Book Review :: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy #1
Published by Headline
on 2011
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Pages: 690
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A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it.

When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires.

Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire geneticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing.

As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels...

Last updated on 22 February 2022

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What is A Discovery of Witches about?

A Discovery of Witches is set in a world where witches, vampires and daemons exist. The humans don’t know about them, but they are everywhere. Diana Bishop is an American witch studying in Oxford, England, when, at the Bodleian Library, she happens across an ancient manuscript that is full of magic. Little does she know that this manuscript has been hidden away, and no one has had access to it for centuries…and every witch, daemon and vampire out there is after it.

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

Enter Matthew Clairmont, a strikingly handsome French geneticist vampire who is very interested in Diana. The story follows the two of them, as they (obviously) fall in forbidden love, both visit and avoid family and friends (and enemies), do a whole of studying, and deal with the stresses Diana has at discovering more and more secrets about both Matthew, and the manuscript.

My thoughts on A Discovery of Witches

Written in the first person, it’s an easy read with a fast-paced plot and decent characters. I have mixed feelings about the main character, Diana, but I think I’m leaning more to ‘I like her’ than ‘I wouldn’t care if she died’. I think she fluctuates in awesomeness.

“Just because something seems impossible doesn’t make it untrue.”

Matthew is your typical brooding vampire, who is older than time itself and is drop-dead-gorgeous. There are several chapters throughout the book that actually stop being first-person, and jump to third-person-Matthew-perspective, as he travels up and down the country. I thought this was a great way to show both Diana’s and Matthew’s perspective and their own individual thoughts and storylines, but still maintain Diana as the central character.

With crazy American aunts who phone too much, a daemon best friend, a whole lot of magic, and a bit of travelling, A Discovery of Witches is a fantastic read and I highly recommend it if you like a bit of fantasy/magic/awesomeness in your life. This is the first of the All Souls Trilogy; the second book is called Shadow of Night and I’m really looking forward to continuing the story of Diana and Matthew, and this weird, magical, suspicious manuscript.

Have you read A Discovery of Witches? What did you think?