each book has its own story arc, but the overarching storyline flows so clearly from book to book, it’s no wonder they were made into a TV series. Now, I have to admit, I do think these books are LOOONG to the point I felt they could have benefited from some cuts, but in the end they are five stars. Diana and Matthew have got to be one of my favorite fantasy couples. Diana is such a strong, independent woman and Matthew is a classic alpha male, but Diana has no problem putting him in his place! Their almost enemies-to-lovers romance gives me the tingles and their epic love is world shattering. As for Time’s Convert, I know it’s meant to have been a spin-off, but Diana and Matthew really do not relinquish the spotlight all that easily. Time’s Convert brought to further attention the biggest flaw in the series: Diana’s stubbornness about magic. By book four, one would expect Diana to have grown into this aspect of her character after battling with it and then learning to harness and control it, but it’s as if she regresses in this book, and, honestly, after hundreds of pages of her hesitancy I was pretty over it. In the end, Marcus and Phoebe do get their chance at center stage and I loved learning about Marcus’ past and joining Phoebe on her baby-vampire journey! I recommend this series to all the readers out there looking for a fall read this spooky season!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Good
Been wanting to read this for a while now. Heard of the show. This was a really good read. From the different locations, the different characters and the two main characters, writing style and pacing. Can't wait to read the rest in the series.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Stake through the heart.
I made it up to about page 100 and then, that’s it, frisbee. What? This is a highly rated and very popular first book of a very popular series that’s even been made into a BBC show! So how in the heck can I not love it? In the same way I don’t love Nickelodeon; it’s too juvenile for me. Not that I didn’t love Nickelodeon when I was part of that demographic … actually, Nickelodeon was a little after my time … but when you become an adult it is time to put away childish things. And this novel is a childish thing. Diana Bishop is conducting research at the Bodleian Library in Oxford when she happens across an alchemical text from the 17th Century missing for the past 150 years. The moment she touches it, there is a spark and connection because Bishop is a witch, and this triggers some kind of supernatural notification because suddenly all the witches and vampires and demons in a five country area come a-running to the lIbrary to get aholt of this book, which Bishop blithely sends back into the stacks because, you know, when you’re a researcher and you happen to discover a critically important text that’s been missing for so long, you just send it back. Especially if you’re a witch. Oy. Witches and vampires and daemons, yep. Because they just are, you know? Like the witches? They’re cool and everything, and like the daemons, they’re like savants but really socially inept and humans are just sooo boring. But vampires, ooo, they’re sooo dangerous! You catch my drift. This is the juvenile technique of assuming tropes and norms alive and well within the teenager culture at the time so, therefore, there is no need to world build or create classes of existence and background. It’s just the way it is, a Harry Potter world. But why Harry Potter works and this doesn’t is that Harry Potter knows it’s a juvenile book series, while this one is trying to pass itself off as adult. Which it might be, at least what passes for adult these days. I have noted with growing bewilderment these past five years or so a growing infantilism among bestsellers that are released to great acclaim and renown. I suppose if you have a generation that hasn’t really done anything and prides itself on how long it can avoid adulting, then the newest books must reflect that trend; that is, if publishers expect them to be sold. Function follows form, I guess. Still, I like the Harry Potter books and since I know this is now an eight-grade world, then should be able to press on with the novel, right? Well, no. The stake through the heart, so to speak, was the vampire Matthew Clairmont, one of those answering the text’s supernatural call, who decides to protect Diana from the other creatures descending on her and, well, you know where this is going because the girls do like the bad boys, don’t they? Except he’s not a vampire. Not even close. He’s some long-lived guy with very cold skin who likes to drink blood. Heck, I know half a dozen people in New Jersey who match that description. Where’s all the garlic and sunlight avoidance and coffins and crosses, hey? Well, it seems the dumb old humans made all that up and it’s just not true. So, once more, we have some author deciding to dispense with literary traditions and make her own spooky ooky angst ridden handsome deeply complicated vampire. I’m surprised he doesn’t sparkle. Maybe all of the true vampire traits show up later in the novel, dunno, because, frisbee. The deciding point was Diane’s very noble stand to ignore the powerful strain of witchcraft in her family- one of the original Salem witchcraft families, doncha know- to make it on her own as a scholar. No eye of newt or toe of dog to help her get through a thesis defense, no sir! She’s going to do it all on her own like those dumb old humans she and every other creature disdains. It turns out, though, she’s been using magic all along, but inadvertently, Darrin, inadvertently. Or maybe it was the vampire yoga class. Frisbee.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Entire series review
I’ve decided to do a series review of A Discovery of Witches because these books are so thick but they don’t have enough differentiation from story to story in order to be reviewed separately. I don’t mean that as a detriment either, of course each book has its own story arc, but the overarching storyline flows so clearly from book to book, it’s no wonder they were made into a TV series. Now, I have to admit, I do think these books are LOOONG to the point I felt they could have benefited from some cuts, but in the end they are five stars. Diana and Matthew have got to be one of my favorite fantasy couples. Diana is such a strong, independent woman and Matthew is a classic alpha male, but Diana has no problem putting him in his place! Their almost enemies-to-lovers romance gives me the tingles and their epic love is world shattering. I recommend this series to all the readers out there looking for a fall read this spooky season!
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A Must-Read for Fantasy Lovers
This book is the perfect mix of fantasy, romance, and historical fiction. I came for the witches & vampires but stayed for the love story, and now I can't wait to read book 2. While the romance is definitely brewing (ha, get it?) in this book, the historical and scientific aspects balance it out, giving you a little bit of everything to enjoy with a storyline that makes you want to keep turning the page.
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Literally can’t stop reading
Very few books have been difficult for me to put down. I can’t tear myself away from this one. Hands-down one of the best books I’ve read.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com