A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

This is the first book in The All Souls trilogy following Dr. Diana Bishop, a highly respected Oxford researcher in history and science, who also happens to be the descendant of a famous Salem witch. Diana herself though has turned her back on magic, after being traumatized as a child by the murder of her powerful witch parents. Until she is able to find an enchanted manuscript in the Bodleian library and draws the attention of all kinds of supernatural creatures such as vampires, demons and other witches, and her magic starts to awaken again. One of the creatures following her especially draws Diana’s attention to himself too, the biochemist researching vampire Matthew Clairmont who wants to find a cure to stop vampires from getting weak and eventually exterminated.

I love strong female leads, historical and academic settings, and ever since Twilight I have a thing for vampires, so I was certain this book would be a perfect match for me. But sadly, it wasn’t as amazing as I thought it would be. I did love the world building and the descriptions of the Oxford surroundings and the historical aspects, the vivid writing and the wonderful secondary characters in Matthew’s family (sired as well as biological) and Diana’s aunt and her partner. But I had two major problems with this book.

The first problem was the length and pace. With more than 600 pages, this book was simply a bit too long, overloaded with details, and painfully slow at times. It also didn’t have that certain fantasy feels to it. It was more of a traditional romance with some (a lot…) extra history and science added plus some paranormal creatures and linear curses etc to spice it up. Even though there were a lot of action, the focus was on history rather than adventure.

The second problem was the main characters and their romance. The romance had an intense and fast start, but then it never really matured the way I’d wanted to. I never really felt the connection between them, or a connection myself to either of them. They were a bit one dimensional with Diana as the flawless good girl not wanting to use her powers and Matthew as the stronger and older guardian always protecting her. But at the end, it felt like the scale was shifting with Diana stepping up to become the witch she was meant to be, so I’m hopeful for developments in the next two books in this series!

And overall, even though this book wasn’t exactly what I expected, it was still a very enjoyable read with a wonderful world building, and I am definitely invested enough to continue this series.

Rating:
​3 stars

Get your own copy:
Bookshop.org
Amazon
Book Depository

​Author info:
Deborah Harkness