Review: The Book of Life by: Deborah Harkness

The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy #3) by: Deborah Harkness (July 15, 2014)

561 pages

Genre: Adult/Supernatural

Publisher: Kensington

Source: The Library

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.

With more than one million copies sold in the United States and appearing in thirty-eight foreign editions, A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night have landed on all of the major bestseller lists and garnered rave reviews from countless publications. Eagerly awaited by Harkness’s legion of fans, The Book of Life brings this superbly written series to a deeply satisfying close.

My Review

Waiting for The Book of Life to come out was completely worth it, and I would do it over and over again. The Book of Life was a solid ending to a great trilogy. I can honestly say that I’m not sure I have ever enjoyed a third book in a trilogy more than this one. I was in Book Nirvana. For fans that didn’t enjoy the second book as much as the first book you are in luck, The Book of Life is more like A Discovery of Witches.

The Book of Life picked up right where Shadow of Night left off. Matthew and Diana are back in the present and finding the book, keeping the family together, and trying to stay alive are just few of the hardships they must face.

I love Matthew and Diana. I love them separately. I love them together. I love them. Did I mention that I love them? The best part, I pretty much love all of the minor characters in this trilogy as well. All of them. Okay, I think it’s time I move on.

The Book of Life is the darkest book yet in this amazing trilogy full of vampires, witches, and deamons. Even though the atmosphere is more intense than ever before, Harkness manages to also include moments of happiness among her characters, even during dark times. While reading my heart broke and then it mended, I was sitting on the edge of my seat the entire time, unraveling the secrets it held in its pages. Did I mention that I read this big book in one day? Well I did. It was that captivating. I never wanted to leave the world Harkness made. The Book of Life was full of unexpected events and brings what it means to be a family to a whole new level. I loved every second of it. It maybe did get a little weird at times, but nothing I couldn’t handle.

If you are A Discovery of Witches fan then I’m certain you will enjoy the final installment in the trilogy. Grab a copy and have fun reading about more of Matthew and Diana’s adventures. Retreat into the magical world Harkness created and enjoy.

Review: Shadow of Night by: Deborah Harkness

Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy) by: Deborah Harkness

Publisher: Viking Adult

592 pages

Genre: Romance/History/Fantasy

Summary: Shadow of Night begins literally right where A Discovery of Witches ended. Matthew and Diana are now in Elizabethan London in search of a witch to help Diana understand and use her powers. On their journey they run into obstacles including old friends, spies, alchemy, and more.  My summary ends there because I want to give nothing away.

Review: I have been waiting a year for this book to come out and when it finally did I immediately purchased it on my Sony reader at midnight.  The wait was worth it.

In the second book of this trilogy Harkness doesn’t disappoint, although it did take a little while till the book really captured my attention. It seemed interesting and fun to read at first. Trying to keep track of all the historical characters and Matthew’s past kept my focus at the beginning of the book. Then after a few chapters the story doesn’t seem to really move forward. I understand that it will take Diana a while to adjust to a whole new century, but Matthew and Diana’s life seems unadventurous at the beginning of the novel. I loved the pretty much non-stop adventure, mystery, and love in the first novel.  This slower beginning shouldn’t deter the reader from finishing the book because it gets so much better.

Matthew and Diana’s relationship grows in the novel as they face new challenges and work together to find solutions to their never ending problems with alchemy, witchcraft and the past. The new characters introduced in this novel are not only always entertaining but also hard to pinhole.

When you hit the sweet spot of the novel you won’t be able to put it down. The adventure starts to take hold and Diana finally finds a witch to help her discover who she is. Most importantly an unexpected character emerges that will add to the delight of this novel.

Above all, we get glimpses into what is going on in the present day with the Ashmole manuscript and the other characters we met in the first novel as well. My only real complaint of this novel is that I wish we would have gotten a few more glimpses of the present, but at least we got some.

The ending will leave you wanting more. I can’t believe I have to wait another year or more for the next book. Once again, like the first one, the book ends with a cliffhanger you wouldn’t believe. Even though I strongly agree that you should pick up this book and read it as soon as you can I would understand if you want to wait awhile so the ending isn’t so excruciating. J  Not quite as good as the first, but amazing all the same. Fans of A Discovery of Witches won’t be disappointed.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review: A Discovery of Witches by: Deborah Harkness

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy) by: Deborah Harkness (2011)

Publisher: Viking Adult

592 pages

Genre: Romance/Vampires/Mystery

Summary: Diana Bishop, a witch that wishes she wasn’t who no longer practices magic and is also an established professor, gets her hands on a lost manuscript that deamons, witches, and vampires all want a piece of. Things start to get a little crazy with the discovery and Diana leans on Matthew Clairmont for help, a 1,500-year-old vampire. Diana’s life is turned upside down and she must figure out why this manuscript is so important and she must rely on Matthew to keep her safe until she decides to do something about being a witch.

Review: If you like vampire romances with some action and no teenage drama then this is the book for you. I instantly fell in love with this grown-up vampire (but so much more) love story. This review may seem a little vague at times but I want you take the time to read the book and uncover all the mysteries it has to offer by yourself.

Matthew Clairmont, the vampire love interest, has qualities just like every other vampire you read about or see in movies, but Harkness has managed to make Matthew a little more complex and the vampires in her novel a little more real. I can just picture these vampires living in our world unnoticed. Harkness’ little additions to vampires and vampire life in her novel are interesting and give the reader a little something different. I won’t give any away but let’s just say she uses the basic vampire stereotypes humorously.

Diana is no heartsick teenager. She is complex and a much credited professor. She has her moments of being childish, such as her refusal to use magic, but she also has some good reasons behind her actions. How Diana handles her relationship with Matthew is more appealing than the average teenage vampire love story. She stills shows those love struck qualities but on the mature end. I know Diana and Matthew’s relationship seems to progress a little quickly but given the circumstances I can’t say that I blame them.

The best part about this book is the amount of mystery and action that occurs. This is not just a love story about a witch and a vampire. This is about much more. My emotions ran high when reading this book. There are a few twists and turns that will keep your heart pounding. Also, this book takes some thought to read. The characters go into depth when talking about certain science and history subjects. Harkness makes it easy to follow what is being discussed but this book does take more brain power than the average vampire romance, but I would have to say that is a good thing.

Once you start reading this book I don’t guarantee that you will stop until you have read the last page. I know some people have called this book Twilight for adults, but it is better than that. If you liked Twilight you will probably like this book, but if you didn’t like Twilight you will still like this book.

Rating: 5/5