Scan barcode
feb_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
How do I describe the story of this book? IDK. It’s about a vampire geneticist, Matthew Clairmont, born in 537(yes, he is 1500+ yo) and born in 1976, Diana Bishop. She’s a young scholar and a descendant of witches. Together they do yoga, dating, and a lot of wine tasting. Oh, they also tried to discover the mystery behind Diana's parent's death, attempted to navigate a book, and tried to research the possibility of extinction of supernatural beings(yes, a lot of trying here). So they do some science stuff like DNA tests and other things that I frankly didn’t understand. So yeah, you could try reading this book if you like supernatural/paranormal/history/science/fantasy/romance fiction, or you’re a fan of Twilight Saga.
I never have a problem with slow-paced books as long the story interests me. But, oh my lord, this book was so slow; too many words, so little things happening. And it was pretty repetitive; after reading, they talked about this mysterious Ashmole 782 book that only appears once. Library tours, house tours, did yoga, sipped tea, had dinner, tasted wines, rode horses: Matthew and Diana talked about not-so-important things and how powerful Diana’s magic was for almost a whole book; it became dull. This book feels like an intro for the next book, filled with introductions and information about the world, the main characters' past, and facts/traits about supernatural beings such as vampires, witches, and demons. And the first 100pages is just about Matthew, who stalked Diana everywhere. He also climbs through her window and watches her sleep. (that made me insist that Matthew and Edward from Twilight is BFFs)
Diana & Matthew. More like Marie Sue and Gary Stu for me. The lack of flaws. Too perfect and too powerful. The drawbacks I can think of are how boring they’re and their bravery, leading to stupidity if they fail.
Matthew... You know what. After reading so many books with sentences that Include things like: I’m dangerous, you need to stay from me; you can’t fall in love with me, I’m a monster, etc. I’m learning to ignore and skim reading it. Because I know that was bullshit.
I have a lot to say about what’s wrong with Matthew. But. I don’t want to bother. I’m too lazy to do that. Long story short, Matthew is the super extreme version of Edward Cullen(Twilight). And Diana is the witch version of Bella Swan(Twilight) and Clary Fray(The Mortal Instrument). There was a point when I thought that this book is Twilight Saga x The Mortal Instrument reimagined/crossover. But it was not.
There are so many things in this book that I found ridiculous and weird. But chapter 26 is the winner of the ridiculousness. Matthew returns to France from Oxford, saying he loves Diana so much and he’s wrong to leave her. They kissed, Matt stroked the pulse in Diana's neck, cupped her left breast, a little bit light stroking, and suddenly Diana belongs with their vamps family and they two kinds of married to each other. Suddenly Diana becomes a stepmother of 200+ years old Marcus. Ridiculous right!? How about her right breast Matthew!? The right breast needs attention too!!
My conclusion: The book's first half was unimportant and uninteresting. And the last half was utterly absurd.
Still, this book amused me. It amused me in the sense that even though how bizarre this book I found, I'm still curious about what will happen next. This book humors me. I will commit to reading the rest of the series. But! I will skim-reading every time they have dinner or talk about tea or wine. As much as I like tea & wine, I would appreciate it more if I hadn’t read about people drinking them for almost the entire book repeatedly.
I never have a problem with slow-paced books as long the story interests me. But, oh my lord, this book was so slow; too many words, so little things happening. And it was pretty repetitive; after reading, they talked about this mysterious Ashmole 782 book that only appears once. Library tours, house tours, did yoga, sipped tea, had dinner, tasted wines, rode horses: Matthew and Diana talked about not-so-important things and how powerful Diana’s magic was for almost a whole book; it became dull. This book feels like an intro for the next book, filled with introductions and information about the world, the main characters' past, and facts/traits about supernatural beings such as vampires, witches, and demons. And the first 100pages is just about Matthew, who stalked Diana everywhere. He also climbs through her window and watches her sleep. (that made me insist that Matthew and Edward from Twilight is BFFs)
Diana & Matthew. More like Marie Sue and Gary Stu for me. The lack of flaws. Too perfect and too powerful. The drawbacks I can think of are how boring they’re and their bravery, leading to stupidity if they fail.
Matthew... You know what. After reading so many books with sentences that Include things like: I’m dangerous, you need to stay from me; you can’t fall in love with me, I’m a monster, etc. I’m learning to ignore and skim reading it. Because I know that was bullshit.
I have a lot to say about what’s wrong with Matthew. But. I don’t want to bother. I’m too lazy to do that. Long story short, Matthew is the super extreme version of Edward Cullen(Twilight). And Diana is the witch version of Bella Swan(Twilight) and Clary Fray(The Mortal Instrument). There was a point when I thought that this book is Twilight Saga x The Mortal Instrument reimagined/crossover. But it was not.
There are so many things in this book that I found ridiculous and weird. But chapter 26 is the winner of the ridiculousness. Matthew returns to France from Oxford, saying he loves Diana so much and he’s wrong to leave her. They kissed, Matt stroked the pulse in Diana's neck, cupped her left breast, a little bit light stroking, and suddenly Diana belongs with their vamps family and they two kinds of married to each other. Suddenly Diana becomes a stepmother of 200+ years old Marcus. Ridiculous right!? How about her right breast Matthew!? The right breast needs attention too!!
My conclusion: The book's first half was unimportant and uninteresting. And the last half was utterly absurd.
Still, this book amused me. It amused me in the sense that even though how bizarre this book I found, I'm still curious about what will happen next. This book humors me. I will commit to reading the rest of the series. But! I will skim-reading every time they have dinner or talk about tea or wine. As much as I like tea & wine, I would appreciate it more if I hadn’t read about people drinking them for almost the entire book repeatedly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Stalking, and Death of parent
linesiunderline's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Sometimes you just want a good story to really sink into. Sometimes that story will have vampires and witches and romance and Oxford in it, and there will be parts of it you don’t really get but whatever, you won’t be mad about it, even if it is a teensy bit overwritten in places.
Did I think I would really enjoy this one so much, to the point that I put the second audiobook on hold before I finished the first? I did not. But Vampire Matthew has quite a presence. So does Oxford and all of the witchy atmospheric business. I’m all in.
If you are an Outlander fan, this one is for you. I have to go watch the TV series now.
Did I think I would really enjoy this one so much, to the point that I put the second audiobook on hold before I finished the first? I did not. But Vampire Matthew has quite a presence. So does Oxford and all of the witchy atmospheric business. I’m all in.
If you are an Outlander fan, this one is for you. I have to go watch the TV series now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
pgivan21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture and Murder
Minor: Stalking
nicola_farnworth's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Stalking
stormwise's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
2.5
Hmmmmm.
It's not that I entirely disliked this book - I'll be reading the sequels - but I spent a lot of time complaining about this book as I read it.
On paper this sounded right up my alley: a story that begins with a witch in a library? Nice. However this novel had a much heavier focus on romance than I expected - not necessarily a bad thing, I do like romance, but...
Did anyone else who read this book find it a little...sexist? Misogynistic, even? I struggled to find Matthew an attractive romantic lead when he was so frequently being controlling towards Diana, or having wild mood swings. It was a bit "Twilight for adults" in my opinion. The 'alpha male' bullshit had me rolling my eyes on a regular basis.
Also, if I had a penny for every time my mum recommended a 500+ page fantasy-romance novel that turned out to have multiple sex scenes in it, I'd have two pennies, which isn't a lot but it is weird that it's happened twice (the other one was Outlander which I read last year and, weirdly, have similar criticisms for).
The writing style was also a bit...long-winded. I love a good bit of descriptive writing but sometimes less truly is more and overly floral language just bogs down the scene.
My various grumbles aside, the overall plot was sufficiently compelling, dragged as it was through endless scenes of monotony which were fortunately bolstered by the intriguing cast of characters. I really liked the magic and the way the world worked with witches, vampires and daemons. I just wish Diana had spent less time taking naps or having decisions made for her... </spoiler >
It's not that I entirely disliked this book - I'll be reading the sequels - but I spent a lot of time complaining about this book as I read it.
On paper this sounded right up my alley: a story that begins with a witch in a library? Nice. However this novel had a much heavier focus on romance than I expected - not necessarily a bad thing, I do like romance, but...
Also, if I had a penny for every time my mum recommended a 500+ page fantasy-romance novel that turned out to have multiple sex scenes in it, I'd have two pennies, which isn't a lot but it is weird that it's happened twice (the other one was Outlander which I read last year and, weirdly, have similar criticisms for).
The writing style was also a bit...long-winded. I love a good bit of descriptive writing but sometimes less truly is more and overly floral language just bogs down the scene.
My various grumbles aside, the overall plot was sufficiently compelling, dragged as it was through endless scenes of monotony which were fortunately bolstered by the intriguing cast of characters. I really liked the magic and the way the world worked with witches, vampires and daemons. I just wish Diana had spent less time taking naps or having decisions made for her... </spoiler >
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Infertility
macaronsandmermaids's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Death of parent
veeronald's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, and Stalking
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, and Death of parent
georgiaaa's review against another edition
worst book i've ever tried to read
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Stalking