Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

Star Rating: 4 stars

This book is well written and a quick read despite its length. It is very descriptive. Most books, I get a good visual idea of the characters and the setting but many authors miss out the other senses, or they are just not as prominent as the visuals. We all experience things differently depending on whether we are a visual, kinesthetic or audio type of person. I know I'm a very visual person but smells also play a big part in how I remember things (perhaps that's all the years of being an aromatherapist). Anyway, this book details smells and tastes quite heavily and I thought it really added to the whole experience. At the beginning, it was mainly in relation to wine tasting but then it was in relations to places and people.

I did enjoy the book and gave it 4 stars but I think I've got to the stage now where I've read too many "good vampire" books. They are all a bit too samey for my liking. Male vampire and female of another supernatural race (witch in this case) fall in love. It's a forbidden love. There are secrets and organisations to satisfy/avoid. The vampire is always scared they are going to hurt the woman because he's so powerful. They can't have children. blah blah blah blah... They are all the same. I think I need to go back to reading some scary vampire books as they might appeal to me more.

I thought the book was a little slow in places, especially in the middle when Diana is in France - it felt like it ebbed and flowed a lot with it's pace. I liked the first part of the book the most as it was more mystery but then it became more about the romance which became a little frustrating for me. I will continue the series as I think the next book will be interesting because of its setting (plus I own the rest of the books in the series).

I did like all the witch stuff though and I guess that was supposed to be the main focus.

Review: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson is a talented Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. She also happens to be a walker, a magical being with the power to shift into a coyote at will. Mercy's next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a bus for a vampire. This is the world of Mercy Thompson, one that looks a lot like ours but is populated by those things that go bump in the night. And Mercy's connection to those things is about to get her into some serious hot water...

Reading Format: Kindle eBook
Year Read: 2014
Star Rating: 5 stars

This book was so much fun! Mercy is a fantastic character. She isn't the stereotypical female which I love: she's strong, knows what she wants, doesn't take shit from anyone, she is a mechanic, and she is a purple belt in karate. All this does mean that she sometimes gets herself in to a spot of bother.

Mercy is a shape shifter, with Native American roots, and she shifts in to a coyote. I really liked that the author chose something different other than the usual vampire and werewolf supernaturals. Don't get me wrong, I love both, but it makes for a refreshing change to have something different as the main character. There are both vampires and werewolves featured heavily in the book though with some really interesting characters. Oh and there are Fae and Witches in it too.

So a lone, newly made teenage werewolf turns up at Mercy's garage looking for work. One day, she finds him being held at gun point and coerced to go with another newbie werewolf and a human. Mercy shifts and intervenes, killing the werewolf in the process. The Alpha of the local pack comes to help clear up the mess and takes the new werewolf in. But then things go a bit tits up. Adam, the Alpha of the pack, is attacked in his own home and left to die and his daughter is kidnapped. Mercy saves Adam and then the hunt is on to discover what happened, who has taken his daughter and to get her back.

So when I read most Urban Fantasy books, I'm wondering when the obligatory romance will start. However with this book, there was nothing until the last chapter, maybe even just the last 5 pages, which was a blessing in my opinion. I have got nothing against romance in books as long as it is not the main focus. Women do not need to be in a relationship to be complete. That's one of the reasons I like Mercy!

The front cover put me off reading the book for a while. I really can't work out who the cover is trying to attract. I think the readership of this series is predominantly female because Mercy is a strong female character but then why the scantily clad Mercy on the front cover?!? To encourage men to read the series? Who knows what the publishers think!

I will definitely be reading the rest of the series. I've added them all to my ever growing wishlist!

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Review: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.

So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture.

And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist . . .

Reading Format: Paperback
Year Read: 2014
Star Rating: 5 stars

I love Terry Pratchett's books. And I love Neil Gaiman's books. So naturally I was really excited about reading Good Omens, a collaboration between these two fantastic authors. It was so good and I really hope that they consider writing another book together at some point as their individual writing styles really compliment each other.

The humour of Pratchett's writing was present as were the footnotes that can be found in his Discworld series. This combined with Gaiman's penchant for creating dark and disturbing tales made this story utter perfection in my eyes.

In this story, a direct descendent of Agnes Nutter, a Witch and prophet, is in possession of a book which contains all her prophecies which are very accurate indeed. The prophecies (and therefore the book) ends on a Saturday with Armageddon. The end of the world is coming about because the Antichrist has been placed on Earth, a young boy placed in the care of a normal human family, and representatives from Heaven and Hell are placed on Earth to ensure that the Divine Plan is kept on track. Lot's of mishaps and confusion results and everyone (on both sides) is left scrambling around trying to avert the destruction of life as we know it.

I loved all the individual characters and there was quite a cast (luckily at the front of the book there was a list of characters for reference although I only used it at the beginning of the book) and I thought they were all really well developed. I really liked Crowley and Aziriphale and I enjoyed how they interacted with each other.

All in all, a fantastically, humorous time was had by me while reading this book!

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