all souls trilogy – Cannonball Read 17

Review #10: If anybody has recommendations for a good fantasy romance, please let me know, because this ain’t it

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

December 30, 2023 by Monty 10 Comments

I read A Discovery of Witches in the midst of a tough project at work, and needed a soapy fantasy to help distract me. It didn’t work! Publisher’s description: “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 […]

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3) by Deborah Harkness

January 11, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

I can point out so many flaws but at the end of the day I read this 561 page book very fast and I did, I enjoyed myself. My rational brain is going, “Stop! She’s too powerful! This villain is made of cardboard! This is wish-fulfillment! He’s so possessive, and how convenient it’s coded into his genes!!! This is CHEESY AS HELL. They are CODEPENDENT.” Meanwhile, the part of my brain that just makes noises and wants to grab things that are soft is making […]

In case you were wondering, Christopher Marlowe is a little shit, according to this author.

Shadow of Night (All Souls, #2) by Deborah Harkness

October 19, 2021 by narfna Leave a Comment

It has been a bit since I read this, so this review will be a bit lacking in details as I struggle to remember why I rated this three stars. I remember the middle particularly being a bit of a slog. Also, not much happened plot-wise for a 600ish page book. The author clearly just got really excited about putting her characters in a 16th century setting with a bunch of famous people from that era (and lots of non-famous people as well, to be […]

A weird book I had a lot of things to say about.

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls, #1) by Deborah Harkness

June 8, 2021 by narfna 9 Comments

Oh wow I have so many things to say. The vast majority of the time when I go to write a review I have to sit there and think of things to say, when my instinct is just like, I had feelings okay and now you want me to put them into words? But the words are just wanting to flow for this one. So first, because context is important, three things about this book and also me: 1. It was free. A friend was […]

I’m basically Reviewer 2 here with this so bear with me

Shadow of Night (All Souls #2) by Deborah Harkness

The Book of Life (All Souls #3) by Deborah Harness

June 6, 2019 by alwaysanswerb Leave a Comment

I didn’t quite make the comparison when I read A Discovery of Witches, the first book in the All Souls Trilogy, but after finishing the set it’s obvious: these are books that are pitched toward fans of Outlander (or books like Outlander that fill in the spaces between major plot twists with lots and lots and lots of small expository details.) It’s probably not a coincidence that Deborah Harkness and Diana Gabaldon both have doctorates and both brought a very academic sensibility to their fiction […]

The academic research paper of fiction

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

January 14, 2019 by alwaysanswerb 1 Comment

For a book that seemed to be received so positively initially, around the time of release, it seems like all I’ve read lately are reviews that are disappointed by how boring it is and confused by why it was so well-liked. You might say my expectations were pretty low. So I had to laugh as I realized I was enjoying it. A Discovery of Witches is EXCESSIVELY academic. Not just in the subject matter, which obviously is, but in the whole tone and writing approach. […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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