Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A Discovery of Witches

Good fantasy, with interesting world building and mystery. I liked the dark academia setting. I felt like conflicts within the plot happened and resolved very (almost too) quickly. But overall a good book for some escapism.

Content Warnings

bodagirl's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

This book kept my interest while reading, but didn't make me want to devour it. I think part of the issue is that the magic system and society are still being defined, as the POV is mostly from Diana, who has denied her heritage for so long, and Matthew, who keeps secrets from other characters and the reader. I'm also a little uncomfortable with Diana and Matthew's relationship; I'm getting the feeling that they are fated, which is fine, but the motivations for why they are drawn together at the start is really unclear. It started as "enemies to lovers" but within a few chapters it became some amorphous connection that

much later on turned into a possible fated mate situation

. I do appreciate that Harkness is stressing that Matthew comes from a very different age and his vampiric instincts make him act possessively, but it makes my modern sensibilities shudder a bit that Diana questions things so very rarely and often just accepts what she is being told.

The aspects of the story I really enjoyed were the historical elements that were woven in (though I wonder along with Diana how Matthew was able to know so many influential thinkers so well) and the idea that demons aren't actually from Hell, but rather randomly popped up as super creative or gifted people. However, the possible connection between "demonic" and some mental health disorders or the Autism spectrum in problematic, even though the demons we meet seem to be fairly well adjusted.

I grabbed the whole series from a used bookshop, so I will probably continue to see if it improves.

Content Warnings

stwriter92's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

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

1.0

Let me start off by saying that I did not like this book. At all.

A Discovery of Witches centers on the story of a very powerful witch who doesn't understand her own powers and has an enormous destiny dropped on her like a ton of bricks. She falls in love with a vampire, which is extremely taboo. Oh, and she has exclusive access to a very important book. If the synopsis I am giving seems sloppy, it's because the organization of the above mentioned parts were sloppily slapped together into something that vaguely resembled a plot if you squinted hard enough. The entire thing read like a bad Twilight fanfiction for adults. I already don't like Twilight (don't come for me), so this was just annoying as all hell.

I am usually a fan of books that weave together the threads of different storylines. I loved the way this was done in books I have read and reviewed in the past such as The Golem and the Jinni, The Lord of the Rings, and The Priory of the Orange Tree. However, unlike these books, the threads that "wove" this story together started to fray at the edges after the first stitch. This is probably because the threads themselves were not substantial enough to carry the story forward.

I found the two protagonists to be incredibly dull, insufferable, and selfish. I couldn't find a single thing I liked about either of them. Both Diana and Matthew were the most annoying characters I have read in recent times. Nothing about them made me feel sympathetic towards them or their "plight." They seemed to put the love they had above everyone else, oftentimes dragging unwilling participants into a game that should have ended as soon as it had started. The relationship between them is incredibly toxic, with Matthew being over-controlling and overbearing and Diana enabling him by being very "deer in the headlights." Matthew is absolutely dripping with red flags. He has an uncontrollable temper and constantly exerts his strength over Diana to control her. For example, early on in the book, they get into an argument. When Diana tries to leave, the following scene ensues:

"Let me go, Matthew," I struggled in his arms.
"No"
No man had ever refused when I asked him to stop doing something---whether it was blowing his nose in the library or trying to slip a hand up my shirt after a movie. I struggled again. Matthew's arms got tighter.
"Stop fighting me," he sounded amused. "You'll get tired long before I do, I assure you." (p. 191).

He will often talk to her as if she's a defenseless, naive child that he needs to take care of, which also puts a horrible taste in my mouth. On top of that, he drops this gem on her: "I will kill you myself before I let anyone hurt you" (p. 281). How, how, how does that make sense? God, I hate over-possessive love interests. Oh, and did I mention that he watches her sleep? The ick levels are high with this one. On top of this, he keeps so many secrets from her! At some point, they have the "no more secrets" conversation, but he still continues to keep secrets from her. And she just lets him!

Diana isn't a gem, either. Matthew calls her "ma lionne," but I think "mon oiseau" or even "mon ver" would have been more appropriate. There is nothing really courageous about her. She runs away from everything and only does whatever her own selfish heart wants. She pretends to care about other characters, but will side with Matthew the minute things get ugly. When other characters try to make her see the way her and Matthew's actions affect those around them, she refuses to take accountability for anything and refuses to allow any blame to be put on Matthew either. In her eyes, everyone else is wrong. I noticed this throughout, but there's a part where Matthew's mother, Ysabeau (who I love so, so, so much) tries to convince Diana to think twice before choosing to be with Matthew.

"This is not a game, Diana! Matthew would willingly turn his back on creatures he has known for centuries to protect your right to be whatever you imagine you want to be in your fleeting life. I'm begging you not to let him do it. They will kill him if he persists."
"He's his own man, Ysabeau," I said coldly. "I don't tell Matthew what to do" (p. 276)

Did I mention that the Very Important Book that this is supposed to be about ends up being super irrelevant? I would expect that a book that everyone wants to get their hands on would be put in a place of higher importance than the toxic romance between an overbearing vampire and a very boring witch. But I guess I was wrong!

I really only enjoyed the side characters in this book. I loved Hamish, Sarah, Em, Marcus, Miriam, and (when they appeared in the last few chapters) Nathaniel and Sophie. Not to mention, I adored Ysabeau and Marthe to death. If the story was written about these characters instead of about Diana and Matthew, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

This is one of the few times I will not be continuing a series. Usually I try to push through to see if the story gets better, but I am so uninterested and turned off by the mere thought of having to read about Matthew and Diana pretend to care about other people in two more books. No thank you.

Content Warnings

12dejamoo's review

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dark lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.25

Don't think I've ever written such a long review but here goes...

I found this book pretty hard to form a clear opinion. I think that's because I didn't know by what metric to judge it. Like, is it a crummy romance? Is it a YA Twilight-esque book? Is it one of those ostensibly 'higher quality' romances that everyone on the internet loves? It's kind of all three and so it's really difficult to judge the correct level of belief suspension needed. The book opens on an interesting fantasy premise, with library girl doing library things. We love a library girl. Then we are introduced to Matthew and it's like yeah I like this guy, he's got that Edward vibe with less creepiness and more nuance. Great, now we're doing some library stuff, we're having brunch, we're doing yoga (btw what a fucking funny idea that's genius). But now,

BOOM, we're deeply in love, we're running off to France, you're my wife lol. Now you've almost died 20 million times.

It's like the story was both nicely slow and too quick. It was moving at a very believable pace and then all hell broke loose.

There are lots of good points to this! I like many of the characters, I like the concept of the three creatures, I like the library scenes. I like the alchemy stuff (mostly). I like the idea of many of Diana's powers and I really enjoyed reading many of the scenes of her using them. It's major Twilight vibes but Deborah Harkness clearly did more research than Smeyer so it's refreshing whilst still being comforting and familiar. Definitely a lot of good in here but there was also a lot of crap.

Diana herself is pretty likable at first. As I said, we love a library girl. There are hints that she's not like other girls, but to me it seemed like she was authentically sporty, non-makeup-wearing, and bookish rather than your classic Bella figure who reads Jane Austen because she's ~different~. However I felt like that authenticity started to chip away the further into the book we got. The place where I had to put the book down and be like no fuck that was when she suddenly announces that she

has always loved horses and it's like a major part of her personality????

. Genuinely comes out of nowhere and it's so irritating. You also have your classic Bella-esque 'oh I don't care that you're a vampire because you won't hurt ME' blah blah blah. She goes out to prove this on so many occasions and like there's just no need. My least favourite scene of this

is her sitting completely still on horseback for literally two hours in absolute silence whilst he prepares to hunt. No human has ever had that kind of patience I'm sorry.

Her obsessive love for Matthew seems really out of character with her very no-nonsense attitude at the start. The way she's ready to just spout crap about feeling alive for the first time. Have more respect for yourself than that please. I know it's like destiny or whatever but that doesn't mean your character should do a 180 when you meet the guy.

This becomes especially a problem when she starts half dying every five seconds. Like can we not write women who are just damsels in distress all the time. Like even when she does amazing power stuff and saves Matthew she STILL is the one lying in bed for hours and fainting. I also think that we as a society have moved past chosen one who has every power and ability ever trope. Like she can be special without being that special. Give her some weaknesses beyond just needing to refine her powers. Make her rely on others in a way that's more depthful than she can't breathe or whatever when Matthew is gone.

Matthew was also likable at first. Mysterious vampire love interest. This is why we're here. We also love a hint of danger which at first Diana seems to genuinely feel. What did get very old was him knowing literally every historical figure of note. Like he did not need to do that. How boring. Also can we STOP describing how love interests smell in terms of some complex selection of herbs, spices, and flowers. Nobody smells like those things unless they are wearing aritificial fragrances or they've just walked out of a rose garden like seriously stop describing Matthew's smell as 'spicy' it drives me insane.

I also hate his secretive blah vampire blah knights crap. Just stop it's boring he does not need to have his finger in every pie.

There were definitely some weird writing moments. Exposition was delivered so weirdly at times. Special mention goes to when Baldwin and Matthew explain to each other the history of their father as if they both don't know it. Like they're both adding details like they're explaining it to someone else but no they're literally just recounting the events to each other. Also, you can definitely tell this was written by an American. Like the definition of the word 'fresher' as a Cambridge term for freshmen. It's literally just a British term, Cambridge isn't special. This is also evident when Diana describes a British intensive care hospital wing. Are they different in America? I've only ever seen them on American TV and ngl they look exactly like what you're describing I'm so confused. Definition of a person who did their year abroad/gap year/placement etc in another country and takes it on as their entire personality.

I really hate the trope in any media where their family is just this annoying burden who they seem to hate? Like your aunts aren't stopping you from being with this man they are just giving you very sensible thinking points and trying to have a discussion and you just have to act like they're so annoying and stupid and 'just don't get it'. Diana has no reason to dislike her aunts but her descriptions of them are often so dismissive and subtly cruel I never get why media insists on doing this.

Further important points are: we love Ysabeau. She gives me Rosalie vibes and this can only be a good thing. Also

the way I cringe so hard every time Matthew and Diana refer to each other as 'husband' or 'wife' ewwww. It's not marriage that's a problem it's the way the relationship went from 0 to 1 to 2 to 3 to 100 and it's like what where why when?

"Matthew swung me onto his back like a child and walked through the twilight' SORRY nooo that HAS to be a reference

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