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A review by carefulfearanddeaddevotion
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
As an Assassin's Creed aficionado, I object to Matthew being a templar. The objections don't stop there.
I loathe to pull this card, but this book feels SO insidiously misogynistic. Yes, he calls her brave and strong and "ma lionne" and she bristles at having to do what he says, but the whole "Matthew's the patriarch and you MUST do what he says without question or complaint" thing got old real quick. Diana is a witch--the strongest, most talented, most ability-having witch in generations, and maybe possibly ever(?), at that-- , yet cowers behind Matthew (both willingly and not) at every chance. I was annoyed by her whining about having magic, and I was REALLY annoyed about her not using it at the beginning. At least, the book explained (somewhat satisfactorily) why this was. Still, a consistent theme of witch stories is how matriarchal/communal covens tend to be. So, while we see Diana relenting to the patriarchal de Clermont family, I wish that being around the Bishops had made Matthew less (can't think of an eloquent way to say this) "I'm the only one in charge."
The whole romance was so uncomfortable and cringe. You've known each other 40 days (by the last page of the book!)! Like, ok, I can look slightly past this because it's ~~fated~~ or whatever but it doesn't really change the fact that the whole "my husband" "my mate" shit made my organs turn inside out (negative). The outsized possessiveness and borderline controlling behavior from Matthew was soo deeply uncomfortable. Mild spoiler, but the scene towards the beginning where he held her against him to keep from leaving so they could "talk about it" (or whatever) made my skin itch. Matthew and Diana are in their mid/late 30s but act like 15 year olds! I do not believe that they're accomplished scholars, they're so childish and melodramatic. (Matthew is actually 1500 years old, but this just helps my case).
Also! The "warmbloods" (again, ew) in this book eat meat! They ALSO kill to survive! So, especially since he only (mostly?) feeds on animals, I was not really understanding the whole "you understand he has to kill to survive" plotpoint. Yea, like, no shit, you just had a platterfull of bacon for breakfast this morning, you think they synthesized that shit from thin air?? 🙄
I couldn't understand why I didn't like the writing. On paper (hehe), I should have liked how descriptive it was. But, as my friend, and follow goodreads user (hi Olivia), pointed out, yes, the writing is descriptive but in a very tell-not-show way and the sentence structure doesn't vary much.
I think the concept of the book was cool, but I didn't much like the characters, or the writing, or the execution. A man approached me while I was reading this book on the train to tell me that he loved it and that it ruined all other books for him. After slogging through all 718 pages of A Discovery of Witches, I can safely say this must have been the only book he's read in his life.
I loathe to pull this card, but this book feels SO insidiously misogynistic. Yes, he calls her brave and strong and "ma lionne" and she bristles at having to do what he says, but the whole "Matthew's the patriarch and you MUST do what he says without question or complaint" thing got old real quick. Diana is a witch
The whole romance was so uncomfortable and cringe. You've known each other 40 days (by the last page of the book!)! Like, ok, I can look slightly past this because it's ~~fated~~ or whatever but it doesn't really change the fact that the whole "my husband" "my mate" shit made my organs turn inside out (negative). The outsized possessiveness and borderline controlling behavior from Matthew was soo deeply uncomfortable. Mild spoiler, but the scene towards the beginning where he held her against him to keep from leaving so they could "talk about it" (or whatever) made my skin itch. Matthew and Diana are in their mid/late 30s but act like 15 year olds! I do not believe that they're accomplished scholars, they're so childish and melodramatic. (Matthew is actually 1500 years old, but this just helps my case).
Also! The "warmbloods" (again, ew) in this book eat meat! They ALSO kill to survive! So, especially since he only (mostly?) feeds on animals, I was not really understanding the whole "you understand he has to kill to survive" plotpoint. Yea, like, no shit, you just had a platterfull of bacon for breakfast this morning, you think they synthesized that shit from thin air?? 🙄
I couldn't understand why I didn't like the writing. On paper (hehe), I should have liked how descriptive it was. But, as my friend, and follow goodreads user (hi Olivia), pointed out, yes, the writing is descriptive but in a very tell-not-show way and the sentence structure doesn't vary much.
I think the concept of the book was cool, but I didn't much like the characters, or the writing, or the execution. A man approached me while I was reading this book on the train to tell me that he loved it and that it ruined all other books for him. After slogging through all 718 pages of A Discovery of Witches, I can safely say this must have been the only book he's read in his life.