I’m just going to come out and say it. **deep breath**
A Discovery of Witches is Twilight for adults.
**cringes**
And y’know what? I liked Twilight better.
**ducks as A Discovery of Witches fans throw things at her**
C’mon, people! I can’t be the first person to draw parallels between Deborah Harkness’ series and the wildly popular vampire books by Stephenie Meyer. SO MUCH of what happens in A Discovery of Witches, the first book in the All Souls Trilogy, reads like Twilight fan fiction – with witches.
Really, A Discovery of Witches is like a mash-up of Twilight and Harry Potter.
I’m walking a fine line with this DNF review, Tartlets. Fans of this witchy romance series will defend it with their last breath. I really can’t hold that against them, though; I’m someone who’ll argue the merits of Twilight with a disturbing level of enthusiasm. Plus, there’s the A Discovery of Witches TV show, so I guess the fans aren’t too off-base.
This blockbuster bestseller just didn’t hold my attention.
First of all, let’s be clear: A Discovery of Witches isn’t a bad book. I made it to page 319 out of 579 – well beyond my 50-page rule – and I was moderately entertained the entire time.
Harkness creates a captivating world filled with magical creatures living alongside “regular” people. There’s all sorts of rules and laws to keep straight regarding the handling of magic and mingling with Muggles – oops, sorry, with humans – and I give Harkness lots of credit for what she did there. World-building is incredibly difficult, and Harkness manages it well.
However… I wasn’t racing to get back to the world of A Discovery of Witches. My copy lingered on my nightstand, and while it was good enough to read in the wee hours of the morning when my insomnia kicked in, the book never made into daylight reading hours.
The further I read, the stronger the similarities between A Discovery of Witches and Twilight became; I found them on almost every page. Maybe if I hadn’t already read (and loved) the Twilight series, I might have enjoyed A Discovery of Witches more. The star-crossed lover scenario is swoon-worthy, and the world of witches, demons, and vampires is scary and enthralling at all once.
But, it’s nothing new. I wasn’t impressed, and I wasn’t engrossed.
The story is also really detailed. Which is fine — I’m a Janeite, for crying out loud; I can handle details — as long as the momentum keeps up. But, there was a lot more meandering in the book than I’d have liked.
The main hook of A Discovery of Witches is pretty good: reluctant witch Diana’s discovered a rare magical book, and now all the demon creatures are after her to get their hands on it. The only thing keeping Diana from meeting a very unpleasant fate? Matthew, the dark, handsome, and brooding vampire who’s trying to protect her and not fall in love with her at the same time.
Cliché or not, the budding forbidden romance between Matthew and Diana is what kept drawing me back in. But seemingly pointless side plots and overly long “filler scenes” pop up like mushrooms throughout the story. Every time Harkness took a sharp left turn to attend a demon yoga class, or to go horseback riding in the countryside for several pages, or to go into a long-winded history of Matthew’s past, she drove me further away from the only thing holding my interest.
I’d been debating whether or not to DNF the book when the decision was made for me: my copy was due back at the library. I slipped A Discovery of Witches into the book return and, to this day, I have no regrets.
My closing thoughts: If you love supernatural romances, give it a try. If you love Twilight and / or Harry Potter, give it a try.
If you haven’t read Twilight, really give A Discovery of Witches a try since the whole concept of paranormal forbidden romance in a mysterious magical world will be super-new to you.
What about you, Tartlets? What do you think of this one? So many people love the All Souls Trilogy that I acknowledge I’m in the minority here. Oh, well. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Totally agree in that people seem to either like one or the other. I loved this trilogy and could not stand Twilight. I will say the AMC series was quite good and got rid of a lot of the mundane details – pared it down quite nicely for a tv show based on a book.
However, her fourth book in the series I did not like as much. Perhaps it’s the history nut in me that loves so much detail?
Sometimes stuff just doesn’t click, but hey there’s always more books!
Such a dividing book review! haha. As I knew it would be. 🙂 I think I’ll eventually watch the TV show. I’m admittedly a little curious about what happens, and if they take out the side jaunts in the show, I think I have a better shot at sticking it out. Thanks for the recommendation, Joanna!
Count me among the haters of this book. I haven’t read the Twilight books so I can’t make comparisons, but it absolutely did read like fan fiction. Nope.
Preach, Patricia! Glad someone else got the fan fiction vibes that I did with this one. That said, some people (ahem, E.L. James) have done quite well for themselves with fan fiction, so … to each their own?? lol.
You are too funny! I really enjoyed the Discovery of Witches trilogy (and disliked Twilight), but Twilight meets Harry Potter is the perfect description of these books. I loved these books for the whimsical details, the world building, and the dark academia vibes, even though I disliked that Matthew was such a stereotypical broody vampire. But even as a fan, I think your critique is quite valid.
Thanks, Stacy! Admittedly, I’m a sucker for the broody vampire (die hard Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan here… Buffy + Angel 4eva!), but one can only take so many of the same archetype. The world building was definitely great, though! I was very impressed with that. I could never write fantasy like that; I’d never be able to keep my worlds and story straight, lol.