Review: A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



This definitely felt like Twilight for adults to me. It's not just the taboo, over-protective, sophisticated, you smell too good to me, vampire romance. It's the slow focus on 'getting to know each other,' with food and wine, yoga and car rides. The family introductions, learning of old secrets, the fact that vampires don't just drink human blood and can go out in daylight - all of it was reminiscent of Twilight.

What was different was the mostly European setting (a bit more fitting than Washington for vampires), the atmosphere of historical discovery, and the fact that Diana is a witch from a long line of witches who refuses to do magic. She is also a historian, an alchemical scholar. When the focus is on the mystery of the manuscript she is studying, you can feel the history and smell the musty libraries. There's a depth to the ages and a background of centuries that make this something different.

If only it wasn't soooo long, and those interesting historical discoveries not so few and far between. It's about 600 pages, and maybe 20% of it is the interesting stuff or actual action breaking into the ordinary days. The rest of it is lengthy conversations over wine and tea, and the minute details of everything that Diana encounters or thinks of during her day. The details do provide quite a vivid picture of the scenes, but often it was too detailed, which was distracting and I found my mind wandering.

I'm in a bit of a conundrum because of the 20% that was interesting. I want to know what happens with the book and the magic and the fate of all creatures. Unfortunately I know that there are two more books just as long with just as much extra padding to slog through if I'm going to persevere to the actual happening. And most irritatingly, this book ends on a cliffhanger so that I have no closure at all. I may be forced to read the sequel for that reason alone.



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