A Discovery of Witches is a historical fantasy, romance, vampire, witchcraft, alchemy, and contemporary fantasy book written by Deborah Harkness. It was the debut novel of the author and is the introduction to the All Souls Series. It follows the history of science professor – Diana Bishop. She finds a long-lost manuscript and is forced to reconcile with the abandoned magic in her blood for the good of all. She also eventually starts a romance with a charming vampire Mathew Clairmont. The novel became a New York Times bestseller at the time of its release. It received critical acclaim for its mix of fantasy and history. Deborah also garnered immense praise for the novel, since she used to only publish non-fiction before this. You should check out Shadow of Night which is the second book of the series. If you’re interested in the series even further, consider reading The Book of Life.
Jennifer Ikeda has done a good job with the narration of this book. Her voice is a bit too young for some of the characters in the novel, who are supposed to be mature.
Diana is a witch along with being a professor at the University of Oxford. She has not drawn on this aspect of her life since the death of her parents since she was seven. She hardly practices witchcraft and has minimized her interaction with other witches.
Everything changes when she discovers a manuscript at the Bodleian Library. It causes a magical reaction in her body. It also starts attracting others who have been searching for it. Thus, Diana rethinks her stance on magic for the seemingly unavoidable trouble.
The book is amazing but then as the plot progresses, it becomes all about the romance. The aspect of romance is dominant over the others, in the sense that it hardly seems like a fantasy book till the end.
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