This is a reread for me, and I upped my review from 3 to 4 stars this time around. I initially went with 3 stars because the book didn't deliver for me a few years ago. I was expecting a fast-paced thriller about witches and vampires (aka Cassandra Clare), with a little scholarly insight thrown in, when in fact, this book is exactly the opposite. It takes its witches and vampires very seriously; there is a lot of talk about identity, but almost in a way that humans talk about identity. Questions like "why are we here, where did we come from" are the main focus of this book, so it's really an existential treatment about witches and vampires. And while this is totally bunk, because they don't exist, the author treats the matter very seriously. Knowing that really helped me enjoy this book for what it is. Harkness is all about the details, so this book may not be for everyone if you get bogged down by long-winded descriptions of houses and furniture. However, if you enjoy love stories and with some history thrown in, give this one a try.