Skip to main content

Quick Review: "The Book of Life" by Deborah Harkness



From Goodreads:  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.

My Thoughts:  I loved this trilogy, but The Book of Life is by far my most favorite of the three.  It had this awesome mix of history, folklore and science that just made for a fantastic story and I absolutely loved how Harkness wrapped everything up. 

It's hard to talk about all the things I liked about this book without giving things away so I am not  going to say too much.  The characters are one of my favorite aspects of this book.  There were a ton of them so at times it was hard to keep track of who everyone was but they were all so unique and interesting.  I know Baldwin is supposed to be a bad/good guy but I really loved him.  I also adore Gallowglass; his loyalty to both Matthew and Diana makes him so lovable. Benjamin was a super scary villain and his antics were beyond creepy.

I loved the scientific and DNA discussions in the book.  I find genetics to be incredibly interesting and the whole discussion of witch and vampire genetics was really cool.  I also enjoyed learning more about the Book of Life, what secrets it held and the magic involved.  This book is not just a great read, it is also an intelligent read.  Harkness obviously did a ton of research to be able to write this story and it was definitely worth it.

 I can't recommend this book, and the others, enough.  If you have any interest in historical fiction and/or fantasy, this is the book for you. 5 stars.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 24, 2014 at 12:10 PM

    Discovery of Witches has been on my wishlist for ages. I think I will now have to buy this trilogy soon. I hear nothing but good things!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Holly (2 Kids and Tired)July 25, 2014 at 2:40 PM

    I don't think I've seen a bad review of this series. I am seriously intrigued now.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review and Giveaway: "Distant Signs" by Anne Richter

Synopsis: Distant Signs is an intimate portrait of two families spanning three generations amidst turbulent political change, behind and beyond the Berlin Wall. In 1960s East Germany, Margret, a professor’s daughter from the city, meets and marries Hans, from a small village in Thuringia. The couple struggle to contend with their different backgrounds, and the emotional scars they bear from childhood in the aftermath of war. As East German history gradually unravels, with collision of the personal and political, their two families’ hidden truths are quietly revealed. An exquisitely written novel with strongly etched characters that stay with you long after the book is finished and an authentic portrayal of family life behind the iron curtain based on personal experience of the author who is East German and was 16 years old at the fall of the Berlin Wall. Why do families repeat destructive patterns of behaviour across generations? Should the personal take precedence over...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mailbox Monday (49)

It's time for another Mailbox Monday post!  Once again I could not resist the cheap ebooks that Amazon and Barnes and Noble were promoting this week.  I really need to stop!  I already have more than I can read.  I also was able to spend a little time browsing at the library and I came home with a nice stack of books.  These days, I hardly ever get to spend time at the library by myself for more than a minute or two so it was wonderful to have time to just wander and see what I could find. Purchased (for kindle): The Color of Secrets by Lindsay Ashford The One I Was by Eliza Graham House of Bathory by Linda Lafferty   Purchased (for nook): One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore  Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams From the Library: The Messenger by Daniel Silva   The Ripper's Wife by Brandy Purdy Hotel Moscow by Talia Carner Brazen by Katherine Longshore What books did you get...
15 comments
Read more

Review and Giveaway: "This Son of York" by Anne Easter Smith

Synopsis: Now is the winter of our discontent, Made glorious summer by This Son of York…” — William Shakespeare, Richard III Richard III was Anne’s muse for her first five books, but, finally, in This Son of York he becomes her protagonist. The story of this English king is one of history’s most compelling, made even more fascinating through the discovery in 2012 of his bones buried under a car park in Leicester. This new portrait of England’s most controversial king is meticulously researched and brings to vivid life the troubled, complex Richard of Gloucester, who ruled for two years over an England tired of war and civil strife. The loyal and dutiful youngest son of York, Richard lived most of his short life in the shadow of his brother, Edward IV, loyally supporting his sibling until the mantle of power was thrust unexpectedly on him. Some of his actions and motives were misunderstood by his enemies to have been a deliberate usurpation of the throne, but thr...
Post a Comment
Read more