Book Review: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book can be a mixture of cozy meets drama meets EMOTIONAL DAMAGE meets thriller in this book. It is the trilogy’s last book, and it was a RIDE. This book had me going through so much emotional damage that I had to take a break sometimes and read something else. But I enjoyed reading about Diana, and I’m sad that this book and this trilogy is over. I wish we could get more books about Diana and the others, but this felt like a perfect ending to a really good series that I love, coming second to the Raven Cycle series.

The book is basically about everyone trying to find the Ashmole 782 and putting the missing pages back into the book-the pages they have, and the pages the daemon Edward Kelley had ripped out years ago. It turns out that this book was made from the body and bones from dead vampires, witches and daemons themselves, along with their blood. It does have action in it from the vampire stalker Benjamin, who is also Matthew’s son, who is very disgusting and triggering. He wants the book and Diana himself, so she can give him children (ha ha, no). But at the same time, Diana is pregnant with twins, and once they were born she was very protective of them (Matthew was too).

It also introduced some new characters, like Benjamin, Fernando, the London coven and Baldwin, Matthew’s brother. Baldwin did get on my last nerve with all his postering and all that, but he actually made some sense somehow. This book also reintroduces Jack Blackfrair, the boy from Shadow of Night. He’s now a vampire, but he also have the blood rage disease that Matthew and Benjamin have, and each time everyone touches him or get near, he’ll snap. But thanks to the motherly love of Diana and Matthew, he’s trying to beat it, even though Benjamin was the one that drove him to the blood rage.

There was a sad scene in the book where Diana and Matthew had to split up so Matthew can take care of Marcus’s children in New Orleans, and she deals with the book back home. Then when she finally finds the book, that’s when the book turned her into a walking palimpest. And then at then end, we have to deal with Benjamin and Peter Knox, who happily tricked Matthew and tortured him so badly and starved and poisoned him to death (which I had to stop because it was so triggering a bit). Then Diana and the others came up with a plan to stop Benjamin and Peter Knox, with Diana weaving a trap while she let Peter run his mouth.

But before she went and tried to save Matthew, she went to the Congregation to get him. At first, Domenico and Gerbert and Satu didn’t want nothing to do with it, worrying about everything else other than what they were there to talk about. But at the end, Diana got what she wanted, and she took down Benjamin and Peter, and is now part of the Congregation and is also a professor again. Matthew is at home with the twins, Philip and Rebecca, while he is healing up from his trauma, and that’s how the book ends. I really enjoyed reading this book, cannot wait to read more from her.

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Book Review: Curio and Shadow of Night by Evangeline Denmark and Deborah Harkness

Curio by Evangeline Denmark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was very interesting to me. I haven’t read a steampunk book that can pull me into the world that fast. Even though it took me a while to read it, I truly enjoyed the story, the world and the writing was very good. Curio was a place I don’t think I’ll like if Lord Blueboy is still running the place-I think he’s some kind of porcie vampire-but all in all, I really liked this book.

I also like the tiny magic system when it comes to the Chemia, but the whole potion ration thing was confusing. I didn’t get it, even though it was brought up throughout the book. The world of Curio and the hierarchy was different but can also be scary. All the words they use to describe movement-”are you still ticking?” is one of them, I believe-would confuse me if I did go and visit there for a bit. The broken porcies, even though it feels like a dark place and you want to help them, are trying to live their lives the best way they know how, until they started a revolution over clean water.

And in the middle of all of this is Grey Haward, a young woman who was out late on curfew and gave her portion to her friend Whit, who was “striped” because of touching her (which is so misogynistic, tbh), and Grey insisted, over and over again, that she takes the punishment. But the Chemists wouldn’t let her, and something deep inside her-the blood of the Defenders, an extinct race that fought a bloody war with the Chemists and lost-helped her fight back, if only a little bit. Sadly, her father and grandfather were either turned into stone or taken in, and her grandfather’s helper took her into the shop, cut her wrist or palm, and told her to “bring him back here.”

The “him” in the story is Blaise, whom the porcies called the “Mad Tock '' because of the way he either looked or something like that, and he basically fixes broken porcelain citizens and also get into a fight with Lord Blueboy. Blaise stayed in Curio for a long time, fixing broken porcies and fighting at the same time, and when Grey fell into the world, he helped her try to get away from Lord Blueboy, but when something goes wrong, he nearly gets hurt, and then his left wing was broken during the attack on the water thing that I can’t recall right now.

Now back to Lord Blueboy, aka Benedict. I don’t like this man. One, he’s all sweet and nice, then he turns around and drinks from one of the maids like he’s a bloody vampire. Then he claims that Grey is his and no one else, and nearly got his ass whippped by Blaise when he wanted to turn him into dust. But Adante…he has to be my favorite villain in the book. He was cool and calculated, always sulking around the shop, and he got his when Grey beat him.

Now Whit’s whole arc in the book was an eh to me. He wanted to repay the Hawards for what they have done, and he found Marina and Maverick, twins who wants freedom I believe from the Chemists. They lived in the mountains and also they helped Grey’s father, and Whit wanted to help. The he got high on a potion that one of the potion makers made, and that was…kinda funny, in a way? But this was an good book, had some action in it, and it was quite fun to read.

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Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book along with the official ALL SOULS FB group, and I have to say, this book might be my favorite book out of the trilogy. I really enjoyed how the world expanded from London to Prague to Sept-Tours to France. I felt like I was on a tour of the past of Elizabethan England and learning so many things about the history and the people and the world that have brought this book to life.

I did call Matthew switching from modern day to Elizabethean Matthew a ‘switch’ because that what it felt like when he and Diana came to 1590. I thought when that happen, that we will lose the Matthew we know and love, but he calmed down, even when they had that talk about vampire literature and how vampire courted their mates in the book. When it came to Philippe de Clermont, I was kinda scared of him, to be honest. I didn’t know what to think about Philippe when Diana met him, but when you get to know him, it felt like it went all away when he became lively. BUT THAT FIGHT IN THE BARN WITH MATTHEW….my heart was in my throat. I was worried about Matthew, but to use that as an example to show Matthew’s blood rage? I was mad. But then, at the end, I was glad that it was over, and that Philippe accepted Diana.

As for Diana, learning about Elizabethan England and how they lived and worked and how she fit into this felt like I was learning along with her. Then when she finally learned magic and learned what she was-a weaver-I was excited. I was worried that she won’t learn magic while they were there looking for the book, but the more she learned about Ashmole 782 and magic and everything around her, the more the darkness was creeping over her and Matthew.

One of my favorite parts of this book was the talk Diana and Matthew had about children, because I felt like that was a very healthy conversation between a couple who didn’t know if they wanted to have children or not. Even though Diana got pregnant once and lost it, to me to felt like Matthew was grieving so much (Diana did too) that he acted like an freaking idiot and didn’t touch her. But at least they go back together and went to Prague…

…aka the Simping Court, because Emperor Rudolf II was simping HARD for Diana, not even giving her time to bloody BREATHE. I was so angry for Diana for having to deal with the Emperor, simping RIGHT IN FRONT OF MATTHEW like he’s not there. That’s like fawning and trying to get with someone else’s woman, which I don’t think he knew it was wrong. But I was SO GLAD that she got away from the court, even though it was by Louisa’s hand.

Meeting Lousia like this was scary, but at the same time, I was shocked and worried for Diana (basically my emotions was all over the place while reading this book) but the sweetest thing happened when Matthew saw Louisa and Kit jousting for Diana-Jack Blackfairs came and asked him if he was having a nightmare. Matthew said yes and held his hand, which was so cute. I really enjoyed this book and I was happy to meet new characters, like Gallowglass and Philippe and Jack and Annie. I have an side eye for Father Hubbard because I just don’t trust him, but at least Diana knows her firedrake (the coolest part of the book, honestly, I loved that firedrake) and that she can weave any spell now.

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Book Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book....this book, this book, this book. I thought when I first opened it and started to read it that it'll bore me to death, and I put it down. So when I brought it last year and this year decided to read it after watching the show...and I'm so glad I did. I couldn't put it down, even though I'm reading about three other books at once. But no one didn't tell me that I'd fall for Matthew Clairmont. No one told me that I'd cry over this book, over Bishmont and cheering for them. No one also didn't tell me that I was going to hunger for the next two books that I'm getting for Christmas.

But can we talk about Diana and her magic? Like good lord, woman-witchwater, witchfire, can knock people out of your mind-whoo girl. I wouldn't use it too if it'll attract a lot of attention from nearly everyone. And the book-the Ashmole 782...and how her dad enchanted it so she could get it...that was honestly brilliant.

And Matthew...god I can go on and on about my new husband (yes...yes I could. Because I wasn't supposed to fall for him, but I did...and now I love him and want to read more of him dammit). At first when Matthew appeared, I went "oh great, another Edward...yeah I hate you now." but the more I read the book to the point that I realize that yeah Matthew has some Edward Cullen-like tendencies, but then the more you know him, the more you realize that he's half (actually, he's better) than Edward Cullen will ever be. Sure he *tries* to boss Diana around, but I like the fact that Diana put her foot down and don't like sit back like Bella did in the Twilight novels.

(If it sounds like I'm bashing Twilight, I'm not...it's a comparison and honestly, I think I'm doing a good job comparing them).

I loved this book so much that I felt like I should just go ahead and get books two and three since I already have the fourth book (thanks, school). But before I do, we gotta talk about the bad guys-Peter Knox, who I hate so much, Satu...I hope she dies in a ditch somewhere, Dominico and Gellert or Javier or whatever his name is can go away...dammit.

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