Review: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

Publication date: May 26th 2015
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 561

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved 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.

This trilogy has been a see-saw of feelings for me. I loved the first one, struggled horribly to push through the second, and then rocked back to thorough enjoyment for this final instalment.
Back in the present seems to suit the story telling for this series, because I no longer had to force myself to wade through whole sections, instead I flew through it.

We finally got to spend time with the cast of characters I loved so much from the first book. We finally got answers to some questions - like the whole Emily thing, although I'm still cranky about that because it felt really poorly done and didn't really work. We also got to combine favourite characters from both books and see everyone interacting, which was awesome. This book truly sings when the whole cast of characters are together. 

I have to admit, at times it did feel a little bit like fan-fiction for the first book - here we have our hero and heroine being smushy and romantic and making a family! Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but I did have a few moments where I wanted it to be something more.

I'd also like to take a moment of silence for Gallowglass, my poor under appreciated baby - you deserved so much better.

I'll be honest, this is not the best book in the world. However it was exactly what I needed at this moment in time, so it kinda worked. It's definitely an improvement on the second book which was a slog, and I think because of the core ensemble of characters being involved throughout this one I may even prefer it to the first book. All told this is an interesting trilogy, with a really great plot and some fun elements and characters. Does it have really problematic issues with an overly possessive and controlling love interest? Sure. And if I go back and re-read the series I may find that that actually puts me off entirely. However right now, this was what I needed.

I'm now experiencing a terrible book hangover, where I want nothing more than to go back and revisit these characters and spend more time with them. What's that? A new book about Marcus and Phoebe, let me get my wallet...

Review: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Publication date: 10th July 2012
Publisher: Viking Adult
Pages: 584 pages

Picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night takes Diana and Matthew on a trip through time to Elizabethan London, where they are plunged into a world of spies, magic, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the School of Night. As the search for Ashmole 782 deepens and Diana seeks out a witch to tutor her in magic, the net of Matthew’s past tightens around them, and they embark on a very different—and vastly more dangerous—journey.

Given how much I enjoyed "A Discovery of Witches" I was really excited to get into the second book in the trilogy, but within a few pages I found that excitement dissipating.

This book was a slog to get through, that ended up taking me several months. There were odd patches that raced along at a better pace and swept me back into the story, but on the whole this was hard work and took me far too long to read for a book of this size.

Ultimately it felt as though Harkness had realised she actually wanted to write a historical novel and wanted to shoehorn that into her urban fantasy series. Sure it had lots of interesting titbits regarding day to day Elizabethan life, but they ended up bogging down the story and stifling any momentum the plot managed to generate.

There wasn't any real movement to the story, and nothing of any real lasting consequence for the story. There were a couple of odd dips into the present to catch us up with the characters from the first book, but they were stilted, strangely done, and skipped over important information that I'm sure we'll get filled in in book three, but just served the irritating purpose of making me flip back through the book going "WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" We met some people, there was some soul searching, there was some character development, but it didn't need to be dragged out over nearly 600 pages. I was left feeling frustrated, bored, and wanting to go back to the first book and pretend this one had never happened.

Yes I will carry on and finish the series, mostly because I struggle to leave a series incomplete. And also in the desperate hope that the third book will recapture what I loved about the first book instead of wading through a quagmire of irrelevant trifles.

This is not the sequel the first book deserved, and it pained me how little I enjoyed it. If I gave half stars it would be two and a half, but I'm feeling generous so I'm rounding up.
If you enjoyed the first book don't expect the same from this one, be prepared for a frustrating read.

Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Publication Date: December 27th 2011 (this edition)
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 579 pages

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell. 

I'd put off reading this book for an awfully long time, and now I'm not entirely certain why. Perhaps it had become muddled with other books around the same time? Regardless, I'd steadfastly refused to pick it up, all the while not actually having any idea of what it was about... Genius. However then the trailer for the TV adaptation appeared, and on watching that I realised that I might have been a little bit hasty on my refusal to give this book a go and I should probably pick it up after all.

And I'm really glad I did. The book was incredibly engrossing, and once I'd started reading I found it very difficult to put down. There were a few issues, that did raise some red flags for me (stalkerish protective machoism wrapped up as being a good thing, as well as a few consent issues) and those did colour my feelings for the book, but the rest of the story was so well written and engaging that by the end I could kind of forgive those earlier problems. Mostly. Well, honestly if I think too hard about it then I start to feel a little bit squicky and problematic, which is never a good feeling for a book. But when I think back on the book those aren't what sticks out for me. What I think about is the engaging characters, the vivid and fascinating settings as the story moves around the globe, the curious story that gradually unfurls and wraps you up in it until you feel as though you are with Diana as she tries to navigate this crazy upside down mess she's fallen into.

It starts as a small story, one that feels safe and warm and filled with bright curiosity, and then slowly expands, illuminating the layers and sub plots that tangle in around our heroine and show us how far reaching this story will ultimately be. I devoured it. And then I found the audiobook and listened to that too. 

Honestly I did feel slight Twilight undertones, but they were quickly swept away with a genuinely fascinating story, one that evolves to become its own complex beast by the end of the book, leaving me breathless to find out what happens in the second book.

It's not a challenging read, despite its size it's quick and curious and light, although there are darker undertones waiting to surface. It was supernatural comfort food, with a bit more depth to it than I initially feared I would find. And now I cannot wait to see how the story translates to the screen in the adaptation airing on September 14th.