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All Souls #3
The Book of Life
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Readers' Favorite Fantasy (2014)Listening length: 23 hours, 51 minutes
The highly anticipated finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Discovery of Witches
After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.
With more than one million copies sold in the United States and appearing in thirty-eight foreign editions, A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night have landed on all of the major bestseller lists and garnered rave reviews from countless publications. Eagerly awaited by Harkness’s legion of fans, The Book of Life brings this superbly written series to a deeply satisfying close.
The highly anticipated finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Discovery of Witches
After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.
With more than one million copies sold in the United States and appearing in thirty-eight foreign editions, A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night have landed on all of the major bestseller lists and garnered rave reviews from countless publications. Eagerly awaited by Harkness’s legion of fans, The Book of Life brings this superbly written series to a deeply satisfying close.
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First published July 15, 2014
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About the author
Deborah Harkness
43 books34.3k followersDeborah Harkness is a #1 New York Times bestselling author who draws on her expertise as an historian of science, medicine, and the history of the book to create rich narratives steeped in magical realism, historical curiosity, and deeply human questions about what it is that makes us who we are.
The first book in Harkness’s beloved All Souls series, A Discovery of Witches, was an instant New York Times bestseller and the series has since expanded with the addition of subsequent NYT bestsellers, Shadow of Night (2012), The Book of Life (2014), and Time’s Convert (2018), as well as the companion reader, The World of All Souls. The All Souls series has been translated in thirty-eight languages.
The popular television adaptation of A Discovery of Witches, starring Theresa Palmer and Matthew Goode, was released in 2019 by Sky/Sundance Now, and also broadcast on AMC.
Having spent more than a quarter of a century as a student and scholar of history, Harkness holds degrees from Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, and the University of California at Davis. She is currently a professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where she teaches European history and the history of science.
Harkness has published scholarly articles on topics such as the influence of theatrical conventions on the occult sciences, scientific households, female medical practice in early modern London, medical curiosity, and the influence of accounting practices on scientific record keeping. She has received Fulbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships, and her most recent scholarly work is The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution.
The first book in Harkness’s beloved All Souls series, A Discovery of Witches, was an instant New York Times bestseller and the series has since expanded with the addition of subsequent NYT bestsellers, Shadow of Night (2012), The Book of Life (2014), and Time’s Convert (2018), as well as the companion reader, The World of All Souls. The All Souls series has been translated in thirty-eight languages.
The popular television adaptation of A Discovery of Witches, starring Theresa Palmer and Matthew Goode, was released in 2019 by Sky/Sundance Now, and also broadcast on AMC.
Having spent more than a quarter of a century as a student and scholar of history, Harkness holds degrees from Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, and the University of California at Davis. She is currently a professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where she teaches European history and the history of science.
Harkness has published scholarly articles on topics such as the influence of theatrical conventions on the occult sciences, scientific households, female medical practice in early modern London, medical curiosity, and the influence of accounting practices on scientific record keeping. She has received Fulbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships, and her most recent scholarly work is The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution.
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February 5, 2018
I guess the good news about Deborah Harkness’s The Book of Life is I didn’t throw it across the room in disgust. I couldn't—it's too damn dumb to make me angry. Mostly I shook my head in bewilderment at the overwhelming idiocy. This last book in the trilogy is pretty much the same as the first two: excessive details, wandering plot lines, horrible pacing, paper-thin characters, and fang-less boring vampires. When I finished reading all 561 pages, I thought: what the fuck. How can something this awful be a bestseller? But now I've at least satisfied my curiosity about how Harkness wrapped everything up (not satisfactorily), so let the shredding begin.
The Book of Life begins where Shadow of Night ends. Matthew the vampire and Diana the witch return to Sept-Tours, the de Clermont ancestral home. She is pregnant with twins and they are married, two facts they would like to keep from the Congregation. Aunt Emily is dead and even though we (the readers) learned of her death in the previous book, Harkness didn’t explain what happened until now. Emily supposedly died of a heart attack when two other witches were questioning her about spells she was casting. Matthew and Diana don’t believe this and vow to discover the truth. They also have to deal with Matthew’s blood rage, find missing pages torn from the Ashmole 782 manuscript (aka The Book of Life) in order to retrieve the whole manuscript from the Bodleian Library, confront the Congregation and stop Benjamin, Matthew’s very bad son, from doing more very bad things.
Many—way too many—things happen in this book. In order to keep this review under a million words, I’m going to hit the highlights of Things That Made Me Roll My Eyes. First, however, I’ll start with what I liked. It’s a very short list: 1) Continuity. Considering how stuffed all these books are with details about everything, Harkness does an amazing job of connecting actions, people, and places from the last two books with this one. In chapter three, Diana is surprised to find a book she used in the 16th century to practice her handwriting still around in modern day Sept-Tours. I laughed because I remember that scene well from the second book only because it was so damn boring—a very long passage describing her efforts to write the 16th century way. I thought that scene was stupid in the second book and I think it’s stupid to bring it up in the third book, but wow—gold star for continuity. 2) The Bishop family house. The house is the best character in the books and I am disappointed it makes only a brief appearance in this book. For a short while, Matthew and Diana and their band of merry followers stay at the house. It’s playing Fleetwood Mac records nonstop. Even though I don’t like any of these vampires or witches, they have my sympathy here. Fleetwood Mac sucks. 3) Harkness’s writing seems to have improved between books two and three. While I still find this book deplorable, it actually keeps my attention. That’s fairly amazing considering how dumb and scatterbrained it is. Oh, and the artwork for the book cover is pretty. There’s that.
Now I can bitch. There are too many unnecessary details. About everything. We have specific descriptions of the characters’ voices; Fernando (who is a gay vampire but Harkness has so little imagination his character is stereotypically gay down to his fussiness and talented cooking) has a voice “as warm and cultured as sherry aged in oak barrels” (6). We know what all the characters smell like. In chapter 7, there’s a detailed list of all the kitchen appliances and their uses. Diana also goes grocery shopping and meets up with some fellow witches. The whole scene is unnecessary, but it's this sentence that makes me crazy: “I fumbled and nearly dropped the paper bag of apples grown on a nearby farm” (105). It’s the “grown on a nearby farm” that makes me incoherent with rage. Who gives a shit? Is it really that important to know that Diana, as well as being so awesome in every other aspect, is also concerned about buying local produce? WHAT THE FUCK, EDITOR. Idiotic shit like this is why the book is so damn long. There are many pages devoted to the scientific analysis of Matthew’s DNA, Diana’s DNA, the DNA of one of the Ashmole pages…who cares? Very little of it is actually relevant to the plot (whatever the hell the plot is).
One of the dumbest parts of the book is the trip to the Bodleian library to steal the Ashmole manuscript. The whole heist is asinine. I’m already annoyed by this sentence: “It was every library patron’s nightmare—that you were secretly being observed whenever you took a forbidden cough drop out of your pocket” (458). As a staff person at a library and a library patron, I wonder: what the fuck is she talking about? Shove a million cough drops into your mouth—we don’t care. However, we do care about sugary, sticky drinks and gooey, greasy pizza. But no one should care because cough drops have nothing to do with the heist. Diana and her helpers (it takes three witches, two vampires and one firedrake to steal this damn manuscript) go to the Bodleian Library. After deactivating all the magical surveillance by using magic, Diana puts a halt to their illegal activities to call her sweetie pie. Getting this manuscript is supposedly the most important mission they have, but dumb ass has to call pookie-kins to let him know she’s okay. Major fucking eye roll here. Not only that, but if their souls are so magically in sync, shouldn’t he just know she’s fine? Whatever. Now, even though the library is closed because of the Christmas holidays and they know that the pneumatic tube book request system is shut down, Diana and her crew of morons decide to fill out a book slip requesting the Ashmole manuscript and send it via tube. Now, I’m guessing that if you’re going to steal a book from a library, you don’t fucking submit a written request for that actual book. That’s like handing the bank teller your ATM card and then saying, “This is a stick-up. Give me money.” Wtf, Diana. But this isn’t the best (or worst) part. The dumb fucks stand around waiting for two hours! for the damn manuscript to appear in front of them. What the fuck! Wtf???? That makes no sense. Why the hell would you have your characters do that, Harkness? What the hell is the point of that? Do you not understand pacing? So your characters stand around for two hours doing what? Playing hopscotch? Magical orgy? What? Finally, they decide the library is not going to send them the manuscript so Diana says, oh yeah, I’m a witch. Time to do magical shit. (If you’re a witch, wouldn’t starting with magical shit be your first move?) Eventually she does some magical shit and with the help of Corra, her unfortunately-named firedrake, she finds the fucking manuscript.
During all of this, the five jackasses are joking around and giggling. That’s one of the weirder aspects of this book—everything is supposed to be all so dramatic and serious, but then Harkness sticks in these loony scenes with the characters tee-heeing and yee-hawing about the stupidest shit. (Also, in chapter five, the vampires greet each other with waves and cheerful calls of “Hi!” I want to stake them all.) It’s another moment of bemusement at how weirdly out of place these scenes are; not only that, but the humor is not funny.
What is funny is all the secrets that aren’t secrets. Humans aren’t supposed to know about daemons, witches and vampires. They know. Even if they didn’t know, Matthew and Diana are the worst fucking blabber mouths around. They are constantly telling people: oh yeah, I’m a vampire/witch. What’s even more amusing is that as soon as one of them blabs, the human shrugs and says, effectively, “So what?” When Chris, Diana’s human colleague from her university, shows up, she calmly informs him that her husband is a vampire—that’s why he has such great hearing. Chris’s only argument that Matthew can’t be a vampire is because on the tv show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, girls who have sex with vampires never get “knocked up,” but Diana is pregnant. This dubious logic is followed by Chris stating the reason he is so calm about hearing this is “I’m a scientist. I’m trained to suspend disbelief and remain open-minded until something is disproved” (162). Yeah, I don’t think Chris (or Harkness) has even the most basic understanding of scientific thinking. If his statement were correct, we’d still be back in the Dark Ages. If he really were a scientist, he’d ask her what proof she has that Matthew is a vampire (and that she’s not nuts). There’s a great (in a bad way) scene in which Matthew outs not only himself, but all supernatural creatures, to his Yale research students. They are working on his DNA analysis. There are a lot of lame jokes (students theorize that the DNA belongs to aliens and two of the students’ nicknames are “Mulder” and “Scully”—oh, tee hee, Harkness. Stop now before I wet myself) but finally Matthew says: “No, I’m a vampire. And before you ask, I can go outside during the day and my hair won’t catch fire in the sunlight. I’m Catholic and have a crucifix. When I sleep, which is not often, I prefer a bed to a coffin. If you try to stake me, the wood will likely splinter before it enters my skin. No fangs either. And one last thing: I do not, nor have I ever, sparkled” (196). The students’ reaction: “Whoa, dude. How old are you? Over 1,500 years! Awesome, dude! High-five!” None of these so-called scientists says, “Um, yeah, right. Call campus security.” No one in the book (humans) ever responds with skepticism or laughter when told about these supernatural beings. Why is that? Well, Harkness does write stupid books about stupid people, but also: almost everyone in the book is a fucking supernatural being! I can think of only three humans in the book. That’s it. So…what’s the secret? Diana and Matthew also blab about their marriage (relations between supernatural creatures is forbidden by the Congregation) and her pregnancy (forbidden). When the Congregation sends them a note saying, hey, naughty naughty, you two are married and produced children, the two dumb fucks can't figure it out: “How’d they know? Who told the Congregation?” Um…everyone knows. You two are the Brangelina of this idiot trilogy. Same thing with Benji, Matthew’s evil son. He was erased from the family tree and was supposed to be a deep, dark secret…guess what? Everyone fucking knows.
The Marty Stu/Mary Sue factor. Diana and Matthew are too perfect to be believable. Diana is the Best Witch Ever. She is the Most Beautiful Woman Ever. Everyone Loves Her (even Gallowglass reveals that his love for “auntie” is of the carnal variety). Everyone wants to help her. In one scene, we learn that Diana’s awesome witch skills of the 16th century so inspired the London witches that they created a sort of shrine to her and she is now a legend. It’s ridiculous. The same is true for Matthew. He’s a very accomplished vampire. Granted, he’s over a thousand years old, but c’mon. This is the list Diana compiles: scientist, warrior, spy, prince, assassin. The list doesn’t include his musical talent and woodworking skills. And, according to the last book, he's also an architect. He’s even so awesome that he can master his blood rage. This awesomeness extends to vampires in general and to the de Clermont family in particular. They are the oldest, the most impressive, the most influential…yes, they are the best fucking vampires ever. We get it. And when you have the best fucking vampire ever joining forces with the best fucking witch ever, you’ve immediately lost any kind of tension or suspense in the story. There’s very little doubt as to the outcome. Will the Dynamic Duo (along with their adoring entourage) triumph over all the obstacles in their path? Of course. They can’t fail. They’re too perfect. And the obstacles aren't all that difficult.
What’s also perfect is their passionate marital bond. Take notice, all married people: Diana and Matthew are the perfect soulmates. We are repeatedly hammered over the head with the message that yes, they really do love each other. These are a few quotes that grossed me out the most:
Page 15: (after hearing of Emily’s death): “Gallowglass left Matthew and Diana twined together in an unbreakable knot, their faces twisted with pain and sorrow, each giving the other the comfort they could not find for themselves.”
Page 30: “Here, within the circle of his arms, was all that he had ever wanted. A wife. Children. A family of his own.” (A secure job in the family business. Two weeks of paid vacation every year. A lovely home with a white picket fence and one cat, one dog, and a fire drake. Awww. Such sweet, sweet dreams…for a vampire.)
Page 118: “His wife—his heart, his mate, his life—stepped down off the porch and into his arms. Diana’s eyes were the blue and gold of a summer sky, and Matthew wanted nothing more than to fall headlong into their bright depths, not to lose himself but to be found.” Yes, we get it. Rainbows and unicorns and hearts full of love. Of course, since he’s a vamp and she’s a witch, she’s going to age. He won’t. Will their passion still burn so brightly when she’s 60 and wrinkled? Or will he make her a vamp so he has centuries to be possessive and creepy? Whatever their future holds, I’m sure it will be perfect and shiny.
This is a fucked-up mess of a book. Viking, the publisher, apparently does not employ editors. All the other crap aside, it’s basically a dressed-up romance novel. A very conservative romance novel. The supernatural creatures aren’t very supernatural. The vampires are stripped of nearly everything that makes a vampire—and stripped of everything that makes them scary. They are fang-less on many levels. Matthew is a pious Catholic who says things like, “I leave that in the hands of God.” He drinks wine, eats food, and wears a cross. He’s about as scary as a paper cut. These vampires also breathe and have hearts that beats and circulate blood—so why does Diana constantly refer to Matthew’s cold body? Matthew is a fine, upstanding man who just wants a family and to be the CEO of his own dynasty. Diana is a powerful witch, but she’s reluctant to use her powers, even for good. She gladly submits to her husband because that’s what good little wives do. They didn’t even have sex until after their marriage (which very properly produced children). This novel is full of happy domestic scenes. Chapter 33 is all about Christmas. It’s so delightful: “The babies’ first Christmas was as loving and festive as anyone could wish” (449). Oh, goody. It’s as if Harkness is starting a new genre: The “Cozy” Vampire: He Just Wants To Be Loved. Where’s Buffy when you need her?
PS:
No mention of the stretchy black pants! I was so disappointed. Diana's pregnant with twins. Isn't this the perfect time for stretchy black pants?
Matthew gets Diana a six-slice toaster for Christmas. Holy shit. Yup, that's what she wanted and boy was she excited to get it. She used her oh-so-powerful magical skills to turn six (yes, only 6) strands of his hair gray. He's delighted and shows everyone at the big family vampire Christmas gathering. OMG. Could they be any more lame?
ALERT: All Souls Trilogy lovers and haters--BBC is adapting these shitty books for tv. I pity the screenwriter whose job it is to pull a half-way intelligent story from these books. Will I watch it when it airs? Oh, hell yeah.
NEW COMMENT: I have now visited and toured the Bodleian Library of Oxford (as of October 2017). Now that I've been inside (it's not just one big library as I thought), I want to reread parts of the books that deal with the library. I learned that the pneumatic tube note system has been discontinued for quite some time, so if Diana was sending a request via it, it never would have gone anywhere. Personally, I think she was too dumb to study at Oxford and be allowed to use the library.
The Book of Life begins where Shadow of Night ends. Matthew the vampire and Diana the witch return to Sept-Tours, the de Clermont ancestral home. She is pregnant with twins and they are married, two facts they would like to keep from the Congregation. Aunt Emily is dead and even though we (the readers) learned of her death in the previous book, Harkness didn’t explain what happened until now. Emily supposedly died of a heart attack when two other witches were questioning her about spells she was casting. Matthew and Diana don’t believe this and vow to discover the truth. They also have to deal with Matthew’s blood rage, find missing pages torn from the Ashmole 782 manuscript (aka The Book of Life) in order to retrieve the whole manuscript from the Bodleian Library, confront the Congregation and stop Benjamin, Matthew’s very bad son, from doing more very bad things.
Many—way too many—things happen in this book. In order to keep this review under a million words, I’m going to hit the highlights of Things That Made Me Roll My Eyes. First, however, I’ll start with what I liked. It’s a very short list: 1) Continuity. Considering how stuffed all these books are with details about everything, Harkness does an amazing job of connecting actions, people, and places from the last two books with this one. In chapter three, Diana is surprised to find a book she used in the 16th century to practice her handwriting still around in modern day Sept-Tours. I laughed because I remember that scene well from the second book only because it was so damn boring—a very long passage describing her efforts to write the 16th century way. I thought that scene was stupid in the second book and I think it’s stupid to bring it up in the third book, but wow—gold star for continuity. 2) The Bishop family house. The house is the best character in the books and I am disappointed it makes only a brief appearance in this book. For a short while, Matthew and Diana and their band of merry followers stay at the house. It’s playing Fleetwood Mac records nonstop. Even though I don’t like any of these vampires or witches, they have my sympathy here. Fleetwood Mac sucks. 3) Harkness’s writing seems to have improved between books two and three. While I still find this book deplorable, it actually keeps my attention. That’s fairly amazing considering how dumb and scatterbrained it is. Oh, and the artwork for the book cover is pretty. There’s that.
Now I can bitch. There are too many unnecessary details. About everything. We have specific descriptions of the characters’ voices; Fernando (who is a gay vampire but Harkness has so little imagination his character is stereotypically gay down to his fussiness and talented cooking) has a voice “as warm and cultured as sherry aged in oak barrels” (6). We know what all the characters smell like. In chapter 7, there’s a detailed list of all the kitchen appliances and their uses. Diana also goes grocery shopping and meets up with some fellow witches. The whole scene is unnecessary, but it's this sentence that makes me crazy: “I fumbled and nearly dropped the paper bag of apples grown on a nearby farm” (105). It’s the “grown on a nearby farm” that makes me incoherent with rage. Who gives a shit? Is it really that important to know that Diana, as well as being so awesome in every other aspect, is also concerned about buying local produce? WHAT THE FUCK, EDITOR. Idiotic shit like this is why the book is so damn long. There are many pages devoted to the scientific analysis of Matthew’s DNA, Diana’s DNA, the DNA of one of the Ashmole pages…who cares? Very little of it is actually relevant to the plot (whatever the hell the plot is).
One of the dumbest parts of the book is the trip to the Bodleian library to steal the Ashmole manuscript. The whole heist is asinine. I’m already annoyed by this sentence: “It was every library patron’s nightmare—that you were secretly being observed whenever you took a forbidden cough drop out of your pocket” (458). As a staff person at a library and a library patron, I wonder: what the fuck is she talking about? Shove a million cough drops into your mouth—we don’t care. However, we do care about sugary, sticky drinks and gooey, greasy pizza. But no one should care because cough drops have nothing to do with the heist. Diana and her helpers (it takes three witches, two vampires and one firedrake to steal this damn manuscript) go to the Bodleian Library. After deactivating all the magical surveillance by using magic, Diana puts a halt to their illegal activities to call her sweetie pie. Getting this manuscript is supposedly the most important mission they have, but dumb ass has to call pookie-kins to let him know she’s okay. Major fucking eye roll here. Not only that, but if their souls are so magically in sync, shouldn’t he just know she’s fine? Whatever. Now, even though the library is closed because of the Christmas holidays and they know that the pneumatic tube book request system is shut down, Diana and her crew of morons decide to fill out a book slip requesting the Ashmole manuscript and send it via tube. Now, I’m guessing that if you’re going to steal a book from a library, you don’t fucking submit a written request for that actual book. That’s like handing the bank teller your ATM card and then saying, “This is a stick-up. Give me money.” Wtf, Diana. But this isn’t the best (or worst) part. The dumb fucks stand around waiting for two hours! for the damn manuscript to appear in front of them. What the fuck! Wtf???? That makes no sense. Why the hell would you have your characters do that, Harkness? What the hell is the point of that? Do you not understand pacing? So your characters stand around for two hours doing what? Playing hopscotch? Magical orgy? What? Finally, they decide the library is not going to send them the manuscript so Diana says, oh yeah, I’m a witch. Time to do magical shit. (If you’re a witch, wouldn’t starting with magical shit be your first move?) Eventually she does some magical shit and with the help of Corra, her unfortunately-named firedrake, she finds the fucking manuscript.
During all of this, the five jackasses are joking around and giggling. That’s one of the weirder aspects of this book—everything is supposed to be all so dramatic and serious, but then Harkness sticks in these loony scenes with the characters tee-heeing and yee-hawing about the stupidest shit. (Also, in chapter five, the vampires greet each other with waves and cheerful calls of “Hi!” I want to stake them all.) It’s another moment of bemusement at how weirdly out of place these scenes are; not only that, but the humor is not funny.
What is funny is all the secrets that aren’t secrets. Humans aren’t supposed to know about daemons, witches and vampires. They know. Even if they didn’t know, Matthew and Diana are the worst fucking blabber mouths around. They are constantly telling people: oh yeah, I’m a vampire/witch. What’s even more amusing is that as soon as one of them blabs, the human shrugs and says, effectively, “So what?” When Chris, Diana’s human colleague from her university, shows up, she calmly informs him that her husband is a vampire—that’s why he has such great hearing. Chris’s only argument that Matthew can’t be a vampire is because on the tv show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, girls who have sex with vampires never get “knocked up,” but Diana is pregnant. This dubious logic is followed by Chris stating the reason he is so calm about hearing this is “I’m a scientist. I’m trained to suspend disbelief and remain open-minded until something is disproved” (162). Yeah, I don’t think Chris (or Harkness) has even the most basic understanding of scientific thinking. If his statement were correct, we’d still be back in the Dark Ages. If he really were a scientist, he’d ask her what proof she has that Matthew is a vampire (and that she’s not nuts). There’s a great (in a bad way) scene in which Matthew outs not only himself, but all supernatural creatures, to his Yale research students. They are working on his DNA analysis. There are a lot of lame jokes (students theorize that the DNA belongs to aliens and two of the students’ nicknames are “Mulder” and “Scully”—oh, tee hee, Harkness. Stop now before I wet myself) but finally Matthew says: “No, I’m a vampire. And before you ask, I can go outside during the day and my hair won’t catch fire in the sunlight. I’m Catholic and have a crucifix. When I sleep, which is not often, I prefer a bed to a coffin. If you try to stake me, the wood will likely splinter before it enters my skin. No fangs either. And one last thing: I do not, nor have I ever, sparkled” (196). The students’ reaction: “Whoa, dude. How old are you? Over 1,500 years! Awesome, dude! High-five!” None of these so-called scientists says, “Um, yeah, right. Call campus security.” No one in the book (humans) ever responds with skepticism or laughter when told about these supernatural beings. Why is that? Well, Harkness does write stupid books about stupid people, but also: almost everyone in the book is a fucking supernatural being! I can think of only three humans in the book. That’s it. So…what’s the secret? Diana and Matthew also blab about their marriage (relations between supernatural creatures is forbidden by the Congregation) and her pregnancy (forbidden). When the Congregation sends them a note saying, hey, naughty naughty, you two are married and produced children, the two dumb fucks can't figure it out: “How’d they know? Who told the Congregation?” Um…everyone knows. You two are the Brangelina of this idiot trilogy. Same thing with Benji, Matthew’s evil son. He was erased from the family tree and was supposed to be a deep, dark secret…guess what? Everyone fucking knows.
The Marty Stu/Mary Sue factor. Diana and Matthew are too perfect to be believable. Diana is the Best Witch Ever. She is the Most Beautiful Woman Ever. Everyone Loves Her (even Gallowglass reveals that his love for “auntie” is of the carnal variety). Everyone wants to help her. In one scene, we learn that Diana’s awesome witch skills of the 16th century so inspired the London witches that they created a sort of shrine to her and she is now a legend. It’s ridiculous. The same is true for Matthew. He’s a very accomplished vampire. Granted, he’s over a thousand years old, but c’mon. This is the list Diana compiles: scientist, warrior, spy, prince, assassin. The list doesn’t include his musical talent and woodworking skills. And, according to the last book, he's also an architect. He’s even so awesome that he can master his blood rage. This awesomeness extends to vampires in general and to the de Clermont family in particular. They are the oldest, the most impressive, the most influential…yes, they are the best fucking vampires ever. We get it. And when you have the best fucking vampire ever joining forces with the best fucking witch ever, you’ve immediately lost any kind of tension or suspense in the story. There’s very little doubt as to the outcome. Will the Dynamic Duo (along with their adoring entourage) triumph over all the obstacles in their path? Of course. They can’t fail. They’re too perfect. And the obstacles aren't all that difficult.
What’s also perfect is their passionate marital bond. Take notice, all married people: Diana and Matthew are the perfect soulmates. We are repeatedly hammered over the head with the message that yes, they really do love each other. These are a few quotes that grossed me out the most:
Page 15: (after hearing of Emily’s death): “Gallowglass left Matthew and Diana twined together in an unbreakable knot, their faces twisted with pain and sorrow, each giving the other the comfort they could not find for themselves.”
Page 30: “Here, within the circle of his arms, was all that he had ever wanted. A wife. Children. A family of his own.” (A secure job in the family business. Two weeks of paid vacation every year. A lovely home with a white picket fence and one cat, one dog, and a fire drake. Awww. Such sweet, sweet dreams…for a vampire.)
Page 118: “His wife—his heart, his mate, his life—stepped down off the porch and into his arms. Diana’s eyes were the blue and gold of a summer sky, and Matthew wanted nothing more than to fall headlong into their bright depths, not to lose himself but to be found.” Yes, we get it. Rainbows and unicorns and hearts full of love. Of course, since he’s a vamp and she’s a witch, she’s going to age. He won’t. Will their passion still burn so brightly when she’s 60 and wrinkled? Or will he make her a vamp so he has centuries to be possessive and creepy? Whatever their future holds, I’m sure it will be perfect and shiny.
This is a fucked-up mess of a book. Viking, the publisher, apparently does not employ editors. All the other crap aside, it’s basically a dressed-up romance novel. A very conservative romance novel. The supernatural creatures aren’t very supernatural. The vampires are stripped of nearly everything that makes a vampire—and stripped of everything that makes them scary. They are fang-less on many levels. Matthew is a pious Catholic who says things like, “I leave that in the hands of God.” He drinks wine, eats food, and wears a cross. He’s about as scary as a paper cut. These vampires also breathe and have hearts that beats and circulate blood—so why does Diana constantly refer to Matthew’s cold body? Matthew is a fine, upstanding man who just wants a family and to be the CEO of his own dynasty. Diana is a powerful witch, but she’s reluctant to use her powers, even for good. She gladly submits to her husband because that’s what good little wives do. They didn’t even have sex until after their marriage (which very properly produced children). This novel is full of happy domestic scenes. Chapter 33 is all about Christmas. It’s so delightful: “The babies’ first Christmas was as loving and festive as anyone could wish” (449). Oh, goody. It’s as if Harkness is starting a new genre: The “Cozy” Vampire: He Just Wants To Be Loved. Where’s Buffy when you need her?
PS:
No mention of the stretchy black pants! I was so disappointed. Diana's pregnant with twins. Isn't this the perfect time for stretchy black pants?
Matthew gets Diana a six-slice toaster for Christmas. Holy shit. Yup, that's what she wanted and boy was she excited to get it. She used her oh-so-powerful magical skills to turn six (yes, only 6) strands of his hair gray. He's delighted and shows everyone at the big family vampire Christmas gathering. OMG. Could they be any more lame?
ALERT: All Souls Trilogy lovers and haters--BBC is adapting these shitty books for tv. I pity the screenwriter whose job it is to pull a half-way intelligent story from these books. Will I watch it when it airs? Oh, hell yeah.
NEW COMMENT: I have now visited and toured the Bodleian Library of Oxford (as of October 2017). Now that I've been inside (it's not just one big library as I thought), I want to reread parts of the books that deal with the library. I learned that the pneumatic tube note system has been discontinued for quite some time, so if Diana was sending a request via it, it never would have gone anywhere. Personally, I think she was too dumb to study at Oxford and be allowed to use the library.
July 20, 2014
What a huge let down this book was. I'm talking EPIC proportion let down.
First of all, I am shocked at all the positive reviews I'm seeing. I feel like we didn't read the same book.
A Discovery of Witches was one of my favorite reads of 2011. I wasn't as much into reading then, and I stumbled across this one while randomly perusing my library for books. I fell in love with the story, the characters, and the magic of it all. I felt like the story was building up for something important, something powerful.
The second book was also pretty successful for me. It was lovely in the way that I find historical fiction is pleasurable. I also have a deep love of time-travel books, so I was practically guaranteed to fall head over heels.
A lot of time has passed since the second, and my expectations were sky high for the third. Unfortunately, the careful world-building fell to crap in the final installment. I'll try to break down my main issues with the story without giving away any spoilers.
1) The POV switches: I have very specific opinions about lots of POVs in the a story: Namely, I hate them. This book had at least 5 different points of view, which irritated me to no end. Why not just two? Those extra points of view just seemed lazy to me, just a way for the author to do some "telling" and less "showing" about the characters. To make matters worse, the author switched from 1st to 3rd person throughout the book! Talk about a headache. It was a terrible choice, in my opinion.
2) The number of characters: This book was like a who's who from the previous two books. I swear, no one was left out. There were so many people re-introduced that I had a hard time keeping track of everyone. The story felt so... cluttered. All of these extra people and their minor storylines weighed the plot down so much. It became sort of jumbled and confusing. I'm not sure why the author didn't just keep her focus on the main characters.
3) The lack of secrecy: I'm so confused! In the previous books, Diana and Matthew guarded the secret of their relationship, the quest for the book, and the secrets of Matthew's family fiercely. In this book? They let it alllll hang out. They tell everyone EVERYTHING! Everyone seems to know what they are searching for, that Diana is pregnant, simply everything! I have no idea why this had them throwing caution to the wind. They freaking told an entire class of students what they were researching. It was madness. Then they are looking for the person "leaking their secrets"... it could be the pizza boy for all they know! It was truly bizarre.
4) Diana's familiar: I won't say too much about this topic so I don't give away any spoilers, but I was utterly confused about the change in the firedrake's personality throughout the story, especially towards the end.
5) The haphazard plot: It honestly felt like the author didn't think this trilogy through very well. It was like the author had a brilliant idea for the first book and then had no idea how to carry it through. The third book had to reveal some mind blowing things to fit with all the buildup, but instead it was a collection of jumbled tangents. The main characters jumped from location to location, doing a series of things that didn't really make sense. They seemed like chickens with their heads cut off. The book didn't seemed planned. It was almost as though the author was making it up on the fly.
6) The blood rage thing: I hated this plot point. Blood rage was supposed to be this crazy thing, but some deep breathing and zen meditation seemed to snap all the characters out of it?? I was so confused as to why it was this big issue to begin with if it was that easy to control. I would have preferred it be a mindless, insane thing instead of the nuisance it was made out to be. It was a poorly fleshed out concept that could have been more powerful.
7) The Book: Okay, what is the deal with that book? We never truly get answers. I still am left wondering who created it and why. If you are reading this book thinking that something wondrous will be revealed, don't hold your breath.
8) Plot inconsistencies: There are so many plot elements that make no sense or are left dangling. I don't want to go into them all because I want this review to be spoiler free, but there were many instances where the book contradicts itself.
All in all, this book was a huge bummer. I give it 2 stars, mainly for nostalgia because I was happy to visit with these characters again.
Oh, and can Gallowglass get his own book? Pretty please?
**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
First of all, I am shocked at all the positive reviews I'm seeing. I feel like we didn't read the same book.
A Discovery of Witches was one of my favorite reads of 2011. I wasn't as much into reading then, and I stumbled across this one while randomly perusing my library for books. I fell in love with the story, the characters, and the magic of it all. I felt like the story was building up for something important, something powerful.
The second book was also pretty successful for me. It was lovely in the way that I find historical fiction is pleasurable. I also have a deep love of time-travel books, so I was practically guaranteed to fall head over heels.
A lot of time has passed since the second, and my expectations were sky high for the third. Unfortunately, the careful world-building fell to crap in the final installment. I'll try to break down my main issues with the story without giving away any spoilers.
1) The POV switches: I have very specific opinions about lots of POVs in the a story: Namely, I hate them. This book had at least 5 different points of view, which irritated me to no end. Why not just two? Those extra points of view just seemed lazy to me, just a way for the author to do some "telling" and less "showing" about the characters. To make matters worse, the author switched from 1st to 3rd person throughout the book! Talk about a headache. It was a terrible choice, in my opinion.
2) The number of characters: This book was like a who's who from the previous two books. I swear, no one was left out. There were so many people re-introduced that I had a hard time keeping track of everyone. The story felt so... cluttered. All of these extra people and their minor storylines weighed the plot down so much. It became sort of jumbled and confusing. I'm not sure why the author didn't just keep her focus on the main characters.
3) The lack of secrecy: I'm so confused! In the previous books, Diana and Matthew guarded the secret of their relationship, the quest for the book, and the secrets of Matthew's family fiercely. In this book? They let it alllll hang out. They tell everyone EVERYTHING! Everyone seems to know what they are searching for, that Diana is pregnant, simply everything! I have no idea why this had them throwing caution to the wind. They freaking told an entire class of students what they were researching. It was madness. Then they are looking for the person "leaking their secrets"... it could be the pizza boy for all they know! It was truly bizarre.
4) Diana's familiar: I won't say too much about this topic so I don't give away any spoilers, but I was utterly confused about the change in the firedrake's personality throughout the story, especially towards the end.
5) The haphazard plot: It honestly felt like the author didn't think this trilogy through very well. It was like the author had a brilliant idea for the first book and then had no idea how to carry it through. The third book had to reveal some mind blowing things to fit with all the buildup, but instead it was a collection of jumbled tangents. The main characters jumped from location to location, doing a series of things that didn't really make sense. They seemed like chickens with their heads cut off. The book didn't seemed planned. It was almost as though the author was making it up on the fly.
6) The blood rage thing: I hated this plot point. Blood rage was supposed to be this crazy thing, but some deep breathing and zen meditation seemed to snap all the characters out of it?? I was so confused as to why it was this big issue to begin with if it was that easy to control. I would have preferred it be a mindless, insane thing instead of the nuisance it was made out to be. It was a poorly fleshed out concept that could have been more powerful.
7) The Book: Okay, what is the deal with that book? We never truly get answers. I still am left wondering who created it and why. If you are reading this book thinking that something wondrous will be revealed, don't hold your breath.
8) Plot inconsistencies: There are so many plot elements that make no sense or are left dangling. I don't want to go into them all because I want this review to be spoiler free, but there were many instances where the book contradicts itself.
All in all, this book was a huge bummer. I give it 2 stars, mainly for nostalgia because I was happy to visit with these characters again.
Oh, and can Gallowglass get his own book? Pretty please?
**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Read
February 16, 2015I'm disappointed that so many people are refusing to read this book because it's taken so long to come out. Shit happens that pushes publication dates back. Lots of shit happens. And some of you guys are acting like it's a personal affront and the author is just trying to piss you off. You're acting like children. No wonder authors hate reviewers. The book hasn't even come out yet and you're already talking trash.
May 18, 2020
While I enjoyed this book, I felt it was very disjointed. I mean, don't get me wrong, I got into it, but I felt bothered by her lackadaisical approach to resolving the basic plot points of the world she created. Much like the last novel, I felt like the characters went and did things without rhyme or reason, often inexplicably ignoring the things they should do, to go and drink wine somewhere else. After more than 1500 pages, I felt like she didn't invest much in the climax either-which really, given everything the characters have gone through, wasn't much a climax at all.
*****Major Spoilers Ahead*********
Let's talk about the following:
1. What was up with the fireplace and the tree? And the heart?
1.5 Who was feeding information on their whereabouts to the Covenant people?
2. Gallowglass Love Triangle-I thought for sure she was going to set him up with the vampire witch lady-but really, after watching her his entire life, he's going to leave her alone without Matthew? And he's going to miss the twins baptism?
3. Does Diana still have a tree trunk growing out of her neck? Do her eyes still flash numbers-cause that's going to be inconvenient for her as an academic.
4. Who made the book and why?
5. Uh, in the novel, the book was meant to be evil and now it's not? Dude, it's made of people. Creepy. Does that mean an evil thing is living inside of her?
6. If familiars are meant to be set free and go to the place where they wait for their people-why did Goody Alden or whoever keep her shadow?
7. What happens to the book of life when Diana dies?
8. When does she go back and visit Phillipe?
9. Instead of focusing on saving the witch Ben was raping and torturing, why did they go and hang out at Yale?
10. Blood Rage? Treatment? If so, what was the point of going to Yale?
11. Didn't Diana already say she wasn't going back to her academe life? I mean, doesn't the most powerful witch of her age have stuff to do?
12. Why are she and Matthew so special when they are other vampire/witch creatures?
I don't know the answers to these questions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 27, 2023
"If you truly love someone, you will cherish what they despise most about themselves."
My Diana and Matthew:
Similarly as its predecessors, The Book of Life is another thoughtful and thrilling page-turner. In this final instalment, author will take you on a thought-provoking journey woven into a beautiful paranormal tale that will awaken your imagination and appease even the most demanding readers.
All The de Clermonts (and Bishops) are back in present time, together with their never-ending web of secrets and intrigues. Now mated and on a verge of forming family, Matthew is desperate to keep his beloved Diana safe and happy. But when all Matthew's past deeds and mistakes come to haunt him, will their love prevail? Is their bond strong enough to covet danger greater than Covenant itself?
"But you have become as vital to me as breath and blood. My heart no longer knows where I end and you begin. I knew that you were a powerful witch from the moment I saw you, but how could I have imagined that you would have so much power over me?" - Matthew de Clermont
I absolutely love romantic aspect of this story. Matthew's and Diana's love for each other warmed my heart and brought a smile to my face through out the whole book. I'm definitely going to miss them (and all supporting characters) something fierce now when trilogy is over!
The Book of Life is a story about finding peace and absolution, about accepting who you are. The depths author went in to describe characters and their thinking is mind-blowing and truly exceptional. It made all characters come alive and it is probably the main reason which make this trilogy so special in my eyes.
Do not hesitate to pick these books up. With The Book of Life, All Souls trilogy secured first place among my all time favourites paranormal series!
"May the ranks of angels receive you,
and with Lazarus,once a poor man,
may you have eternal rest,"
*ARC provided by publisher as an exchange for honest review*
MORE REVIEWS ON MY BLOG Reading Is My Breathing
April 24, 2019
What just happened?
I was so disappointed. I adored A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night, but I feel like this book did not tie up any loose ends, answer any questions, or really provide any satisfaction for the build-up of the previous two novels.
A few of my main concerns:
Ashmole 782?
Diana and Matthew and the covenant In the first two novels, their love is made out to be some intense taboo a la interracial couples in 1950s Mississippi, but as the novel goes on, no one seems to care.
Father Hubbard Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Why are they such jerks to him? He seems like a pretty stand-up guy.
Time travel EMT service?
What was the whole point, anyway? Would this series have ended differently if Diana and Matthew had never discovered Ashmole 782 and had just started dating for the same reasons anyone else starts dating the person they eventually marry?
I was so disappointed. I adored A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night, but I feel like this book did not tie up any loose ends, answer any questions, or really provide any satisfaction for the build-up of the previous two novels.
A few of my main concerns:
Ashmole 782?
Diana and Matthew and the covenant In the first two novels, their love is made out to be some intense taboo a la interracial couples in 1950s Mississippi, but as the novel goes on, no one seems to care.
Father Hubbard Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Why are they such jerks to him? He seems like a pretty stand-up guy.
Time travel EMT service?
What was the whole point, anyway? Would this series have ended differently if Diana and Matthew had never discovered Ashmole 782 and had just started dating for the same reasons anyone else starts dating the person they eventually marry?
December 5, 2018
This series went from mediocre to bad to terrible over a course of three books.
The main problem is the author clearly didn’t think anything through. She can write well; her prose is quite flashy in places and some of her characters are quite intriguing. The first book was a great idea and it really set the tone and got the plot moving, the problem was from there the author clearly had no idea what to do.
In Shadow of Night Diana found herself transported back in time to the Elizabethan era. (You what?) And if that wasn’t bad enough, we never really get the answers we were promised as this book ends. I’m left wondering why the hell it all happened and what purpose any of it served. It’s like the author throws cheep thrill after cheep thrill to whip the plot into motion rather than dealing with elements she started with. Not a good way to write a book.
But the thing that really made this book terrible was vampire Mathew. He is the most useless, hapless, pointless, ineffectual and weak blood-sucker that has ever existed in fiction. Why the protagonist is attracted to him I’ll never know, the relationship always felt forced. There was no chemistry. What makes him so frustrating is his inability to do anything. When danger arises, he proves useless. When there is problem to solve, he may as well not be present despite his age and supposed intelligence.
What makes it worse is his angry episodes known all so creatively (cough cough) as blood rages. When one strike Mathew goes mad and kills everything in the vicinity, even beings that should be more powerful than him. He harnesses this power at the worst imaginable opportunities and becomes an even bigger hindrance, for example, when he kills off the most compelling character in the book. So, he is one big infuriating liability.
Harkness tries to wrap everything together at the end, but because there are far too many tangents it becomes a monumental effort of overwriting as long forgotten about characters are brought into the fray. It was forced. It was bad. And I laughed all the way through it. And not for the right reasons.
The main problem is the author clearly didn’t think anything through. She can write well; her prose is quite flashy in places and some of her characters are quite intriguing. The first book was a great idea and it really set the tone and got the plot moving, the problem was from there the author clearly had no idea what to do.
In Shadow of Night Diana found herself transported back in time to the Elizabethan era. (You what?) And if that wasn’t bad enough, we never really get the answers we were promised as this book ends. I’m left wondering why the hell it all happened and what purpose any of it served. It’s like the author throws cheep thrill after cheep thrill to whip the plot into motion rather than dealing with elements she started with. Not a good way to write a book.
But the thing that really made this book terrible was vampire Mathew. He is the most useless, hapless, pointless, ineffectual and weak blood-sucker that has ever existed in fiction. Why the protagonist is attracted to him I’ll never know, the relationship always felt forced. There was no chemistry. What makes him so frustrating is his inability to do anything. When danger arises, he proves useless. When there is problem to solve, he may as well not be present despite his age and supposed intelligence.
What makes it worse is his angry episodes known all so creatively (cough cough) as blood rages. When one strike Mathew goes mad and kills everything in the vicinity, even beings that should be more powerful than him. He harnesses this power at the worst imaginable opportunities and becomes an even bigger hindrance, for example, when he kills off the most compelling character in the book. So, he is one big infuriating liability.
Harkness tries to wrap everything together at the end, but because there are far too many tangents it becomes a monumental effort of overwriting as long forgotten about characters are brought into the fray. It was forced. It was bad. And I laughed all the way through it. And not for the right reasons.
May 18, 2019
Hell if I know why I enjoyed this.
Nothing really happens.
Nothing is really resolved.
And yet I couldn’t put the damn thing down.
Nothing really happens.
Nothing is really resolved.
And yet I couldn’t put the damn thing down.
December 18, 2017
Re-read 12/18/17
Much of all the esoteric stuff I loved from the first read was just as enjoyable the second time around, but this time I focused more on the people and the relationships a bit more.
Ben, for example, was something of a mystery and less a bogeyman. I may have gotten a bit annoyed with the babies this time, all the focus on them, but to each their own when it comes to that. And then there was a few slow parts that annoyed me but not by much. There was enough really fantastic stuff going on here, from extra science, from Apolo's discoveries and Diana's hunting for truth, that I never lost interest.
Indeed, it's the full extent of the tale that makes the entire book shine. We've been building on the previous two pretty gloriously and there are very nice carryovers from both as well as tragedies, but it's the final payoff of including everything in the alchemical mixture that makes the final potion work wonders.
I think this UF is probably one of the very best, smartest, and emotional works ever to rise out of the popcorn pile. Indeed, it's more of a serious work of literature. It stands out. BUT only as a trilogy.
Original Review:
I enjoyed this one almost as much as I enjoyed the previous two, but for different reasons.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed it for none of the reasons that I was expecting. Firstly, I enjoy not just symbolism but the symbols themselves. They weren't just blazoning on the page, after all, they were blazoning in my mind. None of it was particularly complicated or ominous, just relevant to the tale in both the obvious ways and the not so obvious ways. I tried looking at the books from the point of view of the symbols, and the tales become as crisp as Christmas Morning. It is really quite nice to have new fiction that can turn alchemy into alchemy.
Secondly, I enjoy themes that speak to the heart of the world and why we're living in it without becoming some broken down biological soup or a bunch of creatures standing around holding hands and singing "we are the world". Sure, a little bit of both happens in the novel, but I noticed something. Life goes on. Life always goes on. The goddess Diana or Artemis always knew this. It's not about hunting or justice, after all. It's also about Apollo who's notoriously absent from all three novels except from the pages of the alchemy. Life goes on. There's no conflict between the gods. There's no tension, and indeed, there never was. Brother and Sister were twins, after all.
Sister night was one of the main characters across the trilogy, from within Diana and her being a chimera, to the entrance of the goddess herself, to the overwhelming overabundance of female witches except for her father and Peter, to the title of the second book, to the arrow at the end. Nothing was as simple as a direct one-to-one correlation, here. It was the deeper themes that really sparked my imagination.
That and the novel also happened to be a fun urban fantasy romp. The issues at hand were on a deeper level than the action, and although there was a little action and a little romance thrown in, they were all in service to a greater power and not gratuitous.
All said, I am very impressed. Thank you!
Much of all the esoteric stuff I loved from the first read was just as enjoyable the second time around, but this time I focused more on the people and the relationships a bit more.
Ben, for example, was something of a mystery and less a bogeyman. I may have gotten a bit annoyed with the babies this time, all the focus on them, but to each their own when it comes to that. And then there was a few slow parts that annoyed me but not by much. There was enough really fantastic stuff going on here, from extra science, from Apolo's discoveries and Diana's hunting for truth, that I never lost interest.
Indeed, it's the full extent of the tale that makes the entire book shine. We've been building on the previous two pretty gloriously and there are very nice carryovers from both as well as tragedies, but it's the final payoff of including everything in the alchemical mixture that makes the final potion work wonders.
I think this UF is probably one of the very best, smartest, and emotional works ever to rise out of the popcorn pile. Indeed, it's more of a serious work of literature. It stands out. BUT only as a trilogy.
Original Review:
I enjoyed this one almost as much as I enjoyed the previous two, but for different reasons.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed it for none of the reasons that I was expecting. Firstly, I enjoy not just symbolism but the symbols themselves. They weren't just blazoning on the page, after all, they were blazoning in my mind. None of it was particularly complicated or ominous, just relevant to the tale in both the obvious ways and the not so obvious ways. I tried looking at the books from the point of view of the symbols, and the tales become as crisp as Christmas Morning. It is really quite nice to have new fiction that can turn alchemy into alchemy.
Secondly, I enjoy themes that speak to the heart of the world and why we're living in it without becoming some broken down biological soup or a bunch of creatures standing around holding hands and singing "we are the world". Sure, a little bit of both happens in the novel, but I noticed something. Life goes on. Life always goes on. The goddess Diana or Artemis always knew this. It's not about hunting or justice, after all. It's also about Apollo who's notoriously absent from all three novels except from the pages of the alchemy. Life goes on. There's no conflict between the gods. There's no tension, and indeed, there never was. Brother and Sister were twins, after all.
Sister night was one of the main characters across the trilogy, from within Diana and her being a chimera, to the entrance of the goddess herself, to the overwhelming overabundance of female witches except for her father and Peter, to the title of the second book, to the arrow at the end. Nothing was as simple as a direct one-to-one correlation, here. It was the deeper themes that really sparked my imagination.
That and the novel also happened to be a fun urban fantasy romp. The issues at hand were on a deeper level than the action, and although there was a little action and a little romance thrown in, they were all in service to a greater power and not gratuitous.
All said, I am very impressed. Thank you!
July 18, 2014
I'm truly shocked that this book recieved such great reviews. Ms. Harkness still spins a great tale, but I thought the whole of this novel was poorly constructed and lacking substance. The conclusions were tenuous stretches at best and she had a lot of trouble tying everything up at the end given the complexities she'd introduced. As a result of her difficulties (and profitability), it's quite clear from this book that there will be additional novels to join what was to be a 3-book series. This book was extremely disappointing.
July 29, 2014
I mean, let's face it, this is "Twilight" written by a college professor. The love scenes are embarrassing and clunky, but the archive scenes are hot. All those old books with their archival boxes slowly being removed and their parchment being stroked. The two main characters are tedious and unlikable, but since there are thousands of pages at our disposal, some of them have been filled with other characters you can like. At the end of the day, the plot didn't make a lot of damn sense, but who cares if you're reading it by a pool with an umbrella drink?
July 19, 2014
This book was flat out boring and a disappointing end to the series. I realized that the series lost it's charm when I was mid way through the book and basically nothing had happened to further the overall story from the previous two books.
The book is written in a mix of first person from Diana's POV and will randomly jump to third person, gets annoying rather quickly.
The menagerie of forgettable characters gets in the way of the overall story. This book felt like Twilight for adults, smothering love, inexplicable children...wait no not inexplicable, random explanations about vampire/witch genetics that act as the perfect deus ex machina.
Listen, I enjoyed the first book because it was a fun filled story with some new spins on supernatural creatures, the second book was enjoyable as well because we got some character progression. This book basically went no where until the last 15% of the story where everything gets nearly tied up and happy endings for all.
The book is written in a mix of first person from Diana's POV and will randomly jump to third person, gets annoying rather quickly.
The menagerie of forgettable characters gets in the way of the overall story. This book felt like Twilight for adults, smothering love, inexplicable children...wait no not inexplicable, random explanations about vampire/witch genetics that act as the perfect deus ex machina.
Listen, I enjoyed the first book because it was a fun filled story with some new spins on supernatural creatures, the second book was enjoyable as well because we got some character progression. This book basically went no where until the last 15% of the story where everything gets nearly tied up and happy endings for all.
October 13, 2015
You can win The Book of Life's paperback, All Souls trilogy swags and Diana's commonplace book in Young Adult Hollywood.
In this final conclusion of All Souls trilogy, Diana and Matthew returns to the present time. In Sept-Tours, they reunite with their family, and together, they’ll face the threat of danger, and search for the missing last pages of Ashmole 782.
It’s always a sob-fest to see one of your favorite series come to an end. I’ve read A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night countless of times. I can quote it with my eyes closed, but really don’t take my word for it. These books changed my life, and they will always have a very special place in my heart. No matter how many times, I’ve read this book, I will always shed a tear. This isn’t an easy road for every reader out there, who becomes so attached to these precious characters.
All Souls Trilogy is a widely popular series. While some people think it’s tedious and rather boring, I have always found it fascinating, and it intrigued me to no end. The Book of Life, like its predecessors, is a work of art, a true masterpiece. It’s no surprise, that it is profoundly and gallantly written. Harkness explores the usual concept and themes of her books. The plausible steamy romance, the historical input, magic and rich world building
We also get to meet some of the old characters who are returning in the present times like Gallowglass, and the other members of the De Clermont family. That was such a fun part! I couldn’t help but crave more back story and while there are some twists that, I didn’t anticipate coming, The Book of Life ended neatly. It went where I always thought it would go.
Deborah Harkness spellbinds her readers with the stunning conclusion of All Souls Trilogy, The Book of Life.
Listen to my The Book of Life fanmix on 8tracks.
Review also posted at Young Adult Hollywood.
January 13, 2018
This marks the conclusion of the All Souls trilogy and I couldn't be happier. From the first book on, this had become my new favourite story about witches and other supernatural creatures.
In this third volume, Diana and Matthew are home from their timewalk in the past. They had to leave loved ones behind, which is never easy, and had to discover that disaster had struck in their original timeline as well.
Not to mention that Diana is pregnant (with twins no less!) and the enemies are closing in from all sides, some even remaining in the shadows until the second half of this book, with some astonishing twists that I hadn't expected.
We also get to meet more of the family (kept in the dark until now thanks to Philippe's meticulous planning so as not to create a time paradox) as well as the history of creatures.
What I still adore about this author's style is the vividness of places she conjures up. Especially whenever witches are gathered to work magic, I felt this coziness! However, it was also the life and uniqueness she gave every single character that drew me in - not only the secondary characters were fantastic, but the tertiary ones as well!
Ysabeau will probably always be my favourite but I've come to appreciate the entire ensemble (except for Baldwin, no matter how much he developed throughout this third book).
Add to that some pretty exciting locations, this time in the present, as well as the on-going but never boring mystery of Ashmole 782 that combines history/mystery with solid pieces of science, and the mad dash to keep everyone save from mad vampires and closed-minded witches.
Speaking of closed-mindedness: the author touched on some really big topics, too. From the homosexual couples throughout the trilogy (Sarah and Em, Hugh and Fernando, ...) to "interracial" relationships that the congregation wanted to prohibit, women being introduced into certain circles - there were a lot of social topics cleverly interwoven into the fabric of a classic fantasy story that included drakes and ghosts and magic and lively pets (especially a certain dog in this volume). Usually when authors do this, it throws me off, because whenever bad-ass females are introduced gentlemanly manners must be sacrificed for some reason (which is utterly stupid and ridiculous) - not here though! The author managed to perfectly combine the old-fashioned with the modern.
The entire trilogy is done perfectly, with the author showing her skills as a researcher and scholar (the only criticism I can utter is about the linguistic errors and especially some pronuncitations in this latest audiobook) and I think this really helped transporting the reader to several university campuses, libraries, laboratories, castles, a former KZ, several countries of 1590/1591 as well as modern-day Venice.
Last, but certainly not least, this is a love story. A love story done right.
Matthew and Diana are flawed creatures that know about their shortcomings, even fear to expose their imperfect sides to one another, but love the other unconditionally. They are full of devotion for one another while letting others into their hearts and lives nevertheless.
But it's not only about Matthew and Diana, although those two are the center (without beginning or end) of course. It's a love story about family; the families we make for ourselves (which often means people we aren't related to by blood); the friends we keep close; of always being faithful, no matter how hard it may be. Honour as well as integrity and sacrifice play big parts, too, and that definitely speaks to me.
August 4, 2014
I had a moment's panic when I started this book because there were so many characters everywhere and I didn't remember any of them! But I persevered and many of them disappeared never to be seen again. The rest fell into place and their identities became apparent. Matthew and Diana however seem to have had character transplants. Overnight they have changed from young lovers to old fuddy duddies and I barely knew them any more. They also spent the entire book overreacting to every event and rushing off to various other countries for no real reason.
In fact this book is a bit of a mess. Not a lot really happens and what does goes nowhere in explaining things like The Book Of Life. At the end I still do not really know what it contained, why it ends up where it does and what that means for the future. And the description of Diana's appearance (trying for no spoilers here) is kind of weird. In fact it is really weird.
This probably sounds as though I did not like the book. In truth I was just disappointed in it because I had hoped for so much more. I loved the first book of the trilogy and now I wish the author had made it a stand alone book. The story really did not hold up through three volumes.
In fact this book is a bit of a mess. Not a lot really happens and what does goes nowhere in explaining things like The Book Of Life. At the end I still do not really know what it contained, why it ends up where it does and what that means for the future. And the description of Diana's appearance (trying for no spoilers here) is kind of weird. In fact it is really weird.
This probably sounds as though I did not like the book. In truth I was just disappointed in it because I had hoped for so much more. I loved the first book of the trilogy and now I wish the author had made it a stand alone book. The story really did not hold up through three volumes.
August 30, 2014
WOW... The wait was worth it!!!!
This was a captivating book...
I think... The end is only the beginning because...
************************************************
I need this book Like today!!!!...
omg omg faints!
This was a captivating book...
I think... The end is only the beginning because...
************************************************
I need this book Like today!!!!...
omg omg faints!
July 20, 2014
A Discovery of Witches, Book I in the All Soul's Trilogy was fresh and creative, a great story. It had some flaws but all in all it was a well built world, an addition to the fictional realm of witch folklore for adults.
Book II Shadow of Night was historical fiction, a name dropping time travel trip filled to the brim with characters from the Crusader states, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the House of Austria, along with a British monarch and her noblemen. It reeked of elitism, classism, intellectual snobbery and archaic gender roles. It did introduce an essential character called Gallowglass and was an effective way to present backstory on the ancient vampire and witch lineages of the two main characters.
The Book of Life as the end of the trilogy works with some of the characters introduced in Book I and Book II. In a series of books the retelling of a character's origins in the narrative is a distraction as are gratuitous love scenes which can become annoying as this trilogy was of the historic fiction genre and not a young adult romance series. I found the descriptive rape and torture of witches and vampires and the killing of children too graphic for my taste.
The exclusion of persons of color in the first two novels is remedied by the author with the revelation that Diana's best friend Chris introduced in Book I is a "black man from Alabama." This is a fact I seemed to have missed in the first book.
Perhaps Harkness was stretched a bit thin by both plot and characters. She essentially re-mixes and re-plays the attributes and personas. Diana whines and gives in, Matthew broods and runs his fingers through his hair, Sarah warns and dominates. Each character remains frozen, a one dimensional automaton showing little development from the point where they were introduced. The Diana and Matthew of Book III react and communicate just as they did in Book I with too few variations.
One of my favorite characters from Book I was Sophie, the Southern daemon pottery making wife of Nathaniel Wilson, and mother to baby Margaret. Sophie is not a part of this book, yet, there were new additions to the cast and far less interesting minor characters, in my opinion brought back into the fray. I found this disappointing.
Two years is a long time to wait for a final novel that doesn't deliver. The author's solution to the main mystery of Ashmole 782 aka The Book of Life of the title, completely fails to satisfy! Harkness would have been better off with one great book rather than a weak series that essentially turns the story of a powerful witch into pablum.
The audible version read by Jennifer Ikeda was entertaining, however the accents she used over the course of the 3 book series were not 100% consistent from book to book or character to character.
Book II Shadow of Night was historical fiction, a name dropping time travel trip filled to the brim with characters from the Crusader states, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the House of Austria, along with a British monarch and her noblemen. It reeked of elitism, classism, intellectual snobbery and archaic gender roles. It did introduce an essential character called Gallowglass and was an effective way to present backstory on the ancient vampire and witch lineages of the two main characters.
The Book of Life as the end of the trilogy works with some of the characters introduced in Book I and Book II. In a series of books the retelling of a character's origins in the narrative is a distraction as are gratuitous love scenes which can become annoying as this trilogy was of the historic fiction genre and not a young adult romance series. I found the descriptive rape and torture of witches and vampires and the killing of children too graphic for my taste.
The exclusion of persons of color in the first two novels is remedied by the author with the revelation that Diana's best friend Chris introduced in Book I is a "black man from Alabama." This is a fact I seemed to have missed in the first book.
Perhaps Harkness was stretched a bit thin by both plot and characters. She essentially re-mixes and re-plays the attributes and personas. Diana whines and gives in, Matthew broods and runs his fingers through his hair, Sarah warns and dominates. Each character remains frozen, a one dimensional automaton showing little development from the point where they were introduced. The Diana and Matthew of Book III react and communicate just as they did in Book I with too few variations.
One of my favorite characters from Book I was Sophie, the Southern daemon pottery making wife of Nathaniel Wilson, and mother to baby Margaret. Sophie is not a part of this book, yet, there were new additions to the cast and far less interesting minor characters, in my opinion brought back into the fray. I found this disappointing.
Two years is a long time to wait for a final novel that doesn't deliver. The author's solution to the main mystery of Ashmole 782 aka The Book of Life of the title, completely fails to satisfy! Harkness would have been better off with one great book rather than a weak series that essentially turns the story of a powerful witch into pablum.
The audible version read by Jennifer Ikeda was entertaining, however the accents she used over the course of the 3 book series were not 100% consistent from book to book or character to character.
November 9, 2025
"It's one thing to wander in the darkness because you know no different, but it's quite another to enjoy the light only to have it taken from you."
°•*⁀➷
What a wonderful book. What a beautiful series.
While this entire series was beautiful, intricate and a work of art through words, this book feels so separate from the other two. A Discovery of Witches is what it implies: a discovery. Whether it be of the world or self, it focuses on building the beautiful world we fall into. Shadow of Night was a different form of discovery. One of love, respect, loss, and so much joy. Both books set this one up to be so much more than just five stars.
Diana and Matthew have spent months away from their present. Coming back seems like a dream, especially with heart break settled in to the walls before they even get there. This book has a slow start to represent how grief slows the world down, and I love it. I love that in that grief, we see how far they have come as a couple. As partners. Yet somehow, they haven't come far enough.
There's a seemingly silent war happening in the under currents of every page we turn. Everyone is fighting for their right to choose their own future. The covenant began as something to keep creatures safe, and has become a crutch to allow prejudice and hate. A friend of Diana's points out to Matthew that everyone would rather hide from tough decisions, but someone needs to stand up for what is right. In that moment, everything changed.
For centuries, much before Diana came into Matthew's life, he thought he could be nothing more than his families Shadow. He believed he was the darkness inside the de Clermont's light. Until Diana, he couldn't see that he could step into the light as well. Through her unending love and compassion, he realizes he can be so much more.
It's something those who loved him knew all along. He was always worthy of a different life, but until he took it for himself, he would be stifled by his own darkness.
I love when books remind you that healing doesn't happen overnight, that the work never stops and the darkness can come in at any time. It's how we react to it, how we face our fears, how we choose to live that matters.
This book is the answer to the first two's questions just as for every question Matthew has ever had, his answer is Diana. I can't wait to read these books again. What a perfect last read of the year.
Bring on 2023!!!
- Paige
°•*⁀➷
What a wonderful book. What a beautiful series.
While this entire series was beautiful, intricate and a work of art through words, this book feels so separate from the other two. A Discovery of Witches is what it implies: a discovery. Whether it be of the world or self, it focuses on building the beautiful world we fall into. Shadow of Night was a different form of discovery. One of love, respect, loss, and so much joy. Both books set this one up to be so much more than just five stars.
Diana and Matthew have spent months away from their present. Coming back seems like a dream, especially with heart break settled in to the walls before they even get there. This book has a slow start to represent how grief slows the world down, and I love it. I love that in that grief, we see how far they have come as a couple. As partners. Yet somehow, they haven't come far enough.
There's a seemingly silent war happening in the under currents of every page we turn. Everyone is fighting for their right to choose their own future. The covenant began as something to keep creatures safe, and has become a crutch to allow prejudice and hate. A friend of Diana's points out to Matthew that everyone would rather hide from tough decisions, but someone needs to stand up for what is right. In that moment, everything changed.
For centuries, much before Diana came into Matthew's life, he thought he could be nothing more than his families Shadow. He believed he was the darkness inside the de Clermont's light. Until Diana, he couldn't see that he could step into the light as well. Through her unending love and compassion, he realizes he can be so much more.
It's something those who loved him knew all along. He was always worthy of a different life, but until he took it for himself, he would be stifled by his own darkness.
I love when books remind you that healing doesn't happen overnight, that the work never stops and the darkness can come in at any time. It's how we react to it, how we face our fears, how we choose to live that matters.
This book is the answer to the first two's questions just as for every question Matthew has ever had, his answer is Diana. I can't wait to read these books again. What a perfect last read of the year.
Bring on 2023!!!
- Paige
October 1, 2018
What the hell happened?
By the end of this book, the only thing you'll realise is that the whole story was completely pointless.
All that fannying about from one country to the next and one time to the next was really just a cover for the fact that:
a) it is Romeo and Juliet with a happier ending (unsuitable love match due to family conflict)
b) it is Twilight (poor vampire husband can't control himself round the mrs)
c) it is every 'i'm-a-nobody-but-all-of-a-sudden-i'm-the-chosen-one' story you've ever read
There was no real closure, no point. In the end, what did the Ashmole manuscript actually do? Bugger all. Plus, good luck if you wanted an action packed finish with the baddie, couple of paragraphs and we're back to more country hopping.
Yawn.
By the end of this book, the only thing you'll realise is that the whole story was completely pointless.
All that fannying about from one country to the next and one time to the next was really just a cover for the fact that:
a) it is Romeo and Juliet with a happier ending (unsuitable love match due to family conflict)
b) it is Twilight (poor vampire husband can't control himself round the mrs)
c) it is every 'i'm-a-nobody-but-all-of-a-sudden-i'm-the-chosen-one' story you've ever read
There was no real closure, no point. In the end, what did the Ashmole manuscript actually do? Bugger all. Plus, good luck if you wanted an action packed finish with the baddie, couple of paragraphs and we're back to more country hopping.
Yawn.
August 22, 2014
For more reviews (and the giffy version of this review), Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.
Oh my kanye, I’m finally done; I’m finally free. Yes, I’m fully aware that I subjected myself to this torture. I even wrote a post about how terrible an impulse it is but I just had to finish this series. Maybe it’s because I already put so much time into it. Maybe it’s because I liked the first one and I was hoping that would turn out to be an opinion I could understand. Either way, here I am. I’ve made it through the All Souls Trilogy, which is over one thousand pages of Twilight for snobs.
Okay guys, listen. I do try to avoid comparing things to Twilight, because every paranormal book is not Twilight nor is every love triangle. This book, though? It’s Twilight. Completely, impossibly, seriously-are-you-fucking-with-me Twilight. I already talked about some of this in earlier reviews. I mean, hell, Diana meets sexy Matthew and they, minus a brief bout of hate, basically instalove all over one another. He also, despite them both being many years into adulthood and despite Matthew having no issue sexing humans without hurting them, refuses to have sex with Diana until the second book, because this is a really common thing for adult male love interests to do. Please name a romance reader that would like to wait until book two for the sex to happen. I’m guessing this basically leaves the readers of Christian romances, who I’m guessing won’t be into this book either. So I really can’t explain this narrative choice except that, oh hey, it conveniently parallels Twilight.
Then, of fucking course, they get pregnant. With TWINS. That happens in book two and Diana spends most of The Book of Life preggers. This means that some of the words often used to describe her are maternal and fertile. Now, my memory isn’t the most reliable, but I remember Diana being fairly strong, but she spends most of this book crying, talking about the babies in her belly (I hate this word), being bossed around by Matthew, and getting new powers basically thrown at her.
Ostensibly, The Book of Life has a big bad to be taken down in the form of Benjamin, one of Matthew’s vampire sons. The story here is that he made Benjamin a vampire as a punishment. Maybe, Matthew, you shouldn’t make evil dudes into fucking vampires? Then Benjamin goes on a fucking blood rage killing spree, because that’s obviously what this guy would do what the fuck Matthew. Anyway, Benjamin is actually creepy as fuck. He’s a good villain, which is about as much praise as I have to offer.
But, again rather like Twilight, this conclusion is so not about the villains. What’s it about, you might ask? It’s about pregnancy and babies and how super fucking special their family is. The actual showdown with Benjamin lasts for about a chapter. The birth scene alone was twice as long, including a delightful scene where Matthew pleasures Diana to help take her mind off the pain of the contractions. I mean, it’s better than the babies chomping their way out but still I didn’t need that in my brain.
In this volume, Harkness demonstrates her knowledge of Pop Culture with references to both Buffy and Twilight. The Buffy reference shows how unique her vampire impregnating a lady idea is by having Chris, Diana’s friend, remark that it’s shocking it happened since vampires never got anyone pregnant on Buffy (“Not even Spike. And Gos knows he never practiced safe sex.”). Then Matthew tells a class of students who end up being not remotely important to the larger plot that “I do not, nor have I ever, sparkled.” Wow, I guess this series isn’t remotely like Twilight then after all. Glad that’s all cleared up.
There is so little plot in this book that I just can’t even. Sure, Harkness’ novels are much better written and full of delightful wine snobbery to mask the fact that they’re Twilight for adults, but they are also padded with so much description. How about to make them much less long we remove some of the oft-repeated and incredibly annoying words? I actually downloaded the ebook so I could find out how many times certain words are used. Let’s see, shall we?
book of life: 119
weaver: 102
wife: 94
husband: 74
twins: 70
mate: 65
Ashmole 782: 63
firedrake: 41
belly: 22
desperate: 11
ouroboros: 10
fertile: 6
maternal: 5
You might be thinking that these aren’t so bad, but they grated on me as I was listening, so deal with it. Also, I tried to see how many times the word “said” was used, because the cast is HUGE and there are a ton of dialog tags, but that broke Kindle Cloud Reader, so I’ll just leave it to your imagination.
Oh right, and I mentioned Diana randomly acquiring powers. Now, here’s the thing, I don’t mind when people have a lot of power, honestly, but Diana didn’t do anything to get this power. Things just happen to her because she is sooooo special. View Spoiler » Diana was already one of the most powerful witches in the world, so was this necessary? Not remotely. OH OH and to find the Book of Life, she was warned she would have to lose something and oh no, but actually all she had to lose was her fear. Wow, what a nice and easy ending. How convenient. How lucky for you.
Oh, also, it turns out that one of the other male characters has been in love with Diana for hundreds of years due to time travel shenanigans. He watched her grow up too. How sexy is that? UGH. But, don’t worry, they’ll be friends forever, because that’s what happens. I will say that some of the secondary characters are interesting and that I love the inclusion of just because lesbian and gay couples. Of course, very little time is spent talking about any of these people because Matthew and Diana are supposed to be the most compelling of all creatures.
While I can see these books having some appeal, they are most decidedly not for me. I’m not sure what I saw in them originally or why I had to finish them or why the books had to be SO long. If you like Twilight, but not the writing, then I present you with this series which you will adore. The audiobook is mostly fine and basically the only way I made it through.
Oh my kanye, I’m finally done; I’m finally free. Yes, I’m fully aware that I subjected myself to this torture. I even wrote a post about how terrible an impulse it is but I just had to finish this series. Maybe it’s because I already put so much time into it. Maybe it’s because I liked the first one and I was hoping that would turn out to be an opinion I could understand. Either way, here I am. I’ve made it through the All Souls Trilogy, which is over one thousand pages of Twilight for snobs.
Okay guys, listen. I do try to avoid comparing things to Twilight, because every paranormal book is not Twilight nor is every love triangle. This book, though? It’s Twilight. Completely, impossibly, seriously-are-you-fucking-with-me Twilight. I already talked about some of this in earlier reviews. I mean, hell, Diana meets sexy Matthew and they, minus a brief bout of hate, basically instalove all over one another. He also, despite them both being many years into adulthood and despite Matthew having no issue sexing humans without hurting them, refuses to have sex with Diana until the second book, because this is a really common thing for adult male love interests to do. Please name a romance reader that would like to wait until book two for the sex to happen. I’m guessing this basically leaves the readers of Christian romances, who I’m guessing won’t be into this book either. So I really can’t explain this narrative choice except that, oh hey, it conveniently parallels Twilight.
Then, of fucking course, they get pregnant. With TWINS. That happens in book two and Diana spends most of The Book of Life preggers. This means that some of the words often used to describe her are maternal and fertile. Now, my memory isn’t the most reliable, but I remember Diana being fairly strong, but she spends most of this book crying, talking about the babies in her belly (I hate this word), being bossed around by Matthew, and getting new powers basically thrown at her.
Ostensibly, The Book of Life has a big bad to be taken down in the form of Benjamin, one of Matthew’s vampire sons. The story here is that he made Benjamin a vampire as a punishment. Maybe, Matthew, you shouldn’t make evil dudes into fucking vampires? Then Benjamin goes on a fucking blood rage killing spree, because that’s obviously what this guy would do what the fuck Matthew. Anyway, Benjamin is actually creepy as fuck. He’s a good villain, which is about as much praise as I have to offer.
But, again rather like Twilight, this conclusion is so not about the villains. What’s it about, you might ask? It’s about pregnancy and babies and how super fucking special their family is. The actual showdown with Benjamin lasts for about a chapter. The birth scene alone was twice as long, including a delightful scene where Matthew pleasures Diana to help take her mind off the pain of the contractions. I mean, it’s better than the babies chomping their way out but still I didn’t need that in my brain.
In this volume, Harkness demonstrates her knowledge of Pop Culture with references to both Buffy and Twilight. The Buffy reference shows how unique her vampire impregnating a lady idea is by having Chris, Diana’s friend, remark that it’s shocking it happened since vampires never got anyone pregnant on Buffy (“Not even Spike. And Gos knows he never practiced safe sex.”). Then Matthew tells a class of students who end up being not remotely important to the larger plot that “I do not, nor have I ever, sparkled.” Wow, I guess this series isn’t remotely like Twilight then after all. Glad that’s all cleared up.
There is so little plot in this book that I just can’t even. Sure, Harkness’ novels are much better written and full of delightful wine snobbery to mask the fact that they’re Twilight for adults, but they are also padded with so much description. How about to make them much less long we remove some of the oft-repeated and incredibly annoying words? I actually downloaded the ebook so I could find out how many times certain words are used. Let’s see, shall we?
book of life: 119
weaver: 102
wife: 94
husband: 74
twins: 70
mate: 65
Ashmole 782: 63
firedrake: 41
belly: 22
desperate: 11
ouroboros: 10
fertile: 6
maternal: 5
You might be thinking that these aren’t so bad, but they grated on me as I was listening, so deal with it. Also, I tried to see how many times the word “said” was used, because the cast is HUGE and there are a ton of dialog tags, but that broke Kindle Cloud Reader, so I’ll just leave it to your imagination.
Oh right, and I mentioned Diana randomly acquiring powers. Now, here’s the thing, I don’t mind when people have a lot of power, honestly, but Diana didn’t do anything to get this power. Things just happen to her because she is sooooo special. View Spoiler » Diana was already one of the most powerful witches in the world, so was this necessary? Not remotely. OH OH and to find the Book of Life, she was warned she would have to lose something and oh no, but actually all she had to lose was her fear. Wow, what a nice and easy ending. How convenient. How lucky for you.
Oh, also, it turns out that one of the other male characters has been in love with Diana for hundreds of years due to time travel shenanigans. He watched her grow up too. How sexy is that? UGH. But, don’t worry, they’ll be friends forever, because that’s what happens. I will say that some of the secondary characters are interesting and that I love the inclusion of just because lesbian and gay couples. Of course, very little time is spent talking about any of these people because Matthew and Diana are supposed to be the most compelling of all creatures.
While I can see these books having some appeal, they are most decidedly not for me. I’m not sure what I saw in them originally or why I had to finish them or why the books had to be SO long. If you like Twilight, but not the writing, then I present you with this series which you will adore. The audiobook is mostly fine and basically the only way I made it through.
December 16, 2024
These two make the best fictional power couple. Yes, I am bothered by the women’s requirement to obey their husbands per vampire laws, but it’s clear there’s a lot of room for interpretation, at least with Diana and Matthew. Really excited to see what the fourth book will bring. Three weeks left to wait at the library.
February 7, 2021
2016 F.A.B. Bookclub pick # I.❤️. F.A.B.
October 16, 2018
The third book of the trilogy, with a lot of threads to weave together, creatures to sort out, and battles to fight. Deborah Harkness does it all, and then some, with gasp-worthy moments on and off the battlefields that her vampires, witches, and daemons have to populate, and moments of sheer beauty. I am, simultaneously, well-satisfied, and sorry that the trilogy isn't (at least) a quartet.
Wonderful, wondrous, magical, and excellent.
I received an ARC from NetGalley. This is an honest review.
Note, 2018 - not only did I not enjoy this book as much the 2nd time around -- I did not remember most of it. Strange.
Wonderful, wondrous, magical, and excellent.
I received an ARC from NetGalley. This is an honest review.
Note, 2018 - not only did I not enjoy this book as much the 2nd time around -- I did not remember most of it. Strange.
August 5, 2014
Bet you never thought you'd see Jay-Z in a review for "The Book of Life"! Anyway...
3.5 Stars. I liked it (overall...I am pretty sure), but I am going to apologize in advance because this review will most likely end up being a disorganized collection of my thoughts on this book and series, but after finishing it, I don't think I can write it any other way.
First off, I would definitely recommend reading a wiki page about Book 2 in the trilogy before starting the third book. Let me explain - I started the first few pages and found myself asking "What?" "Who is that?" "Wait, who died when?" "Who's Cora?" "She's pregnant?" (totally forgot) and so on and so forth. The wiki definitely helped me remember a lot of the second book and it came back to me slowly as I read the third, but there were still times throughout the book that I could not remember events or characters for the first two (no joke, I still have no idea who one of the godparents is???). I generally like to read books in a series back-to-back if at all possible, but I am not sure if that would have worked for me in this case. I am afraid your brain would explode (at least mine would) or you would get so bogged down with the details you wouldn't be able to continue. THERE IS JUST SO MUCH! - so many "scenes" and SO, so, many characters. So, long story short - read the wiki first. It will help some.
Looking back, and again, I don't remember the first two books with clarity as I read them when they first came out, but still remember my impressions about them, I feel like I read three very different books. The first one was amazing, in my opinion. I liked the mystery and the building of the relationships between the characters. It set a great stage for the story. But then, the second book, while I liked it, didn't have the same feel. It was more about the characters adjusting to who they are and who they were together. And of course, a lot of it happend 100s of years in the past. Apparently, a lot of what happened in the second book was fairly important as it was referenced often in the third book, but I didn't feel that at the time I read the second book. (Side note - do you guys remember Diana absolutely LOVING her life when they went back to the past? I didn't and I remember her having a number of challenges, but throughout the third book, their time is the past is referenced like it was glorious?) Then the third book is the battle book. All the characters are constantly fighting for something. Fighting to find a cure, fighting Baldwin, fighting to keep it together while they are apart, fighting the congregation, and of course fighting Benjamin. Yes, the characters were generally the same (all 900 of them), but the feel of the books felt so different.
Speaking of Benjamin - did you see it coming that the was going to be the big villain of the series? PS - that is not really a spoiler at all. It is pretty clear that is the case very early in Book 3. I didn't - not really. But, alas, he is the big bad. Yeah, Peter Knox is around, so is Satu, but Benjamin is the real nemesis. I would never have guessed that the third book in the trilogy would feature him so much based on the first book, if you know what I mean.
I will say, I didn't love the mythology at the end. It wasn't horrible, but I expected more out of the "Book of Life" than the answer we got. I didn't anticipate blood rage and weavers being so important. I thought there was going to be some sort of bigger picture. And I guess there was, in the "we should all get along because...(read it to find out)" sense, but the whole part with the book was a bit of a let down.
In general, I will say I think the book got better as it went along. In the beginning the genetics "stuff" was just too much for me. I ended up really liking some of the side characters, namely Fernando, Chris, and Gallowglass. Speaking of Gallowglass - is the author planning a spin-off? That is the only thing I can think given the events of the book and the ending. If not, then what the heck?!?!
So what is the point of all this rambling - well, overall, I still liked the story. I am still glad I read it. I still think it's a good trilogy. Sadly, neither the second or third books will make it to my favorites shelf like the first book, but I was entertained and engaged in the story. So, if you have read the first two books, I recommend you read this one. You won't be too disappointed. I haven't read other reviews, but I can't imagine people hating the third book entirely. (However, of course people did, becuase someone always does.) Although it wasn't as strong as the first book, it was still entertaining and, generally, a good conclusion.
April 4, 2022
What a relief to be done with these books. All three parts of this series are too long and there's so much down time I was at risk of dozing in these pages.
We got off to a good start with the first book, book two suffered from middle book syndrome and this final book failed in delivering.
I was really hoping for a decent wrap up but it was very weak. We have spent over 1,000 pages searching for the Book of Life and once found there wasn't enough fanfare, it felt very flat. What should have been the final thrilling battle scene failed in its thrilling-ness.
I get the point that the author is trying to make in that Vampires, Witches and Demons are all the same and it's those in charge that want to keep the bloodlines pure and the reflection in our own society etc etc however this could have been explored more and been a deeper part of the trilogy throughout, instead it felt clunky whacking it all into the final part.
Overall its a three star trilogy, it was fine, nothing special and will probably prove to be unmemorable to me in the long term.
We got off to a good start with the first book, book two suffered from middle book syndrome and this final book failed in delivering.
I was really hoping for a decent wrap up but it was very weak. We have spent over 1,000 pages searching for the Book of Life and once found there wasn't enough fanfare, it felt very flat. What should have been the final thrilling battle scene failed in its thrilling-ness.
I get the point that the author is trying to make in that Vampires, Witches and Demons are all the same and it's those in charge that want to keep the bloodlines pure and the reflection in our own society etc etc however this could have been explored more and been a deeper part of the trilogy throughout, instead it felt clunky whacking it all into the final part.
Overall its a three star trilogy, it was fine, nothing special and will probably prove to be unmemorable to me in the long term.
July 26, 2014
A disappointment, I'm very sorry to say
2-1/2 stars, generously rounded to 3 in consideration of the previous 2 books
I was so looking forward to the publication of this, the final book in the All Souls trilogy. I reread books 1 & 2 this spring as I impatiently waited for Delivery Day. So I cannot tell you how disappointed I was when I finally got the chance to read The Book of Life.
Perhaps the kindest way of explaining my response is that I COULD put this book down. It took me a week to finish, after multiple frustrated stops. The novel lacked focus, direction, excitement. There was so much TELLING and so little DOING. Even the main characters often felt muddled, like Ms Harkness had fallen out of rhythm from the plot. Ground was tread and then needlessly retread, but the must frustrating problem with the book was the introduction of seemingly important plot points that then went nowhere.
I've seen the other reviews on Amazon. They are predictably glowing. seems that this was everyone else's favorite book yet, and for the life of me I can't figure out why. Here's my theory: Book 1 was born from a great idea. The writing was only so-so, but the plot and strong characters were able to carry it for Ms Harkness. Book 2 was where the author, a Professor of History, really hit her stride. She was having so much fun time travelling to Elizabethan England, and her excitement carried over to the page. But then she had to return to Modern Earth, and she didn't know how to land. She was out of ideas, and this inconsistent, boring, disaster of a book was the result.
Let's be honest: nothing I write in this review will stop you from buying the book, because you're either a fan that just has to know how it ends, or your a newbie that will be swayed by the overwhelmingly positive reviews. I'm writing this anyway, if only to convey my sadness over the fact that it could have been so much better.
2-1/2 stars, generously rounded to 3 in consideration of the previous 2 books
I was so looking forward to the publication of this, the final book in the All Souls trilogy. I reread books 1 & 2 this spring as I impatiently waited for Delivery Day. So I cannot tell you how disappointed I was when I finally got the chance to read The Book of Life.
Perhaps the kindest way of explaining my response is that I COULD put this book down. It took me a week to finish, after multiple frustrated stops. The novel lacked focus, direction, excitement. There was so much TELLING and so little DOING. Even the main characters often felt muddled, like Ms Harkness had fallen out of rhythm from the plot. Ground was tread and then needlessly retread, but the must frustrating problem with the book was the introduction of seemingly important plot points that then went nowhere.
I've seen the other reviews on Amazon. They are predictably glowing. seems that this was everyone else's favorite book yet, and for the life of me I can't figure out why. Here's my theory: Book 1 was born from a great idea. The writing was only so-so, but the plot and strong characters were able to carry it for Ms Harkness. Book 2 was where the author, a Professor of History, really hit her stride. She was having so much fun time travelling to Elizabethan England, and her excitement carried over to the page. But then she had to return to Modern Earth, and she didn't know how to land. She was out of ideas, and this inconsistent, boring, disaster of a book was the result.
Let's be honest: nothing I write in this review will stop you from buying the book, because you're either a fan that just has to know how it ends, or your a newbie that will be swayed by the overwhelmingly positive reviews. I'm writing this anyway, if only to convey my sadness over the fact that it could have been so much better.
October 15, 2017
October 2017: Yep, this is still just as fantastic as the first time I read it. I loved the story and the ending and the everything. Now I’m ready for more books with Gallowglass, Miriam, and I could easily do with a million pages of Ysabeau. I’m going to have to reread these more often.
Original review
This was absolute perfection. I felt there was a lot of loose ends that needed to be taken care of, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It definitely didn't disappoint.
I don't want to say too much because spoilers, but I was instantly captivated by the story and where it went. There were some twists and revelations that I didn't see coming and let's not discount the swoons.
I loved seeing Matthew and Diana's relationship, but it's especially adorable with the addition of children. Diana grows a lot in this installment. I've been telling everyone that she is such a bad ass and that's still an understatement.
I was hanging on every single word and rapidly flipping pages until the end and then I tried to savor it. The Book of Life is another fantastic example of the way a trilogy should end.
**Huge thanks to Viking Adult and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review**
Original review
This was absolute perfection. I felt there was a lot of loose ends that needed to be taken care of, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It definitely didn't disappoint.
I don't want to say too much because spoilers, but I was instantly captivated by the story and where it went. There were some twists and revelations that I didn't see coming and let's not discount the swoons.
I loved seeing Matthew and Diana's relationship, but it's especially adorable with the addition of children. Diana grows a lot in this installment. I've been telling everyone that she is such a bad ass and that's still an understatement.
I was hanging on every single word and rapidly flipping pages until the end and then I tried to savor it. The Book of Life is another fantastic example of the way a trilogy should end.
**Huge thanks to Viking Adult and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review**
February 22, 2022
So GOOD...
I am so sad it's over because I've loved every minute of the All Souls Trilogy. The characters were wonderful, the storyline captivating, and the love story left me extremely satisfied. Listening was a wonderful experience and I'm so glad that I went this way. There were definitely some differences in this last instalment compared to the show and don't hate me for saying it, but I liked some things in the show better. (DOMENICO!)
It surprised me the portrayal of some of the characters (looks-wise) as being vampires, they don't age. I'm guessing it's hard to put a 20-something actress in the part of someone who is supposed to be a 'Grandmother' and for people to actually get it.
I definitely have my favourites in this series and Gallowglass is at the top. I would LOVE to 'see' him find his forever love.
I'm pretty sure I saw on the Goodreads vine that Marcus has a story to tell. I'm going to take a wee break but I will definitely check it out soon. Maybe my wish will come true and I will see Gallowglass again.
I am so sad it's over because I've loved every minute of the All Souls Trilogy. The characters were wonderful, the storyline captivating, and the love story left me extremely satisfied. Listening was a wonderful experience and I'm so glad that I went this way. There were definitely some differences in this last instalment compared to the show and don't hate me for saying it, but I liked some things in the show better. (DOMENICO!)
It surprised me the portrayal of some of the characters (looks-wise) as being vampires, they don't age. I'm guessing it's hard to put a 20-something actress in the part of someone who is supposed to be a 'Grandmother' and for people to actually get it.
I definitely have my favourites in this series and Gallowglass is at the top. I would LOVE to 'see' him find his forever love.
I'm pretty sure I saw on the Goodreads vine that Marcus has a story to tell. I'm going to take a wee break but I will definitely check it out soon. Maybe my wish will come true and I will see Gallowglass again.
Want to read
December 6, 2013
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August 13, 2020
Buddy read with Ruthie
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 is a good book but a pale conclusion to this series, even though the author concluded most things there were still a few holes that I wish got properly closed. The important part of the book was rushed while the needless unimportant day to day life took way too many page space. Do not even get me started on the way they dealt with the congregation, Knox and Benjamin, I expected more, the author made them look so strong and powerful then with a snap of a finger they were defeated.
Apart from the above points I really enjoyed reading The Book of Life, they finally found the secret of the book.
“Secrets, like the dead, do not always stay buried,”
“But secrets are unreliable allies. They allow us to believe we are safe, yet all the while they are destroying us.”
Most of the problems the characters experienced was due to secrets, I'm glad everything came out in the open.
The world building is still great, I felt it was underwhelming given how good book two is. Unlike the first and second book this is written in multiple POV which is amazing, I finally got to know what the other characters apart from Diana are thinking.
My favourite character is Jack Blackfriars, his reunion with Diana was amazing. I still like Diana, her character development was well done, she no longer acted like the way she did in Shadow of Night, she is more experienced and powerful.
Matthew was disappointing here, the author made him almost helpless to make Diana look strong. I wish the author used another method.
Chris and Fernando are two new great characters, really enjoyed their parts. The rest of the De Clermont household were also in this.
Baldwin is a character that confused me, I still don't know the reasons for why he treated Matthew and Diana the way he did.
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 is a good book but a pale conclusion to this series, even though the author concluded most things there were still a few holes that I wish got properly closed. The important part of the book was rushed while the needless unimportant day to day life took way too many page space. Do not even get me started on the way they dealt with the congregation, Knox and Benjamin, I expected more, the author made them look so strong and powerful then with a snap of a finger they were defeated.
Apart from the above points I really enjoyed reading The Book of Life, they finally found the secret of the book.
“Secrets, like the dead, do not always stay buried,”
“But secrets are unreliable allies. They allow us to believe we are safe, yet all the while they are destroying us.”
Most of the problems the characters experienced was due to secrets, I'm glad everything came out in the open.
The world building is still great, I felt it was underwhelming given how good book two is. Unlike the first and second book this is written in multiple POV which is amazing, I finally got to know what the other characters apart from Diana are thinking.
My favourite character is Jack Blackfriars, his reunion with Diana was amazing. I still like Diana, her character development was well done, she no longer acted like the way she did in Shadow of Night, she is more experienced and powerful.
Matthew was disappointing here, the author made him almost helpless to make Diana look strong. I wish the author used another method.
Chris and Fernando are two new great characters, really enjoyed their parts. The rest of the De Clermont household were also in this.
Baldwin is a character that confused me, I still don't know the reasons for why he treated Matthew and Diana the way he did.
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