Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

3.5 STARS

All Souls Trilogy - Book 2

I'd really give this 3.5 stars, but we all know Goodreads doesn't deal in half stars. (Stupid Ratings system). 

I found the first half of the book draggy and lacking the excitement of the first volume of the trilogy. We were introduced to a myriad of new characters, seemingly all at once and they all sort of got mixed up together to the point that I had no idea who was who in history and whether they were considered creatures or not. I also missed a bit of a refresher about what happened in the first book, A Discovery of Witches. It's been a while, after all, a year or so, I think, between publications. 

The best part of the first half were the chapters dealing with Diana and Matthew's stay with Phillipe. 

The second half of the book picked up. Diana and Matthew were actually DOING something instead of basically keeping secrets from each other. We also met Anne and Jack - two of my favourite characters in the book - and got to see Diana make considerable progress in her search for her witchy powers. :)

The last twist - or twists - were interesting. I won't give them away here, but one kind of fell out of nowhere and had no context - almost as if we were missing a chapter or two of what was going on in present time. And the second was a pleasant twist that I quite enjoyed but might seem as pandering to some. 

So now starts the wait for the last of the trilogy - and please, all the little gods and goddesses - let it be the last one. I am SO tired of all these "so and so need their own story" off-shoots of books. So and so doesn't always need their own story, really.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

4 STARS

All Souls Trilogy - Book 1

I bought this on a guts feeling. I kept seeing the book whenever I walked into our local Chapters store and it always caught my eye - then, when perusing the offerings of Kobo e-books, again, it kept catching my eye. I'm not big on the current trend of paranormal novels and romances, but this one's cover illustration didn't have the ubiquitous woman in leathers and all the shadowy stuff going on behind her, so finally I caved and bought the ebook.

Oddly, it was almost like reading two different books. The first half felt like a mystery that was taking its own sweet time about getting formed, and I have to admit that it took me a long while to warm up to the heroine, Diana. I'm still not entirely sold on her. One reviewer that I saw likened her to a Mary Sue and it's possible that this is one reason why. Honestly, she's my least favorite character in the book.

The other characters, however... :) 

The hero is scrumptious and the secondary characters are intriguing and fun and quirky and there had better be more of them to come.

The second half of the book reads like a romance, and that's okay. I like romances. And Matthew, the hero, is one sexy vampire, let me tell you. I think I would have liked a little more conflict between him and Diana vis-a-vis his vampiric past. Yeah, yeah, love and all that, but, I still wanted it to be a little more difficult for her. Now, I have to admit that this book hits a lot of my reading kinks. I love the cast of diverse characters that reluctantly come together in pursuit of a common goal, despite mutual distrust etc... I love the historical aspects of the book, all the incidents from Matthew's past delighted me no end. I also have a thing for secret councils and the like. And I loved the idea that so many incredible people from the past were what the author terms "creatures", ie: witches, vampires and daemons. (I'm loving the daemons, BTW.) 

You know what the second half of the book feels like to me? A good Nora Roberts. And I'm very fond of Nora Roberts. :) 

I had no idea when I bought the book that it was the first of a trilogy - I actually discovered that only yesterday! No wonder certain things are taking so long to resolve. In the end, would I recommend "A Discovery of Witches"? Yes, it's a good read and I ended up really enjoying it. (Maybe having no expectations when I started helped with that?) And will I purchase the second book in the trilogy? You betcha! My only hope is that I come to like Diana a little more.