Jenn's Review: The Book of Life

Author: Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy #3
Publication Date: July 15, 2014
Publisher: Viking Adult
Pages: 561
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  contempory paranormal
Rating: 4.0
Bottom Line: Captivating
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

 Blurb:  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.   

Review:  This is the final book in the trilogy and I have been looking forward to it for a long time.  Perhaps too long a time.  I wish I had had time to go back and read the first two books again -or even listen to them as audio books (but the library doesn't have them on tape)- because I think that would have helped to reconnect to the story.

For me the first book in this trilogy, A Discovery of Witches, was spectacular.  The second, Shadow of Night, though cumbersome was really intriguing.  The Book of Life is a good solid finish to the series, but nothing is as stellar as the first book.   Deborah Harkness has a fluid style that pulls you in as a reader.  I loved how things from the last book came into the third book as the travel to the past affected the future.  Some of the major plot points were resolved and tied up neatly however there were so many things I wanted to know more about.  I felt like The Book was never properly explained.  I hated how things ended with certain characters... especially Gallowglass.  I was not satisfied with the conclusion on Blood Rage especially with all the time spent researching it.  While I enjoyed the read, I ended up with a bit of a "that's it?" feeling at the end.  

That being said, I think the All Souls Trilogy is worth the read.  The first two books outshine the last book, but it's still a fantastic story.  Will I read Deborah Harkness again?  You bet.

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Jenn's Review: Shadow of Night

Summary:  A Discovery of Witches introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Drawn to one another despite longstanding taboos, and in pursuit of Diana’s spellbound powers, the two embark upon a time-walking journey.  Book Two of the All Souls Trilogy plunges Diana and Matthew into  Elizabethan London, a world of spies and subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night.  The mission is to locate a witch to tutor  Diana and to find traces of Ashmole 782, but as the net of Matthew’s past tightens around them they embark on a very different journey, one that takes them into heart of the 1,500 year old vampire’s shadowed history and secrets. For Matthew Clairmont, time travel is no simple matter; nor is Diana’s search for the key to understanding her legacy. Shadow of Night brings us a rich and splendid tapestry of alchemy, magic, and history, taking us through the loop of time to deliver a deepening love story, a tale of blood, passion, and the knotted strands of the past. ~blurb

Review:  While my love of the All Souls Trilogy hasn't abated, I will say that Shadow of Night was much slower going than I expected.  Because the character's have traveled back in time, I am suddenly reading historical fiction, which means I'm a little out of my element.  I don't usually enjoy historical fiction unless it's a topic I am well versed in so that I can sort the fact from the fiction.  Luckily, Deborah Harkness is an erudite historian which is valuable to the authenticity of the plot, however it also bogged things down considerably.

Although it isn't necessary to have a rudimentary knowledge of the politics and culture of  Elizabethan England, it certainly helps.  At times I found the need to go and look up bits of European 16th century history just to make sure I was getting all the references.  While I enjoyed getting to know the School of Night, I had trouble keeping all of them straight, and I missed all of the characters that were left behind in the present.  There were several chapters that flashed back to the present, but I craved more.  The one character I loved meeting was Matthew's father.  Philippe sheds a brilliant and entirely new light on Matthew and the de Clermonts.  I loved every moment of this part of the story.  (There is also another surprise character that I was glad to get to know.)  Watching Diana and Matthew learn to function as a couple was wonderful, and their moments together made the entire novel.

For the most part, though, I felt that Diana and Matthew lost focus of their mission and many times I found myself chiding the characters to get a move on.  So many months are spent educating Diana to keep her from seeming out of place that I was relieved when she finally found a teacher for witchcraft.  Unfortunately, Ms. Harkness spends very little time on Diana's lessons so, sadly, much of the magic goes by the wayside.  I also got a little lost in Diana's alchemical studies which were interesting, but perhaps too detailed and too much plot exposition.

When the return to the present arrives, it is a year after they left, and I'm not sure I understand why they didn't return to the moment they left, save for plot advancement.  If this was meant to be the climax of the novel, it rather missed the mark.  Much has happened in their absence, but very little is explained.  I would have preferred a shorter visit to the past and a longer reunion at home.  I know there is another novel yet to come that will encompass this but I felt a little cheated.  (For example, I really wanted to see Gallowglass' reunion with the de Clermont's in the present.)  Another factor that contributes to this, I think, is that the novel ends with a chapter in the Old World two years after the de Clermont's departure.  While this gives us perspective on historical characters and the title of the book, it seemed like a bit of a let down after all that occurs.

It is a testament to how much I truly adored A Discovery of Witches, that Deborah Harkness could get me to read an historical fiction novel.  While Shadow of Night had it's faults, it is a huge building block in the All Souls Trilogy and I can't wait to see the repercussions from the time walking and will be happy to be back in the present in the third book.

Final Take:  4.0/5

 

Jenn's Review: A Discovery of Witches

Summary:  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.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism. ~Goodreads.com


Review: There was a lot of hype surrounding A Discovery of Witches, but we all know that's no guarantee of a fantastic book. Such is the case here. It's not fantastic; it's fabulous.

It is one of the few reads where I wasn't analyzing as I go, I was just enjoying the story. As a matter of fact, the only time I was aware of the fact that it was a story at all was when I was bothered by that troublesome need to flip the page. It's so rare that I loose myself in a novel like that. I didn't identify bits of foreshadowing or archetypes, I just read and enjoyed the journey. And if anything, it is a journey. On the surface, it may seem like not much is happening, but things are constantly evolving. If you aren't smitten with Deborah Harkness' style of writing, I perhaps could see not enjoying the novel. Ms. Harkness delights in the details and glories in thoroughness, but that's what made me love it. She doesn't gloss over the science or the history of it, but she doesn't get so bogged down in semantics that she looses the reader. Deborah Harkness knows her stuff.

Honestly I am having trouble writing my review because I don't want to deconstruct it and examine the parts that made it work so beautifully as a whole. In a way it reminds me of Rebecca Maizel's Infinite Days (the YA book that made me fall back in love with vampire stories) in that it's a refreshing twist on the paranormal genre. Sometimes I feel like paranormal books are paranormal for the sake of being showy paranormal. But there is no splashiness here just an ever evolving story with enigmatic characters that just happen to be paranormal. And that is what I love most of all. The romance of it all and the blossoming of the story are beautiful. A Discovery of Witches is not pretentious; it just is.

And while Deborah Harkness leaves us on the cusp of another huge adventure, she doesn't end the novel too soon.  There were plenty of places she could have stopped where things were far more precarious, but she sees the plot through to it's natural pausing place. Am I still itching to continue the All Souls Trilogy?  Absolutely!  It will not be long before I pick up Shadow of Night, but I don't need to jump right into it. I'm still too busy savoring A Discovery of Witches and rereading my favorite little bits of it.  It's one of those novels that stays with you long after you put it down.  It's one of those books I will re-visit for years to come. I can't wait to see where the rest if the journey will take me.

Final Take:  5/5