A Discovery of Witches
by Deborah E. Harkness
★★★
Dear A Discovery of Witches,
When I heard you were “Twilight for adults” I was skeptical and a bit hesitant to pick you up. Then you were available as a Kindle library loan and I thought what the heck.
When I started reading you, you reminded me more of The Historian than Twilight and I thought the Oxford setting and academia references were interesting. But then you had a vampire who sparkled and a yoga class for “creatures” and I was became wary. Really, the vampire is going to get mad if someone asks what he likes to eat for dinner when they are cooking for him? I think that’s a pretty valid question, even if he has been answering it for centuries.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading parts of you, but I do wish you had avoided some of the Edward/Bella clichés. I don’t care if the vampire can’t get over some woman’s smell and I get that a vampire’s skin is going to feel cool against the “hot skin of a warm blood.” Also, it’s actually a bit creepy (not sexy) to have him hunting/stalking her, even if he is “falling” for her.
Look, it’s not you, it’s me. I’m just a bit sick of the vampire thing to be honest. I don’t want to read the word chiseled to describe another gorgeous vampire. I don’t want two paragraphs on how someone smells like cloves… in every single chapter.
I really did like some of your supporting characters. You had some great sassy women (I’m looking at you Sarah) and I loved how the house became a character in its own right. But frankly, it wasn’t enough to make me really like you. There were too many repetitive plots and when I reached the end and realized I had just read 600 pages not knowing you weren’t going to resolve ANYTHING I was more than miffed. If you want to have a sequel, that’s fine, just give me some sort of heads up next time.
Sincerely,
Burned out on vampires in the Midwest
I read this for the R.I.P. Challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings.
For more R.I.P reviews visit here.
12 comments:
I'm so happy I wasn't the only one! Actually, you were much better than me, because it reached a point (as they were going to France) where I just couldn't take it and gave up.
"Edward/Bella clichés" - I know!! Turning a strong, independent female lead into someone who desperately needs protection to function was the drop that spilled the glass.
I'm also feeling vampire fatigue, but notice I still have two related book in the TBR: The Historian and a modern Russian best-seller called The Night Watch.
Great post on this book! I actually liked it more than you did but I get all the points you made.
OMG the rave reviews of this book! And I wanted in on it, but it is too long for me to read in print, and the audio was only available on MP3 which I can't figure out how to get on my iPod. So I didn't read it. I'm a bit weary of vampires as well, but then I loved Let the Right One In. So who knows. It is a polarizing thing.
Thanks! I was going to buy it but not now.
Great review...just tell me (because I'm not going to read it), was the vampire "dazzling"?
Love the snark in this post! I haven't read many vampire books, but it seems like they're cropping up all over the place now. It seems like the story is a bit ripped off from Twilight. I'm not a Twilight hater (I kind of secretly enjoyed it, despite the craptastic writing), but the parts that this book seemed to have copied were the annoying/crappy parts. What gives? Good to know your thoughts. This is one I will certainly pass on.
fantastic post.
I had been curious about this book, read a few vague but positive reviews on it, but now I must thank you, because really this is not a book for me and I feel grateful for having been spared the time and the distraction.
~L
Alex - Ugh, I don't blame you. I read The Historian so long before the Twilight phase that I don't even connect it to that craze.
Anne - I love that one person can like a book, another can hate it and another can be indifferent. Books are awesome.
Sandy - It Let the Right One In was anything like the movie, I bet it was awesome. This was not an BA vampire, it was a swoony vampire, very different genres in my opinion.
Falaise - Maybe borrow it, I read it as a library book.
Mumsy - Of course! The vampires are always dazzling.
Kristi - I will admit that I read and liked the Twilight books, but to me those are bubblegum reads and their really entertaining. I don't expect to be challenged by what I'm reading. This was just stealing bits from that and then pretending to be a serious book.
contemplatrix - I read a lot of good reviews, but maybe I was just in the wrong mood.
Also, have you read Robin McKinley's Sunshine? I liked THAT vampire. I hate all the other ones.
I have been so fed up with vampires for ages now, and I have never been able to make it more than thirty pages into A Discovery of Witches. I was afraid that I hated vampires forever from now on. But weirdly? The show The Vampire Diaries is totally rocking my world lately. May I recommend it? It starts out pretty standard vampire fare and then suddenly becomes so tightly and rapidly plotted you can barely keep track. I said "OH SH*T" like ten times in the last episode I watched. It is unexpected and insane and soapy and awesome. Excellent vampire palate cleanser. There is some teen angst but there is also quite a bit of SUDDEN DEATH.
LOL, you sound so much like I did when I finished this book! I had to be talked into liking this book as much as I do. It's one of the only books I've had to be talked into liking! Although, I liked it more for the history than the vampires. I am so over the vampires.
Mumsy - I haven't, I'll have to check it out.
Jenny - I have never seen it, but I've heard from a few people that it's really good. Maybe I'll have to rent the first season and check it out.
Heather - Hmmm, I haven't been talked into it yet. But I do agree I really liked the history parts and I loved the Oxford setting.
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