A Discovery of Witches: A Novel (All Souls, #1)

by Deborah Harkness

Book one of the New York Times-bestselling All Souls trilogy—"a wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter and Twilight” (People). 
 
Now “[a] hot show that’s like Twilight meets Outlander” (Thrillist) airing Sundays on AMC and BBC America, as well as streaming on Sundance Now and Shudder.

Deborah Harkness's sparkling debut, A Discovery of Witches, brought her into the spotlight and galvanized fans around the world. In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.

Harkness has created a universe to rival those of Anne Rice, Diana Gabaldon, and Elizabeth Kostova, and she adds a scholar's depth to this riveting tale of magic and suspense. The story continues in book two, Shadow of Night, and concludes with The Book of Life. The story now comes alive in an incredibly lush eponymous TV series, starring Teresa Palmer (I Am Number Four, Hacksaw Ridge) and Matthew Goode (Match Point, The Imitation Game).

• ISBN10: 0525506306
• ISBN13: 9780525506300
• Publish Date: 8 January 2019 (first published 1 February 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Edition: Media tie-in
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 592
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780525506300

Reviews

[scarr]

Re-Read January 2021: I give another star to this book (originally rated 3 stars, now 4 stars).
I did not appreciate how well-written this book is upon first read. I studied history so I suppose the main character's profession interests me (she studied the History of Science) which makes the book all the more enjoyable.

If you enjoy slow-burn paranormal romance + fantasy + some fun historical fiction you'll enjoy this read. Maybe later in the year I will re-read books 2 & 3 :)

2,5 stars

"It begins with absence and desire.
It begins with blood and fear.
It begins with a discovery of witches."

A long book that felt like a loooong book.

I was drawn to A Discovery of Witches for many reasons: the title, the cover, the promise of urban fantasy fun, the world of academia and a bunch of interesting supernatural creatures. Like all books that I'm excited about, this one spent a lonely life on my bookshelf for 9 years until I finally decided that it was going to be read. I had high expectations, but now I feel 'meh'.
 
Diana, the main character, is a Mary-Sue. Her refusal to accept her witch magic is an interesting aspect, but once the romance started, she kept on disappointing me. We are told through other characters that Diana is brave, powerful, independent and smart, but I rarely saw those moments. There's a lot of telling instead of showing and the characters feel distant. 

I tried to like the love interest, Matthew, but I just couldn't. I understood his protective instinct and the predator vs prey aspect is interesting, but I couldn't get behind his domineering nature, his mood swings, his withholding of information and his murderous temper. If he wasn't a vampire, I wouldn't be able to deal with him. He is problematic. 

I don't like the romance and it takes precedence over plot. Although there is instalove, the progression of the romance in the beginning is natural. However, very early on, the relationship accelerates at an alarming rate and I was wishing for some brakes.

I also couldn't make sense of the plot. The plot progression is weird and there are lots of filler moments. I do not understand how Michael and Diana's actions relate to the plot or why going certain places impact the plot. The main purpose of the plot is to further the romance. I couldn't see the point of anything else. 

A Discovery of Witches touches on varied and interesting topics such as history, magic, alchemy, medicine, science, evolution and genetics. It also means there's lots of detail, most of which is unnecessary. There's pages of eating, sleeping, tasting, smelling, wine-tasting, etc. that add very little to the story and there's background info-dumping. The writing and dialogue is dense and getting through this book is tedious. 

The world-building is also interesting. The world as we know it consists of four creatures - humans, daemons, witches and vampires. There's reasons for their existence, reasons why they remain hidden and prejudice. I thought I was going to love A Discovery of Witches because of the atmosphere and the little moments in the world of academia (before the romance took center-stage). My favourite aspect is the Bishop house. It's where I got to see some magic and where I got to know some potentially interesting characters: Sarah, Em, Marcus and Sophie. 

Am I going to continue with the series? Yes. I have the rest of the series on my Kindle, I have hope that the All Souls trilogy will improve and apparently, I enjoy torturing myself. 

"But no Bishop ever turns her back on another Bishop."

[mitabird]

2.5 stars

[Angie]

This book has everything I love (vampires, witches, forbidden romance, books, yoga, and time travel!!!) but it was painfully boring, as is evident by how long it took me to finish.

Definitely glad I decided to read this after watching the first couple of episodes of the show. The book moves at a much slower pace than the show, however it gives the plot more time to flesh things out and makes Diana and Matthew's romance a lot less whirlwind like the show. Such a fun read and I'm looking forward to continue on with the series once I find time. I would also highly recommend the audio versions by Jennifer Ikeda for those who prefer to listen instead of reading.

[pamela]

Ok, so there’s a lot to unpack in A Discover of Witches, the first book in Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy. It’s been on my TBR pile for a while, and with my 2019 Reading Challenge well underway, I thought it would be a good idea to start off my birthday month with a trilogy, especially one that I’ve bee meaning to read for a while. I was expecting something great given how many people had recommended it, but what I got was a popcorn Urban Fantasy romance dressed up as literary fiction. It was all form and no substance.

A Discovery of Witches is like two separate, very different books all rolled into one. One of those books was right up my street, and the other had me pulling my hair out in anger and frustration. The historical and academic parts of the novel, mixed with the experienced history of its characters really worked for me. When Diana Bishop was in Oxford studying ancient alchemical manuscripts, my eyes flew over the pages desperate to take in every word.

Harkness drew me in with a strong premise and intelligent, emotive writing. The beginning and end of A Discovery of Witches are where it really shines. It’s an historical mystery wrapped up in intrigue, and at those moments I was utterly engrossed. But unfortunately, the entire middle of the book and most of the plot movements were dedicated to one of the most lacklustre, insipid romances ever put to page. And it’s toxic, to boot.

As far as I can tell, there are only two emotions that keep the world spinning, year after year. One is fear. The other is desire.

There is precisely zero chemistry between the Witch, Diana Bishop, and her Vampire lover, Matthew Clairmont. Sure, Matthew is intelligent, but apart from the fact that he’s handsome, there is nothing about him as a person that really convinced me why someone as equally intelligent and independent as Diana would fall for him. Matthew is controlling, demanding, secretive, and dismissive. At various points in the narrative, he purposefully keeps important things from Diana – things that are imperative for her independent decision making. He controls her through use of his blood, keeps her sedated if he thinks she’s being too headstrong about her own bodily autonomy and is a straight up murderer! Sure, at times Diana makes the right noises about Matthew’s controlling nature, but it never goes anywhere. She merely smiles, nods, and accepts all of his negative traits because he’s…good looking, I guess?

Diana Bishop herself is a problematic character, and it sometimes felt like Harkness couldn’t quite decide what she wanted her to be. I’m an historian, and some of the ways Diana thinks about her profession and research makes my mind absolutely reel. It is established very early on that Diana doesn’t use her witchcraft because she’s afraid of it after her parents were killed by villagers in Africa for being witches (the inherent bias in that alone is worthy of discussion at some point…). Despite this, she still has some vestiges of power that could help her in her research, which she refuses to use because she thinks it’s cheating and wants to make sure that she earned everything on her own. This is like someone born tall thinking that their height gives them an unfair advantage in basketball so it would be cheating if they played. If your skills give you a unique outlook and understanding of the history that you’re studying, this isn’t cheating. This is using your knowledge for the betterment of human understanding! If you can glimpse the past and find the truth of a document from touching it, then this is a far more valuable skill than the fallibility of human interpretation. As long as you can cite it, you can use it!

Still, Diana is set up as an independent, modern woman with a set of ‘isms’ that she will have to overcome. I can totally get on board with that. But it’s not how the narrative played out. Within weeks of meeting Matthew, Diana does everything he wants, and everything he tells her to do. She sometimes remarks on the way he controls everything she does, she even says she doesn’t like it, but she lets him do it anyway. Even her magic is somehow tied to her feelings for him. Given how many women were killed historically as witches for being too independent, the fact that Diana’s witchcraft is tied to man is just downright insulting.

All you have to do is be a good listener. Nobody really wants to keep secrets, not even the dead. People leave clues everywhere, and if you pay attention, you can piece them together.

The end picks up again as A Discovery of Witches brings the plot back to the historical manuscripts. When Diana heads back to her childhood home, Harkness weaves some of the best scenes in the book. The house is a character in its own right, and I absolutely loved the way it reacted to and accommodated for visitors. This is where the real mystery comes into play, and I loved the convergence of characters (although once again, Matthew spends the entire time being an absolute douche).

This is where we come to an issue of stylistic choice, however. A Discovery of Witches is written in the first person from Diana’s point of view. Because of this, we can only experience the narrative through her eyes. The unintended consequence of this was that in the final few chapters we end up with characters showing up who we’ve never heard of until this point, but are going to be absolutely essential to the plot moving forward (I assume…). They seemed just to appear and were given grave narrative importance, despite the fact that one of them only appears in a single chapter! I had a moment where I had to flick back a few chapters and see if I was meant to know who these people were. It was sudden and confusing and definitely could have been worked in more subtly to the narrative.

All in all, I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy A Discovery of Witches. I did. When I got past the pages and pages of wanky wine descriptions and the fact that Diana loves tea, and moved past the absolutely toxic and insipid romance, the descriptions were sumptuous, and the world building was really quite excellent. I’m going to finish the series – after all, that’s what a reading challenge is for – but I really hope that Diana grows into a stronger character as the novels progress, and Matthew stops being such an insufferable asshole.

For anyone who felt like me and loved the literary mystery of A Discovery of Witches but hated the Twilight’esque romance, I can highly recommend A.S. Byatt’s Possession. It is everything that A Discovery of Witches isn’t.

[leahrosereads]

This was pretty much adult Twilight. If that sounds like something you'd be interested in, maybe try the series.

Unfortunately, this wasn't an enjoyable read for me and the only reason I finished is because I refused to DNF my first read (second completed book) of 2019.

I'm marginally invested in the plot and will be looking for a summary for Book 2 but will not be spending anymore time than necessary in this world.

[Jo]

Originally published on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I have had A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness sitting on my TBR for years. Every time I tried to read it, I just wasn't in the right mood for it. But when I recently discovered the TV show based on the book, I decided I wanted to read it before I watched it. And while I was gripped by the very end of the book, I was quite disappointed overall.

Living in a world of witches, vampires and daemons as well as humans, Diana Bishop is a witch who has refused to use magic since her parents were murdered by humans when she was seven - except for the odd time she fixed her washing machine so it wouldn't flood, and getting a book off a shelf she couldn't reach. She's determined to live as human a life as possible, as a historian with a particular interest in alchemy. While at the Bodleian library at Oxford, looking through old alchemical manuscripts to prepare for a key note she will be giving in a few months, she requests a manuscript, Ashmole 782, that is obviously bewitched. Not wanting anything to do with magic, she sends it back. Now creatures are appearing in the library, watching her every move. It turns out creatures have been searching for Ashmole 782 for over a hundred years, and she's the first person to find it, and now they want her to call it back again. Containing the secrets to the origins of all creatures, the creatures are desperate to get ahold of that book, and danger lurks around every corner. It's only Matthew Clairmont, a vampire scientist, who also wants the book, who seems to not want to hurt Diana in order to get it, and is the only one who can protect her. As the two draw ever closer, they discover secrets that are even bigger than the lost manuscript, secrets that could lead to a war.

I should probably admit that before starting the book, I watched the first episode of the TV show, thought it looked awesome, and decided I would rather discover it all through the book first. However, having watched the first episode, I knew why the vampires wanted Ashmole 782. In the book, however, you don't find out why anyone wants the book until roughly two hundred pages in. Two hundred pages. What we get in those two hundred pages is Diana working int he library surrounded by creatures watching her, Diana exercising - rowing, running, doing yoga with Matthew, occasionally, a few conversations with Matthew, a lot of descriptions about architecture, and descriptions of wine. After finding the manuscript, sending it back, and being noticed by the creatures and meeting Peter Knox - super famous, very powerful witch on the Congregation (an organisation of three witches, three daemons, and three vampires, set up to keep all the creatures apart in order to keep the humans from noticing them - because when they're together, people know there's something different), absolutely nothing happens. For two hundred pages. That's almost two thirds of your average-length book. And that's not the only time nothing happens.

It's really difficult to talk about the plot of the book without spoiling it, because after finding out why everyone wants the manuscript, things get kind of spoilery, but also because anything of any real import happens so rarely. The last quarter of this 688 page book is the best, but the first three are filled with a lot of nothing, with something important being discovered here and there, with something major - as in the epic kind of major - happening, and then back to more nothing. And most of the time, apart from the major event, most things are discovered or figured out through conversations. So even when something of import is happening, it's just more talking, but a more important conversation than all of the other conversations had. I am normally of the opinion, when it comes to fantasy, that the bigger the book, the better, but I swear this book could have at least half of it cut, and it would have been better, tighter, less nothing, more something.

It was like Harkness decided to focus more on the romance between Diana and Matthew... but wasn't that great at writing romance. There was no chemistry between them, and no real development to their relationship, either. Matthew is beautiful, and Diana can't deny that, despite him seeming to follow her, and her being quite annoyed by it. But then he starts protecting her from some of the other creatures, and I guess she thinks he can't be that bad, because although he is a vampire, and quite dangerous, and part of the world she has turned her back on, and is after something from her (the manuscript), she decides she will go to yoga with Matthew, and she will have breakfast with him in a cafe, and she will invite him over for dinner. And it's not even like this is based entirely on fancying him. Peter Knox has made her feel unsafe, and has been quite rude about the fact that she's been hanging out with a vampire, but Matthew makes her feel safe, and he protects her, so it makes sense to kind of thank him and cultivate this friendship - again, even though he's a vampire, and she's been brought up her whole life not to trust them, how dangerous and evil they are, and to just steer completely clear. It's like she starts making choices that don't completely make sense; they're understandable - she wants to feel safe, and he is gorgeous - but she shouldn't be around vampires, what is she doing?! And then, out of nowhere, they are in love. There's no gradual development of it, and as I said, no chemistry! I just didn't really believe it. In the end I just had to accept that they were in love, because they started acting like it as the book went on and the stakes got more dangerous, but I just didn't feel it. And not at all romantic! I mean this, their first kiss, from page 182; '...he kissed me slowly once, twice in the French manner.' I kid you not. In the French manner. How hot and romantic does that sound? I mean, Jesus.

Also, I just wasn't a huge fan of their relationship. I liked Diana and Matthew as individual people, but as a couple, no. And that was basically down to Matthew and his vampire instincts to protect at all costs, and my god, he is so controlling! And there were some instances that were really familiar to a certain YA vampire novel that was quite popular a number of years back. I don't know if it's vampire lore or something, but Matthew was just out of order more times than I can count. He's all "You will do as I say, because this is how things are in vampire relationships," and Diana is just expected to accept it... and she kind of does? She just gives away her agency, and does whatever Matthew thinks is best for them to do, and has very little say. There was a moment where it was addressed by one of her aunts, and I thought that maybe it would kick some sense into her, and although she can see it, she doesn't really do anything about it. Oh, there are times when she challenges him, and does something that aren't necessarily wise, but overall, she just rolls over. And it's not just because she's not a vampire, and therefore weaker and more fragile than him. This is how it is for vampires, as we see with his vampire mother Ysabeau; vampires are very patriarchal, and male vampires laud it over female vampires, and the women just do as they're told. Mate, I really wasn't a fan. And the chivalry is just over the top! I don't have a problem with chivalry; opening doors for people and all that is fine. But Matthew would get annoyed whenever Diana opened her own car door, or tried to climb onto a horse on her own. Literally annoyed.

'"Will you never wait until I help you?" he growled into my ear.
"I can get onto a horse myself," I said hotly.
"But you don't need to."' (p288)

I just found it beyond frustrating that he wouldn't let her do anything. It's bordering on infantilising. It's bloody ridiculous.

There is a lot of focus on alchemy and some focus on genetics, and while it's accessible, sometimes it does feel like you're being bogged down with all this stuff that doesn't really seem all that important to the story. Diana's historian work focuses on alchemy, ok, we get it, do we really need to be told all the history? It turns out that yes, we do, because it matters later on. But at the time, even though I found it quite interesting, I was just thinking can you please, please just get on with the story. Move the plot along!

Seriously, if it wasn't for the TV show, how awesome it looks, and how I wanted to read the book beforehand, I would have stopped reading A Discovery of Witches altogether. I would have given up, because it is just so incredibly slow!

Saying all this, the actual plot of the story is actually awesome! It's bigger than the bewitched Ashmole 782, it's bigger than Diana and Matthew's forbidden relationship, and bigger than other things we discover. By the end of the book, nobody is really sure what exactly it's all about, but they have their clues, and they know what they need to find out. It has a feeling of fate or destiny, or even prophecy, not exactly in regards to Diana and Matthew's relationship, but beyond that. Things are going to get epic! And the book is written as if at any moment, something good, exciting, big is going to happen... it just doesn't. For ages. And that's one of the major drawbacks of this book. I really, really want to continue with this story, and see where it takes all the characters - and there are quite a few of them, there's a large cast of really important people, but we're introduced to them in drips and drabs, so it's not overwhelming. But if the next two books are going to be as slow as this one, I really don't know if I want to continue. So I don't know what I'm going to do. I need to read some reviews of the second book, Shadow of Night, to try and figure it out. So this is a very mixed review, I'm afraid. If you can deal with nothing happening for a lot of the time, then the story is really interesting! But if not, maybe give it a miss?

[ktshpd]

She need to quit fainting and being carried around. We have legs for a reason, girl. Cheesy, but TBH I'll read the next one.

[celinenyx]

A Discovery of Witches seems to be many books in one. Diana is a historian, and a witch. When she inadvertently stumbles across an ancient manuscript in Oxford, she gets caught up in a plot with other covens, vampires, and daemons.

The beginning of the book made me incredibly excited. Not only is the main character a witch (yay!), she's also a historian (yay!!) doing actual historian things. Add to that the Oxford setting, which has always appealed to me ever since I read The Golden Compass as a kid, I felt this was going to be a winner. The first third of the book is thrilling as the world and its players slowly unfolds.

However, most of the tension that is built up in the first part ebbs away in the middle. This is where the fresh fantasy thriller gets thrown overboard, and The Discovery of Witches becomes paranormal romance - of the Twilight persuasion. I have never made it a secret that in general I do not care much for romance, and especially not that what is considered to be romantic in Discovery. After some initial annoyance, Diana falls for the vampire Matthew. He is tall, dark, and handsome; and as possessive as they come. He is territorial, bossy, and crazy protective. He invades Diana's privacy, follows her around. Once they become lovers, he gives her orders (of course, for her own protection). What I found even more problematic is that he inserts himself into any interaction Diana has with other people - including her own family. He scares her, pushes her even when she says she's had enough. He limits her, tells her what she can and cannot do.

And for the life of me, I cannot find this romantic.

I cannot appreciate a partnership where both are not equal. I don't care about their strength or powers - I don't care who can best the other in a fight. I care about the living atmosphere people create. And the one created by Matthew and Diana is toxic.

It is hidden very much in the background, but there are some ideas about masculinity and femininity in this novel that I find problematic. Women are consistently described as being small, petite, doll-like. They are enfolded by men, towered over, protected and held. The men, in contrast, are all tall, warrior-like, testosterone-fuelled and often aggressive. In the entirety of the book, not a single man has ever done a dish or completed a household chore - while the women are constantly cooking, cleaning, and fulfilling other household duties. Even an ancient powerful vampire woman, living in a castle, apparently enjoys being a housekeeper? The men fight, the women oooh and aaah. Diana is systematically excluded from any decision-making, as she usually only has a fraction of the information Matthew has. Though she has magic of her own, it is only drawn out from her when it can assist him in any way.

In A Discovery of Witches, it seems, women exist only in relation to men.

Interestingly, it also contains a lesbian couple - but characterisation at this point fails in making the two only women not belonging to men into individuals. Sarah and Em are practically interchangeable, and though they are Diana's only contacts that she has not met through Matthew, there are few moments of emotional closeness with Diana.

Overall, I feel disappointed. The book seemed so full of promise: a cool historian/witch main character getting tangled up with supernatural beasties. It should come as no surprise that even though Diana is supposed to work at a top university, Yale, she spares not a single thought for her job, her boss, her career, the moment she falls down the rabbit hole with Matthew.

Why can't I ever have a female main character that lives her life for herself?