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A review by librosforlibra
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
2.0
I bought this novel because it was described as a cross between Anne Rice and Harry Potter. I found it to be more a cross between Twilight and the 2000s TV series Charmed. This book revolves around the romantic relationship between the main character, Diana, and a vampire, Matthew. Unfortunately, the romance between these two characters is immature and unconvincing.
This book has witches, vampires, daemons, ghosts, whatever Sophie is, mythological gods, the possibility of mixed species, witchcraft, spellcraft, alchemy, secret societies, a Templar-like order and time travel. It’s as if the author had twenty stories in her head and put them all in one book, which doesn’t work. However, the book is well-organized. The grammar and sentence structure are very good, and the plot is easy to follow.
Despite the complexity of the story, this book is much longer than it should be. The author describes the environment well, but she’s often long-winded. She sometimes gives elaborate details about things that have no bearing on the story or in setting the scene/mood. A lot of the material depicting the romance is unnecessary and just plain silly. We don’t need details about the outfits Diana is donning and how she styles her hair when she always wears black pants and black turtlenecks and pulls her hair into a ponytail.
Although the characters have deep histories, they are all superficial, one-dimensional and poorly written. Diana is supposed to be brave, but we only know that because other characters keep saying she’s brave. It’s the author’s job to write the main character as brave, and she didn’t do that at all. Diana comes across as anything but brave. She seems childish, impetuous, reckless and argumentative. Indeed, Matthew treats her like a toddler.
Matthew’s vampiric senses tell him what Diana feels, and he’s constantly announcing that Diana is hungry or tired. He then picks her up and places her in a chair to feed her or lifts her into bed at night. When she wakes, he lifts her out of bed and places her on the floor. When he wants her to face him, he turns her chair around with her in it. All of this is done without Diana’s permission. It’s nauseating. This book might work as a YA novel, but it is not a good adult novel.
This book has witches, vampires, daemons, ghosts, whatever Sophie is, mythological gods, the possibility of mixed species, witchcraft, spellcraft, alchemy, secret societies, a Templar-like order and time travel. It’s as if the author had twenty stories in her head and put them all in one book, which doesn’t work. However, the book is well-organized. The grammar and sentence structure are very good, and the plot is easy to follow.
Despite the complexity of the story, this book is much longer than it should be. The author describes the environment well, but she’s often long-winded. She sometimes gives elaborate details about things that have no bearing on the story or in setting the scene/mood. A lot of the material depicting the romance is unnecessary and just plain silly. We don’t need details about the outfits Diana is donning and how she styles her hair when she always wears black pants and black turtlenecks and pulls her hair into a ponytail.
Although the characters have deep histories, they are all superficial, one-dimensional and poorly written. Diana is supposed to be brave, but we only know that because other characters keep saying she’s brave. It’s the author’s job to write the main character as brave, and she didn’t do that at all. Diana comes across as anything but brave. She seems childish, impetuous, reckless and argumentative. Indeed, Matthew treats her like a toddler.
Matthew’s vampiric senses tell him what Diana feels, and he’s constantly announcing that Diana is hungry or tired. He then picks her up and places her in a chair to feed her or lifts her into bed at night. When she wakes, he lifts her out of bed and places her on the floor. When he wants her to face him, he turns her chair around with her in it. All of this is done without Diana’s permission. It’s nauseating. This book might work as a YA novel, but it is not a good adult novel.