mistymoon24's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
DNF I only made it to chapter 28. Diana is a painful pickme and Matthew exhibits shocking degrees of coercive control. It's sad this is considered a good romance.
Spoiler
When he tells her that the moment he said he loved her, she became wife. WITHOUT CONSENT. And she just accepts it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
ruthee's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Unlike others, I didn’t actually mine the pace or world-building…but the abusive relationship (red flag, after red flag, after red flag) framed as ‘that’s just the way vampires are, and my love is enough’ was so bad it just kept taking me out of the story.
It’s not often (if ever) that I completely prefer a tv or film adaptation to the original material, but in this case, my love of the tv series was what got me through this.
In audiobook, the narrator was good, except when it came to any accent that wasn’t their own. The English/Scottish/Australian ones ranged between literally lol to offensive…so strange for a professionally produced book.
It’s not often (if ever) that I completely prefer a tv or film adaptation to the original material, but in this case, my love of the tv series was what got me through this.
In audiobook, the narrator was good, except when it came to any accent that wasn’t their own. The English/Scottish/Australian ones ranged between literally lol to offensive…so strange for a professionally produced book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Death, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism
theimposter's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Classism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Torture
alishamegan's review against another edition
I hate Matthew. Super typical arrogant forceful aggressive male hetero love interest and literally a self admitted abuser and killer of women lol. I really don't like how he treats the female MC (which is super controlling and possessive). He is so one dimensional and the female MC has no personality tbh. Super disappointed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Misogyny
bookishchef's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This book is like Twilight.
But without the love triangle.
And somehow even more toxic.
You thought Edward stalking Bella was creepy?
Meet Matthew Clermont! He is actually mentally and physically abusive to our bland Mary Sue protagonist named Diana.
If you're Matthew, life is easy.
Diana has a panic attack? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling scared? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling horny? Threaten her life.
Why? Because you just cannot help yourself of course. After all, it is sooooo hot when men treat women like
A. fragile objects they're supposed to control and protect.
B. things to literally kill.
This book perpetrates the idea that men cannot help themselves from abusing, controling, and commanding women.
Worst thing is, that every time Diana goes against Matthew's wishes, she is immediately punished by the plot. Which only confirms that women are supposed to listen to the men in their lives according to this book.
I have no clue how I, the reader, was supposed to find any of this romantic. All of the scenes were either highly uncomfortable or straight up abusive.
The excuse of "he just can't help himself" is as old as time and has been used time and time again to excuse shitty behaviour from men.
And Diana, the MC, decides that this excuse is not an excuse at all. She seems to think this is actually the way the world works. She doesn't even take the horrible "I can fix him" attitude that so many romance MCs take. Instead she just completely accepts Matthew as the toxic asshole he is and gives up every part of her life to listen to him and conform to his ideas of an ideal wife.
So yeah this book stole the toxicity from Twilight and made it 10x worse.
You know what else it stole?
THE WEIRD BABY PLOTLINE
Yup, you heard me correctly.
This author really looked at Renesmee and went "wow that's such a cool plot point".
Remember how Bella wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant because Ed was a vampire? Well, same goes for Diana in this story. For a solid 80% of the book, we hear nothing about pregnancy rates between witches and vampires. (Diana is a witch and Matthew is a vampire)
Matthew refuses to have penetrative sex because of *plot*, and Diana gets frustrated because of this. And then suddenly out of NOWHERE it is revealed that witches and vampires can't have babies together BUT Diana has *special* DNA which means she is able to conceive with Matthew. Matthew supposedly didn't know this, so his aversion to penetrative sex was completely unrelated.
Even so, this entire plotpoint seems to exist to make Matthew right once again, and to rip off Twilight.
Truly do not understand why this gets 4+ stars on Goodreads.
ALSO OMG WINE GETS MENTIONED MORE THAN THE MC'S NAME I STG
But without the love triangle.
And somehow even more toxic.
You thought Edward stalking Bella was creepy?
Meet Matthew Clermont! He is actually mentally and physically abusive to our bland Mary Sue protagonist named Diana.
If you're Matthew, life is easy.
Diana has a panic attack? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling scared? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling horny? Threaten her life.
Why? Because you just cannot help yourself of course. After all, it is sooooo hot when men treat women like
A. fragile objects they're supposed to control and protect.
B. things to literally kill.
This book perpetrates the idea that men cannot help themselves from abusing, controling, and commanding women.
Worst thing is, that every time Diana goes against Matthew's wishes, she is immediately punished by the plot. Which only confirms that women are supposed to listen to the men in their lives according to this book.
I have no clue how I, the reader, was supposed to find any of this romantic. All of the scenes were either highly uncomfortable or straight up abusive.
The excuse of "he just can't help himself" is as old as time and has been used time and time again to excuse shitty behaviour from men.
And Diana, the MC, decides that this excuse is not an excuse at all. She seems to think this is actually the way the world works. She doesn't even take the horrible "I can fix him" attitude that so many romance MCs take. Instead she just completely accepts Matthew as the toxic asshole he is and gives up every part of her life to listen to him and conform to his ideas of an ideal wife.
So yeah this book stole the toxicity from Twilight and made it 10x worse.
You know what else it stole?
Spoiler
THE WEIRD BABY PLOTLINE
Yup, you heard me correctly.
This author really looked at Renesmee and went "wow that's such a cool plot point".
Remember how Bella wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant because Ed was a vampire? Well, same goes for Diana in this story. For a solid 80% of the book, we hear nothing about pregnancy rates between witches and vampires. (Diana is a witch and Matthew is a vampire)
Matthew refuses to have penetrative sex because of *plot*, and Diana gets frustrated because of this. And then suddenly out of NOWHERE it is revealed that witches and vampires can't have babies together BUT Diana has *special* DNA which means she is able to conceive with Matthew. Matthew supposedly didn't know this, so his aversion to penetrative sex was completely unrelated.
Even so, this entire plotpoint seems to exist to make Matthew right once again, and to rip off Twilight.
Truly do not understand why this gets 4+ stars on Goodreads.
ALSO OMG WINE GETS MENTIONED MORE THAN THE MC'S NAME I STG
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Mental illness, Blood, Death, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Murder, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief, Confinement, Torture, Pregnancy, Animal death, and Misogyny
Minor: Child death
riss__reads's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
If I had two words to describe this book they'd be slow (so so slow) and disappointing.
I really wanted to like this book, on paper (no pun intended) it ticks many boxes but in practice it really missed the mark for me.
There were moments and characters I enjoyed (the initial slow burn of the romance had me pining way harder than Diana!) but the overall slowness of this book just took away so much enjoyment - we're talking page long descriptions of a desk and random filler which serves the plot in no way slow, just ugh. It's over 700 pages long and easily could've been less than 500 without giving up any plot and imo would've made for a much more enjoyable read.
But the nail in the coffin for me with this one was Dianna and Matthew's relationship. I'm sorry but I just can't get behind an abusive relationship (which btw both the author and MCs acknowledge!) especially when said abuse is justified and explained away by him being a vampire and that just being how it is. It's very much Bella and Edward for adults and honestly it's worrying that manipulation, lovebombing, controlling behaviour, and straight up violence (among with many, many other abusive behaviours) are glorified here as constitutive of an ideal relationship worth [SPOILER ALERT INCOMING] being tortured, hunted down, and outcast from your community for. Nope, nope, and more nope.
If you're curious about the plot, spare yourself and watch the TV show.
I really wanted to like this book, on paper (no pun intended) it ticks many boxes but in practice it really missed the mark for me.
There were moments and characters I enjoyed (the initial slow burn of the romance had me pining way harder than Diana!) but the overall slowness of this book just took away so much enjoyment - we're talking page long descriptions of a desk and random filler which serves the plot in no way slow, just ugh. It's over 700 pages long and easily could've been less than 500 without giving up any plot and imo would've made for a much more enjoyable read.
But the nail in the coffin for me with this one was Dianna and Matthew's relationship. I'm sorry but I just can't get behind an abusive relationship (which btw both the author and MCs acknowledge!) especially when said abuse is justified and explained away by him being a vampire and that just being how it is. It's very much Bella and Edward for adults and honestly it's worrying that manipulation, lovebombing, controlling behaviour, and straight up violence (among with many, many other abusive behaviours) are glorified here as constitutive of an ideal relationship worth [SPOILER ALERT INCOMING] being tortured, hunted down, and outcast from your community for. Nope, nope, and more nope.
If you're curious about the plot, spare yourself and watch the TV show.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse
atxshopgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Reading this was like all my favorite YA, fantasy, and sci-fi fandoms got mixed up in a big cauldron, with a healthy dash of ABO elements, without explicitly calling out ABO (sorta). (Seriously — if you liked the vibes from that childhood wizard series or the sparkly vampire story, read fanfic, and have watched that show about a time lord at any point, you’ll probably enjoy this story.)
The main character wasn’t super relatable at first and felt kinda like a Mary Sue, but as the plot really picked up, a lot of the exposition and first-person voice that I found somewhat annoying at the beginning fell away and I really began to enjoy the way the plot unraveled and the way all the characters were interacting with and growing with one another.
The book was a bit slow to start, but once many of the other characters were introduced the pace picked up quite a bit and I found myself wishing there had been MORE content established with those characters, and more depth, despite how long it already is.
The main character wasn’t super relatable at first and felt kinda like a Mary Sue, but as the plot really picked up, a lot of the exposition and first-person voice that I found somewhat annoying at the beginning fell away and I really began to enjoy the way the plot unraveled and the way all the characters were interacting with and growing with one another.
The book was a bit slow to start, but once many of the other characters were introduced the pace picked up quite a bit and I found myself wishing there had been MORE content established with those characters, and more depth, despite how long it already is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Stalking, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Emotional abuse
slantrhymes's review against another edition
Good lord. The least-capable female protagonist in the world. I was eventually too grossed out by her overprotective love interest; the book spins his possessiveness and infantilization of her as romantic. Hard pass.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse
meganpbennett's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
4.0
I am not sure what I think of A Discovery of Witches. It took a very long time to build up into an interesting book, and I'm not sure I like Matthew, and I found his relationship with Diane highly questionable. I didn't like the ending - I think Harkness took the wrong page out of Gabaldon's books with that decision.
A Discovery of Witches had a witch scholar of alchemy find a rare alchemical text, and - unaware of the significance of the text - return it to the spell that kept it safe for centuries. Almost immediately, the Vampires, Daemons, and more witches show up.
The book take a long time to change from 'academic scholar researching old manuscripts' to the paranormal suspense novel it is, with vampires, daemons, and witches. And it's rarely "suspenseful" in the strictest sense, where you have to know what happens next. It's just mildly interesting. I'm not completely sold on a lot of things in the novel - from how Matthew behaves to how it ends - but maybe the (longer) second one will be more interesting.
A Discovery of Witches had a witch scholar of alchemy find a rare alchemical text, and - unaware of the significance of the text - return it to the spell that kept it safe for centuries. Almost immediately, the Vampires, Daemons, and more witches show up.
The book take a long time to change from 'academic scholar researching old manuscripts' to the paranormal suspense novel it is, with vampires, daemons, and witches. And it's rarely "suspenseful" in the strictest sense, where you have to know what happens next. It's just mildly interesting. I'm not completely sold on a lot of things in the novel - from how Matthew behaves to how it ends - but maybe the (longer) second one will be more interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Death, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Grief, Confinement, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Gore
btg's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I'll start with the positives. Harkness's "A Discovery of Witches" has decent world-building, solid prose, a good research basis, and an interesting female lead. Harkness is clearly a good writer, particularly in the urban fantasy genre; she manages to make the idea of her story feel plausible. It is an extremely slow-paced novel - think slightly less glacial than "Lord of the Rings" - but if that's your thing, you should have fun.
Still, it's ultimately Diana who manages to save this book from becoming cringe-worthy. Diana, who is intelligent and refuses to take any crap, prevents the main male lead from feeling so controlling that it's impossible to root for their relationship.
Because Matthew is ultimately where "A Discovery of Witches" falls apart. That's a problem, because "A Discovery of Witches", more than it is an urban fantasy, is a supernatural romance. I need to be able to root for the two leads; I need to want to see them together. Harkness did a great job at ensuring Matthew's character flaws take center stage -- unfortunately, she did such a good job doing this that it's difficult to like Matthew at all. Matthew's character is based on misogynistic tropes common in vampire fiction. He's controlling, reactive, overprotective, secretive, and to a certain degree, violent and threatening (though thankfully never directly to Diana). Worse, these traits are not only accepted by the rest of the cast, but they're also justified by the worldbuilding. Multiple characters suggest that this is just how vampires are, making an uncomfortable parallel with the idea of "boys will be boys" (also making a connection to a completely outdated understanding of wolf pack dynamics, but given that this was published about ten years ago, I can let that one go). Multiple characters advise Diana to listen to Matthew and warn her about the dangers of defying him, and the concerns of Diana's aunts are completely brushed off (though their concerns are, quite fairly, pointed out to be fantastic racism). The only two characters who seem to call Matthew out on his controlling crap are Diana herself and Hamish - a minor character who only appears for a few chapters.
He does, admittedly, get better, which is why this story is not rated as straight two stars or less. I wouldn't describe the situation as "character development", precisely, but he becomes more honest with Diana and less controlling as the novel goes on. Their relationship builds fast after the midpoint of the novel - but since Diana and Matthew both seem to be consenting to it by that point, that doesn't bother me. What does bother me is the first half, which glorifies the idea of getting together with someone who has red flags all over him. A romance relies on the reader's ability to root for the main characters all the way through the novel -- it's difficult to do that when you don't understand why the two characters got together in the first place. Many of Matthew's initial actions with Diana are not romantic. They're creepy. If I had been Diana, I would have run in the other direction. And regardless of his later character growth, very little of his handling of Diana's panic attacks feels appropriate.
I also don't appreciate how Diana's panic disorder was portrayed, but I think that's my personal preference. I think authors need to be careful writing medicine hesitant characters, because it can further some ablest issues in modern culture. But medicine hesitant people like Diana certainly exist in real life, and her panic attacks affect the plot of the book heavily. So it's not an awful portrayal.
So did I finish it? Yes. It dragged, but I like faster-paced stories. Will I finish the series? Maybe. Since Matthew's character has improved a bit, I'm now curious since the external plot seems to be ramping up. But was it a good, responsible portrayal of supernatural romance? Eh. It plays off of the same tired, misogynistic tropes that made Twilight so creepy -- though it is written and handled much better than Twilight, mainly through Diana's agency.
Still, it's ultimately Diana who manages to save this book from becoming cringe-worthy. Diana, who is intelligent and refuses to take any crap, prevents the main male lead from feeling so controlling that it's impossible to root for their relationship.
Because Matthew is ultimately where "A Discovery of Witches" falls apart. That's a problem, because "A Discovery of Witches", more than it is an urban fantasy, is a supernatural romance. I need to be able to root for the two leads; I need to want to see them together. Harkness did a great job at ensuring Matthew's character flaws take center stage -- unfortunately, she did such a good job doing this that it's difficult to like Matthew at all. Matthew's character is based on misogynistic tropes common in vampire fiction. He's controlling, reactive, overprotective, secretive, and to a certain degree, violent and threatening (though thankfully never directly to Diana). Worse, these traits are not only accepted by the rest of the cast, but they're also justified by the worldbuilding. Multiple characters suggest that this is just how vampires are, making an uncomfortable parallel with the idea of "boys will be boys" (also making a connection to a completely outdated understanding of wolf pack dynamics, but given that this was published about ten years ago, I can let that one go). Multiple characters advise Diana to listen to Matthew and warn her about the dangers of defying him, and the concerns of Diana's aunts are completely brushed off (though their concerns are, quite fairly, pointed out to be fantastic racism). The only two characters who seem to call Matthew out on his controlling crap are Diana herself and Hamish - a minor character who only appears for a few chapters.
He does, admittedly, get better, which is why this story is not rated as straight two stars or less. I wouldn't describe the situation as "character development", precisely, but he becomes more honest with Diana and less controlling as the novel goes on. Their relationship builds fast after the midpoint of the novel - but since Diana and Matthew both seem to be consenting to it by that point, that doesn't bother me. What does bother me is the first half, which glorifies the idea of getting together with someone who has red flags all over him. A romance relies on the reader's ability to root for the main characters all the way through the novel -- it's difficult to do that when you don't understand why the two characters got together in the first place. Many of Matthew's initial actions with Diana are not romantic. They're creepy. If I had been Diana, I would have run in the other direction. And regardless of his later character growth, very little of his handling of Diana's panic attacks feels appropriate.
I also don't appreciate how Diana's panic disorder was portrayed, but I think that's my personal preference. I think authors need to be careful writing medicine hesitant characters,
Spoiler
and characters who fall under the Disability Superpower tropeSo did I finish it? Yes. It dragged, but I like faster-paced stories. Will I finish the series? Maybe. Since Matthew's character has improved a bit, I'm now curious since the external plot seems to be ramping up. But was it a good, responsible portrayal of supernatural romance? Eh. It plays off of the same tired, misogynistic tropes that made Twilight so creepy -- though it is written and handled much better than Twilight, mainly through Diana's agency.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Emotional abuse