Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

20 reviews

siglerbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.25

!!!CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS!!!

This book has proved complicated to review. I have many conflicting thoughts and feelings now that I've finished the whole story.

While the ending wasn't completely satisfying it does make sense, both with the plot, and with the way the main characters have been built. Several goals from all 3 books felt very rushed. Big bads that have been overwhelmingly powerful for 3 books were a cliffnote in the ending.

Of all the characters in the book I liked Diana and Matthew the least. Their personalities while well rounded, are very similar to how they were in the beginning of the first book. I don't feel like they grew much. By this book I felt like Matthew should have learned to have some faith in Diana and Diana should stop second guessing everything.
The side characters however, completely make up for it. I love almost every other character in the book, even if some feel like completely different people from the last time we saw them.

I felt like the plot dragged a little in the middle. We spend the entire second book on Diana learning to use her magic, so further learning in this book felt repetitive. I didn't really need to know how she comes up with words and ingredients for spells multiple times to understand she was growing as a witch.

I did love the big reveal at the end. Harkness does a wonderful job pulling all the tiny clues together. Any detail can be tied back to the reveal beautifully. I do wish she'd answered a few of the broader questions in a little more detail, like what daemons, witches, and vampires are.

Over all I enjoyed the story and am mostly satisfied with the ending.

Content Warnings

abirej's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

God almighty. No. When Gallowglass de Clairmont confessed his undying love for Diana, I almost quit. Like I did not want to pick the book up to find out how it ended. Along with the pacing problems, Diana’s increasing Mary Sue complex was entirely too grating in this book. Matthew’s as well. Graphic for no reason at all. I was sick to my stomach reading the scene with Benjamin and the witch; I understand I was supposed to have feelings during that scene, what I don’t understand is why a trigger warning was notably absent for this story. No, I definitely did not like this book. Very unsatisfactory ending.

Content Warnings

laurenfink's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

I really love this series but it’s just a little to convenient how some of the plot lines work out

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oksmithie's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a final book of a trilogy that did not disappoint. There were some things that seemed over the top and unnecessary, but all-in-all, I was not mad at where the story/characters ended up (as is often the case for me with trilogies). This will be a trilogy that I will re-read… all 1500+ pages. The audiobook is also well done (for all three installments). I used a combo of paper and audiobook to read this trilogy. It was the only way I could get through it and still have a life! Well worth the commitment!

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reka111's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I see you, even when you hide from the rest of the world. I hear you, even when you're silent

The review contains spoilers!!!

PRELIMINARY

OK, maybe too much time passed between writing my review and reading the book, but not everything can be perfect. I don't remember most of the book, or at least not quite, so I'm sure there will be parts I'll skip or jump over because of this. I really should quit this already, right?

Basically, I liked it more than the second book, somehow I always found it difficult – no matter how much I love it – to read historical fiction if it wasn't about a real person. Yes, come for me because of it. I think this book series has a worthy, albeit somewhat quick, end. I wouldn't call it memorable because it wasn't, but it was readable and perfect for one occasion.

──────────────────

DIANA

Diana has come an extremely long and difficult journey to this point, full of suffering and happiness, but I believe this was the first time she was able to really live, not survive, not exist, but live.

It's incredible that at the beginning of the series she abhorred her legacy so much and how insecure she was, but now she used and accepted it almost every day, not fighting it. It's been a massive growth that has taken place in her, and I think that's beautiful.

I was so happy that we got back the caring, compassionate, and devoted person we met in the first book, especially when she went back to her job, which was practically her life, so maybe that played a part.

She was honestly an incredibly strong character and something you could have fun with and learn from her at the same time. She deserved peace, a loving family, Rebeca and Philip, more than anything else.

MATTHEW

Matthew has an incredibly long history that has accompanied him throughout his life. He had bad choices, mistakes, and bad deeds, but despite everything, he never forgot what he had learned.

I understand him, but I don't. A brilliant scientist, a great protector, but also darkness itself—at least to his enemies, certainly. He had to fight an incredible number of battles throughout the story, as well as with others and himself, but eventually he managed to tip over to the side of the light.

I'm not saying I love him because his overprotective self is too much for me, but I can see him beneath so many shields, and no matter how much he denies them, his heart beats beneath them, full of good.

He's a soldier, but no one can ever fight forever, including him. He almost needed Phillip and Rebeca as much as Diana, if not more. Not only that, but he deserves peace and tranquillity, he does, more than anything.

THE OTHERS

Oh, my dear Ysabeau, I've missed you so much. It's unbelievable that she was left out of the second book, even though I would have been most curious to see how would she reacted to Diana. Basically, not much has changed about her, the same stalwart and persistent has become perhaps a slightly more human vampire. I owe her my soul for doing everything she could to get her family back on track.

Philippe, okay, he didn't get a real role in this book, but that letter. That letter broke me in so many ways I can't tell.

Gallowglass, he is the number one fan of the twins, for sure, and also the best “uncle” in the world. He is my heart and soul, he gives me pure golden retriever energy. I hope so much that he gets the ending you deserve, with a lovely partner by his side and surrounded by a big family because he deserves it.

Jack & Annie, my poor Annie, my poor little baby, she deserved a thousand times better. But Jack, he's still here, and ahh, I don't know how to feel about him. He was raised by a monster who ultimately has a heart, but somehow he was stuck in between. He lives lively and cheerful, but he has an incredible compulsion to conform and longs for Matthew & Diana's love. It hurts tremendously to know that he got his great-grandfather's illness (aka Matthew – don't want me to explain the family situation, it's complicated) and that he can't live life to the fullest, even if he wanted to. He deserves the whole world and all hope for a better future. Although he lived and did infinitely much—good and bad things — he will be forever my “innocent” little boy who wanted to rob Diana once.

Baldwin, all I can say about him is that I always knew he had a heart, even if his body was woven from the darkness itself. He went to war for Diana, even if it meant the world would collapse, but he did. It's not the best match—the two of them—but I'm sure deep down they respect each other, maybe they understand each other, but well, they won't get any closer than that haha.

Benjamin, I hated him so much that sometimes I couldn't even breathe. It's horrible what he did to those witches, horrible what he did to his family (if I can call it that). I'm so happy he's dead.

Sarah, my poor Sarah was so lost for a while without Emily, she fell into a dark place from which she could not come out on her own, which I understood, and I was unable to have either. Fernando gets my heart for taking care of her and doing everything he could to get her back to the light.

──────────────────

THE PLOT/THE PACE/ETC.

OK, the plot was understandable to me, but it was also a bit confusing, especially when it came to the Book of Life and the various DNA stuff. Basically, I think it was fine, but there were some weird things about it.

The pace was extremely slow, sometimes too much, could have been a little faster in my opinion.

The ending was nicely closed, albeit in a bit of a hurry, somehow I expected there to be a big BUM, but it didn't turn out, which I regret, and I'm a bit disappointed about that.

──────────────────

THE END

It's been an incredible journey, but really, from the very beginning to the end. I never thought a book could open so many worlds to me, it really did. It's terribly sad to say goodbye to them now, it feels so bad even though it's absolutely necessary.

Part of my heart will always stay with them, and one day I will come back here.

Content Warnings

booknerderika's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.0

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ekbeeks22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

toastyghosty13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

2.5

This book was a below average way to end off the trilogy, in my opinion. There were a lot of things that I felt ruined this book, mainly the fact that it centered around Diana being pregnant and protecting the twins rather than doing anything. I hate any pregnancy arc in a story because then it seems like the character is walking on egg shells, and god forbid any woman try to save the world while pregnant. I have read other stories where a character is pregnant but is still able to help save the world and actually makes quite a large impact, so Diana being written in the opposite manner is a huge disappointment.

I also have issues with the fact that

Gallowglass has supposedly been in love with Diana this entire time. This gives a huge ick since he has called her "Auntie" since the 2nd book of the series. It is also just strange to include his infatuation for her as a detail since there were never any hints or evidence that he was feeling this way until she saw his tattoo of her in this book. It felt very forced. He starts to sulk a lot and Diana hopes he will find someone to love, which sounds like he might meet someone in the future but he basically just disappears with no explanation.

This entire book centers around finding the book of life and

Benjamin and Knox. I do not understand why Diana is able to do a tracking spell for the 3 missing pages, the book, and TJ Weston but is unable to do the same for Knox and Benjamin despite the fact that Knox is able to track her with his own spell. She is a weaver, she should be able to just create her own spell for this.

I also do not understand the ending, where

Philippes ghost returns and says that he "has been looking for the one that could do his burdens without breaking" and that "it isn't over yet". This obviously implies some sort of continuation and that more will come, yet this is the last book of a trilogy? At least we got some closure about how Diana and Matthew and Sophie and Nathan can have children, but there are still so many other things left open, like Emily's death and her actions shortly before it, plus anything on Gallowglass as well as what happens next with Phoebe and Marcus.

Another bit about the ending of the book is that

the fight against Benjamin and Knox is so lackluster. The entire book is a buildup to Diana and crew trying to find them and the book of life, just for her to kick their butts in ~2 pages, which is considerably less than the amount of text it took to describe her giving birth to the twins. This was exceptionally a let down to me on both fronts of too little combative showdown and too many birth descriptors. I did not need to know about her contractions, nor did I find it relevant in anyway to the main plot line. Even the existence of the twins seems so pointless to me because they bring basically no value.

In addition, Benjamin and Knox are such evil and disgusting creatures that have committed horrific actions against others; they deserve to have a gruesome and drawn out death. I feel like no justice was done and that their quick deaths were letting them off very easily

Overall, I was pretty disappointed in the way this trilogy has ended and I am kind of upset that I had bought the hardcover versions after liking the first two books so much. I almost hope there is a 4th book to actually tie it all together with all of the loose ends still left, but at the same time I don't know that I would bother reading it.

Content Warnings

flyintothestorm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

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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