Overall, I found this book enjoyable and well written. A forbidden romance with rich political world building, A Discovery of Witches is a new twist of the classic vampire love story. This book has a lot of science and history included in the story, with some general biology knowledge being necessary for the reader to whole understand Diana and Matthew’s work. If you like rich academic stories, this book is the right choice for you.

My biggest criticism of the book is the general lack of diversity, with no real BIPOC or LGBT characters. The author does not describe what any characters look like or give the historical background of vampire characters outside of those with European backgrounds. When a minority character is mention they are only referenced to further the storyline of a white character. While I doubt the author will be adding any minority characters in the next let the reader hope she stops using minorities as props in future projects.