Book for an evening and tea: “A Discovery Of Witches” by Deborah Harkness

    

    I've discovered this book a few months ago (unfortunately, not in a library like the protagonist), and couldn't put it down for days (it's 600 pages long), but there was so much tension, that I took a break hoping that a bit of detachment would help to get through with it faster. It didn't work, the second I opened it yesterday all of it returned to me. I did finish it finally with the help of "camomile tea and breaks for yoga".

    I know, bed time stories are supposed to be light and this is a complete opposite. It's full of suspense and dramatic moments with escalating stakes, the most intense scenes are arranged in a masterful fashion through the pages with long periods of breaks that give the reader some time to regroup and gather some knowledge (but there was sometimes too much water, I admit, and things that are too obvious and repetitive). This aspect is covered well by the author, the captivation is there and even though the novel seems endless, the length of it doesn't really bother. It can be a good and interesting time filler in between searches for new reads.

    The characters are developed as well as the world around them, which is our modern world with an addition of vampires, witches and demons, because let's face it, at the time when the book was written that's what people were crazy about and it's probably why this novel was born and has been so popular.

    I couldn't shake off the feeling that closer and closer to the end, storyline and the witch and the vampire, whose love and struggle for some new world order it was all about, became more similar to "Twilight" and "Fifty Shades". Well, for the start there is a vampire with some wild attraction to not his own kind like in the first and he's very dominating like in the second while the protagonist, even though a witch and a very powerful one too, is somehow weak like in the both mentioned bestsellers. I guess, it was just easier to use an already established public-attracting and money-making way.

    Yes, apart from the major points in the story line it was made to stand out on its own - the mysterious historic book (there are a lot of historic references and that makes it more interesting; the author herself is a historian), the vampire being a geneticist, which is far better than going to high school for sure, the haunted house that has a mind of its own, the unsettling deaths of the witch's parents and the lock on her powers.

    There are a lot of entertaining details that make the book look fresh, and to me if it ended with a final battle and the witch coming into high power after that, I would be less harsh on it, but it didn't. Like many novels nowadays it ends with a hook that brings the readers to the other books in the "All Souls" series. It was probably suggested by the publisher profit-wise and I usually don't mind it with shorter reads, I just don't think I'm patient enough for two more novels like that, especially with the second bringing a new concept to the table that can add more inconsistencies to the table, and according to the reviews it did (no spoilers what it was).

    The author seemed to write herself into a corner - a trap that was hard to find a way out of with all the doors appearing to be locked dead by herself. You can feel it in the last five-six chapters, it's my subjective opinion, of course, as usual. Too many things peppered the pages to support the course of the continuing series in the end so much, that it all started to look unrealistic in the highest degree. There are always less radical ideas that can pop into one's mind if you just give it time (unless you have a publisher with a knife at your throat and it's your life on the line).

   Nevertheless, I don't regret choosing this one for my evening tea ritual, the suspense and captivation were keeping me hooked. But if you are as weak-hearted as me, keep a stash of camomile tea and other natural relaxants at hand, because it can be a nerve-wrecking and soul-gripping ride. And if same as me you don't want to give other novels in the series a try due to their length or other reasons, you might still be interested to know that there was announced a TVseries based on the first book that carries the same name, it should be launched this autumn of 2018.