Reviews with content warning for Murder - A Discovery of Witches

I really liked this book! It was a bit of an odd reading experience, because once the romance gets going it starts to feel like a different and slightly worse book. I loved the first 15% or so of this book and thought it would be a five star read. At that point it becomes clear that Diana and Matthew's romance is going to progress a lot more quickly than I thought, and we start to run into a lot of romance novel cliches. This would have normally merited a 3 star rating, but I think Harkness' world building manages to make the cliches make enough since that I'll forgive their presence, even if I think the book would be better without them and with a slower relationship build. Diana's absolute denial

and spellbinding

make the different tone of the beginning of the book make sense, but I think it's a shame that the beginning feels so much better than the rest of the book.

I loved all of the world building, and I think it helps the romance and certain plot elements seem less ridiculous. The fact that the relationship we see in this book takes place over

40 days

seems stupid, but Harkness makes it clear that Diana and Matthew are not human, and holding them to human standards is a mistake. These are creatures who can literally experience

love at first sight, as shown by Diana's parents. That's not a dramatization, sometimes it actually happens

. That said, I still think the romance isn't well-written, and is the weakest part of the book by far. Diana could seem like a Mary Sue, but you have to remember that her

mother, Rebecca, seems to have seen her future before even conceiving her. Diana was basically born and raised to create some serious change in this world

. I mean, someone has to do it, right? Of course that's going to be the person an author writes about.

This book was consistently engaging and enjoyable to read. I was constantly theorizing and asking questions. I'm looking forward to getting more answers in the next books, and I know I will because this is clearly a planned out series that's laying groundwork with this first book. I wish the romance felt as polished as the beginning of the book made me think it would be, but I had a fun time and was never bored.

Final thoughts: I love the Bishop house, we stan characters getting privacy! I hope someone kills

Gerbert dead soon

, what the fuck was that with

Juliette and how many people has he done that to

??? I don't get why everyone was alarmed at the idea of

Matt killing Satu. Like she's going around deeply torturing witches and who knows what else? Sometimes when you behave like that people kill you

! Agatha being the only decent

member of the Congregation

we've seen makes me curious to find out if it's always been

corrupt/fucked up

, or if that's something that developed over time. Don't like the whole

bloodline = power

thing even though it's kind of central to the plot. Given the timeline of these books I think it would be very funny if Diana

gets back to the present "quickly" enough that Hamish never sends her letter backing out of the conference,

and the entire series ends with her giving the keynote presentation she started this book being stressed out about. Perfect ending.

Content Warnings

sonlight21's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! I found the show first and binged the whole first season within two days. When I found out they were books I got my hands on a copy as soon as I could.
For me this book felt like when you find Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or The Spider wick Chronicles for the first time. It is a deep immersive world that doesn't destroy you with world building but slowly introduces more and more aspects of the magic place you have entered as you journey through the story, it reveals small pieces of itself as you go along, like some ancient fossil you are digging up from the ground.

The characters in the book are wonderful! Each character is a fully flushed out individual of their own. Even the "un-important" background characters (exmp. caffeine frenzy daemon) have their own personality and story. The characters change and grown in response to their surroundings and experiences. They are not stones, unmoving, they are alive and energetic.

One thing I did not love was the amount of characters that very randomly showed up for a few moments and then disappeared but were INCREDABLY integral to the plot. It was not that they felt flat or random but rather that I desired to know and understand more of the character and what role they played before they left. I wanted more time with them on page and in interactions. However the book is BURTSTING to the brim with characters each one deep and rich in their own right so I understand why some got such little time in the light (the book was 579 pages haha I am not sure it could have handled more).

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book though there are parts I didn't love and some aspects I am sure I missed. I will say I think the show does the book justice and in some ways adds to the experience and grows the world more.

Content Warnings

_marycappiello3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

fkshg8465's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

If I wasn’t a vegetarian, I think I might like trying to be a vampire. 😂😂😂😂

I couldn’t put this down. In fact, I was so mad that I had to go to sleep at all, and it was already almost 4 am when I finally gave into my slumber. Had no idea it had been made into a TV show until I was well into the book and read it in someone else’s review while making dinner last night. Now I’ve got to figure out how to stream it while waiting for the second book to come off my holds shelf on Libby.

Content Warnings

siglerbooknook's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective 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? No

4.75

I loved this book! The story captured so many emotions well. It made me laugh, made me nervous. I was fully invested in the heroes. The villains were frightening. They felt like real people with motivations while still feeling dangerous and bad.

The side characters are wonderful. Each character felt like their own person, even those who were only in a few chapters. Harkness does a wonderful job writing witty banter. I caught myself laughing out loud at several points.

The unique take on witches, vampires, and demons was very enjoyable. I loved the world building and how myth and legend are woven so seemlessly into the story.

My only gripe was how secretive a few characters are. It feels like a few things would have been a lot less dangerous with honest communication. I also didn't like Matthew much at the beginning because he was so controlling, but that got better/more understandable as the story went along.

Content Warnings

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious slow-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

5.0

Content Warnings

jessicabearbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious relaxing tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

“As far as I can tell there are only two emotions that keep the world spinning year after year...One is fear. The other is desire.”

Wow. This book has such a rich story and so many plot twists! When I started this I was not ready for the level of emotional attachment I would form to this story and these characters, maybe it's because the story was so long and I spent so much time with this family but I adored it.

Every main character was well developed and believeable. It was easy to love them, especially Ysabeau who honestly holds my heart; her developing relationship with Diana is so sweet. Matthew was a little toxic at times in his reactions and mindset but I don't really feel like this is an issue as he's a Vampire with heightened protective instincts so what do you expect.

The last couple of chapters were so wholesome, I want to be a part of this new family. I was not prepared for the genius comedy in this book because GIRL I was rolling at points haha. Also this story is just a really cool concept? The Knights of Lazarus...damn.

Excited to read the next one but need a break first lol - I'll be real, this book felt as long as it looked. Took me a whole month but when I was reading I thoroughly enjoyed the escapism. This whole series has huge cosy autumnal vibes, I reckon that's why it took me so long to get through because It felt too weird reading about a spooky vampire house while I was getting sunburnt. Also definitely read this series while listening to classical music, the vibes are unmatched.

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