A Discovery of Witches

Where to begin? The funniest part of this book is how the author used her main character to project all of her wishes and desires and accolades she must want for herself. Diana is widely recognized as a genius even amongst Oxford and Yale faculty, is beautiful, got tenure at Yale at 30, is in an incredibly obscure field yet receives tons of accolades and prizes for her books as well as speaking at conferences, is an elite athlete, causes kings to fall in love with her (along with everyone else…) Oh, and is all-powerful. Both of the main characters are boring and unlikable. Matthew commands Diana in ways both small and large, and she obeys. They are both so pretentious that at one point during dinner, Matthew orders her to close her eyes, taste the wine, and report on which flavors she finds. Harkness spends pages detailing Diana’s sympathy for Matthew’s sister’s death. His sister died in a slave revolt. Because she was a slaveowner. There was zero commentary on the moral element of this. Yet Diana is often described in the book as a good person. The book serves as an apologia for the status quo, old money, archaic class hierarchies (there’s even a butler!), all of which is told from Diana’s admiring/approving/unquestioning POV. The book switches from first person to third person (Matthew’s POV.) Using third person in this way is completely unnecessary and makes for lazy writing. Character development is about 90% tell, 10% show. All of the characters are pretty boring with the exception of her aunts. The plot is a play by play day in the life of an academic. The author tells us Diana is a smart and independent woman, yet her actions and the way she flails about following her man show her as the exact opposite. It’s infuriating. Is this how Harkness thinks women act around men? I read the whole series, so I know the story ending. Because of that, another thing I find hilarious is that the alchemy storyline the author spends SO MUCH TIME ON isn’t even necessary to the plot!! She spends a crazy amount of time describing alchemy manuscripts, authors, experiments, illustrations, in so much detail. And it’s nearly irrelevant to the ultimate plot climax 😂

Get over yourself. This is fiction.

I worried at the length of the book that I wouldn’t be able to get through it. But it captured me and I flew through it and am going to finish the trilogy.

I’ve read this book/series 3-4 times now - it’s my “comfort book(s)” and they are all fantastic! I can’t wait for Book 5 to release next year!

Couldn’t stop reading… only wish the serious would have kept more true to the book.

Buckle your seatbelt and pay attention to the names and details… it’s a great ride!!!

Wonderful

First 500 pages were so boring and could have been summed up in 50. The book was very detailed at points that did not need immense detail like when Matthew and Hamish were at the lodge. The parts that needed more explanation were poorly executed and confusing at times. Overall not as good as people make it out to be and I don’t know how it got turned into a TV show.

Wow what a world Deborah Harkness plummets you into when you read this book. She does an outstanding job at combining science, history, and otherworldly ideas. The main character, Diana, is very easy to connect to and I found myself relating to her more and more the further I read. I am in complete awe of the storyboard this author has created, the connections the characters the capture of it all in its essence is outright astonishing. Ever so slightly a surprising twist in the plot or an emotional scene would tug at the heart stings just enough to make you feel as though you are connected by your “third eye”. This is definitely a book I’ll be keeping on my shelf. Belonging just between Harry Potter and The Vampire Diaries.

I loved this trilogy when I read it on my own. The audiobook is just as good. The intonation is spectacular. You won’t regret listening to the audio.