To call this the first book in a vampire romance trilogy is not entirely accurate. Yes, a witch and a vampire fall in love. Yes, these two are the main couple in the series. Yes, there are consequences to their relationship that need to be sorted out. Unlike Twilight, however, that's not the major point of the series.
Diana Bishop is a witch by blood and a history professor by trade. She takes a sabbatical in Oxford to do some research. Her era of focus is the transition from alchemy to science. One day, she brings a book from the stacks that has been missing for centuries, known as Ashmole 782. This book is important to a whole lot of creatures for a whole lot of reasons. Diana doesn't know that and, once she's done trying to read the magically encrypted text, she sends it back to the stacks.
As she's working on her research the next week, Diana meets Matthew Clairmont. Matthew's a vampire geneticist who focuses on evolution. Matthew wants to see Ashmole 782 because it may show why vampires, daemons, and witches live and work among humans at all.
The first half of the book focuses more on setting up the world, Matthew's theories, Diana's power (and the fact that she doesn't use it), and the relationships that should and should not happen among vampires, witches, and daemons.
The second half has a lot to do with the development of Diana's relationship with Matthew, with a bit more exposition to each backstory. We meet Matthew's vampire mother, Ysabeau (who is probably my favorite character), Marthe the vampire maid, Sarah and Emily (Diana's aunts, who raised her after Diana's parents died), and Matthew's co-workers - his son Marcus and friend Miriam.
The book ends with SPOILERS, but I'm excited to read the next book, Shadow of Night. It seems to involve time travel, William Shakespeare, and Christopher Marlowe having the hots for Matthew.
This book is fairly good for a vampire romance category, but it doesn't fit neatly into that. I hope that the rest of the trilogy delves more into the significance of the Ashmole book, and why EVERYONE seems to want it.
A Discovery of Witches also includes really important details about psychological reactions to events, but without blatantly saying "THIS PERSON HAS A DISORDER." (except in the beginning, but that turns out to be a bit false). One of the highest-tension moments is a big spoiler, but it involves Diana getting a lot of nasty scars on her back. After that, she gets really uncomfortable whenever anyone is standing behind her and she doesn't know what they're doing. This is everything from when Matthew and Sarah treat her wounds to someone just entering the room when she's facing away from the door. There is a lot of attention to detail like that - sometimes too much. The climax seems to be a series of information dumps and plot twists that I hope will be resolved in the next book.
In all, though, A Discovery of Witches is a really fun read for anyone who wants an interesting introduction to a fantasy/ romance series.
As she's working on her research the next week, Diana meets Matthew Clairmont. Matthew's a vampire geneticist who focuses on evolution. Matthew wants to see Ashmole 782 because it may show why vampires, daemons, and witches live and work among humans at all.
The first half of the book focuses more on setting up the world, Matthew's theories, Diana's power (and the fact that she doesn't use it), and the relationships that should and should not happen among vampires, witches, and daemons.
The second half has a lot to do with the development of Diana's relationship with Matthew, with a bit more exposition to each backstory. We meet Matthew's vampire mother, Ysabeau (who is probably my favorite character), Marthe the vampire maid, Sarah and Emily (Diana's aunts, who raised her after Diana's parents died), and Matthew's co-workers - his son Marcus and friend Miriam.
The book ends with SPOILERS, but I'm excited to read the next book, Shadow of Night. It seems to involve time travel, William Shakespeare, and Christopher Marlowe having the hots for Matthew.
This book is fairly good for a vampire romance category, but it doesn't fit neatly into that. I hope that the rest of the trilogy delves more into the significance of the Ashmole book, and why EVERYONE seems to want it.
A Discovery of Witches also includes really important details about psychological reactions to events, but without blatantly saying "THIS PERSON HAS A DISORDER." (except in the beginning, but that turns out to be a bit false). One of the highest-tension moments is a big spoiler, but it involves Diana getting a lot of nasty scars on her back. After that, she gets really uncomfortable whenever anyone is standing behind her and she doesn't know what they're doing. This is everything from when Matthew and Sarah treat her wounds to someone just entering the room when she's facing away from the door. There is a lot of attention to detail like that - sometimes too much. The climax seems to be a series of information dumps and plot twists that I hope will be resolved in the next book.
In all, though, A Discovery of Witches is a really fun read for anyone who wants an interesting introduction to a fantasy/ romance series.
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