Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Book of Life

This series started out so strong but it gradually got worse, in my opinion. I don’t think the book needed to be as long as it was, as a lot of the detail seemed to be just deliberation on how to handle their problems. There were action scenes but these seemed few and far between. I also am a little biased as I hate the pregnancy trope, so I was doomed to hate this part of the series. I also felt like this Matthew De Clermont I fell in love with in the first book was not here; I get that characters change but I did not like this new Matthew. I did like the themes of fighting for change and learning about new and strange things versus fearing them. It’s a very important theme, especially today, so I admired that’s what the characters were fighting for: loving and embracing difference. That being said, I’m glad this series is done.

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lucyatoz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Diana and Matthew. Witch and vampire. Their love has brought conflict and hope. But only together can they learn at last what the witches discovered so many centuries ago. And it will have consequences for all...

The Book of Life is the last novel in a trilogy which tells the story of Diana, a witch, and Matthew, a Vampire, coming together (Book 1, A Discovery of Witches) and their time living in Elizabethan England in 1590-1 (Book 2, Shadow of Night), picking up their tale now that they have returned to the present day.

The final book in this trilogy brings in the wider De Clermont family and is a much darker story compared to the first two novels. It also does brings nicely to an end the story of the couple's troubles with the Congregation and their violation of the Covenant. I do hope that further novels are written about some of the other characters in the story, such as Gallowglass, Matthew's nephew, and their children Phillip and Rebecca.

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laurenleigh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wrapped up this trilogy! I really enjoyed this whole series. I read afterwards that Harkness set out to write a trilogy in three different genres: the first to be romance, second historical fiction, third sci-fi. And that makes perfect sense now that I’ve read them all! Yet they all blend together nicely. The sci-fi slant here is about vampire/witch/demon DNA and how they differ from each other or from humans. I loved this part of the book. I want to say more about it but can’t give spoilers! There were a few plot points and loose ends that maybe didn’t get tied up as cleanly as possible, but I still think she did a great job. And wow what a fantastic narrator! With so many accents and characters done so well, the story was really brought to life.

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theimposter's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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baearles's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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hazelgirl21's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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redheadsuperpowers's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I stick by my description of this series as Twilight for adults, but it's so well written, and I enjoyed this close to the series so much. It tied up all the major plot points, and the minor ones left open are likely to close with the next series set in this universe. (The first of those books is out!) The relationship between the main characters, Diana and Matthew, settles some, easing how annoyed I was with male lead in the second book. The family moments were many, and one scene made me cry. I was disappointed with one major plot point though. It's a spoiler, so I won't share it, but I was like 'wait, what? Why? Who?' and the book did not answer that point.

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juli5067's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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