REVIEW: A Discovery of Witches (#1) - Deborah Harkness

Title: A Discovery of Witches (#1)
Author: Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy
Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
Format: Paperback
Pages: 688 Pages
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of the powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire geneticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels...

Thoughts

This book is a brick so be forewarned it is a long one, the story follows Diana, a witch who doesn't really want to practice magic.

I really enjoyed this book, and I loved that the supernatural element was focused more in reality than fantasy (if you get my gist). The writing was so easy to follow, and the story just flowed so well. The world building was so good, sometimes world building can be quite slow going as the author has a new magic system to inform the reader of, and when you include vampires and demons. Harkness just seems to get it right.

I loved Diana and Matthew as characters, they were just fantastic, and their relationship wasn't full on, but slow going. Which I thought was fantastic as that is what most normal relationships are like.
I thought Diana was such a strong character and seemed to take everything in her stride, you also see her start to grow as a character in this book as you follow her on her journey to discover who she really is.

Overall a really good book, and I really can't wait to read the next in the series.