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nmcannon 's review for:
A Discovery of Witches
by Deborah Harkness
SOOOOOOOO I WAS FEELING NOSTALGIC OKAY.
Remember when TWILIGHT was the super "it" thing? And vampire books were popping up left and right?? And Young Adult became a separate section of bookstores and libraries??? It was a GREAT TIME. A WONDERFUL time. I TOTALLY READ SO MUCH. Buuuuuut I missed out on the adult-y vampire books because I was, ya know, 14, and I wanted to be a good girl so a vampire would bite me.
Now that I jogged your memory, zoom to the present day. I saw A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES in the library this November. Suddenly all that hype came rushing back, like some sort of tortured passion monsoon. Witches. Vampires. Careful kissing. Lesbian witches and gay demons. Yes yes YES. Harkness brought all that back for me and I thank her for that immensely.
However, I am an adult reading this adult-y book. I am a writer trying to figure out how to write. So my brain analyzed and I...I never realized what a snob I was until I read this book. Like, I knew I was a book snob, but apparently I'm also a riding and food snob. There were some details, especially the wine details, that were off and jolted me out of the story. Nobody should drink 100 year old wine (unless it's a special port). Nobody should drink 5 month old wine either. Nobody should eat fish that still tastes like the ocean. Nobody should ride a new horse with their eyes closed, without stirrups or reins. Just...no.
There were also some hilarious use of fanfic tropes, which I made me laugh when I supposed to be concerned. Diana has some witch power shenanigans that didn't make sense, and she was repeatedly applauded for taking beatings from other creatures. Matthew's anger issues did not make for a good romantic lead, and sent up some red flags about him being a potential domestic abuser. This issues like these, the writing quality varied for me. Sometimes I was very invested and impressed, but other times I was horrified.
Thus, the three stars despite nostalgia points. I'm interested in picking up the next book, and I'm recommending the series to my biologist-and-Outlander-obssessed Mom. Since there are domestic abuse elements though, I'm unsure who else should read it. I'd keep it away from the impressionable and those unwilling to be critical of stuff they love.
Remember when TWILIGHT was the super "it" thing? And vampire books were popping up left and right?? And Young Adult became a separate section of bookstores and libraries??? It was a GREAT TIME. A WONDERFUL time. I TOTALLY READ SO MUCH. Buuuuuut I missed out on the adult-y vampire books because I was, ya know, 14, and I wanted to be a good girl so a vampire would bite me.
Now that I jogged your memory, zoom to the present day. I saw A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES in the library this November. Suddenly all that hype came rushing back, like some sort of tortured passion monsoon. Witches. Vampires. Careful kissing. Lesbian witches and gay demons. Yes yes YES. Harkness brought all that back for me and I thank her for that immensely.
However, I am an adult reading this adult-y book. I am a writer trying to figure out how to write. So my brain analyzed and I...I never realized what a snob I was until I read this book. Like, I knew I was a book snob, but apparently I'm also a riding and food snob. There were some details, especially the wine details, that were off and jolted me out of the story. Nobody should drink 100 year old wine (unless it's a special port). Nobody should drink 5 month old wine either. Nobody should eat fish that still tastes like the ocean. Nobody should ride a new horse with their eyes closed, without stirrups or reins. Just...no.
There were also some hilarious use of fanfic tropes, which I made me laugh when I supposed to be concerned. Diana has some witch power shenanigans that didn't make sense, and she was repeatedly applauded for taking beatings from other creatures. Matthew's anger issues did not make for a good romantic lead, and sent up some red flags about him being a potential domestic abuser. This issues like these, the writing quality varied for me. Sometimes I was very invested and impressed, but other times I was horrified.
Thus, the three stars despite nostalgia points. I'm interested in picking up the next book, and I'm recommending the series to my biologist-and-Outlander-obssessed Mom. Since there are domestic abuse elements though, I'm unsure who else should read it. I'd keep it away from the impressionable and those unwilling to be critical of stuff they love.