Disclaimer: This review may contain spoilers, although efforts were made not to. Read at your own risk.
A Discovery of Witches (ADOW) by Deborah Harkness is the first book in the All Souls Trilogy and tells a story that has stuck with me through the years. I have recently enjoyed the TV series since I wanted to introduce my husband to this world in an easy and accessible way. This made me want to experience the original story again, so I decided to re-read the book (for the third time). The TV series is very well done, in my opinion, and because it provides a fresh interpretation and new focus to the books, it only strengthened my connection to the original story. After coming back to the book so much (roughly every 5 years or so), it occurred to me that it is about time for an official book review to share my layered reading experience.
I first read A Discovery of Witches shortly after finishing the Twilight Saga at the age of 13 (I made a separate post on Twilight and my updated adult impressions on the blog). During this teenage period, I loved all vampire fantasy love stories and just couldn’t get enough. I found out about ADOW through the recommendation of the same friend that introduced me to Twilight. At the time, the sequels were not even released yet, so it made it all extra anticipatory. My first read and impressions were surface level, mostly focused on the love story, the magic, and the vampires, and it all felt more like “Twilight for intellectuals”.
Back then, I didn’t find it a difficult read for a 13-year-old, despite some intricacies which I could grasp only through my adult lenses much later. Reflecting on this first experience with the story, I now feel the themes and topics could easily appeal to both younger and adult audiences. It was only during my second revisit (during the pandemic in my final university years) that I could experience the story more deeply and comprehensively, appreciating more of its qualities. My third read earlier this year cemented that experience completely.
About the Story
We meet the female protagonist Diana Bishop in Oxford’s Bodleian Library, where she comes across an ancient, enchanted manuscript “Ashmole 782” that turns her stable scholarly life upside down and creates tensions between the 3 supernatural species – witches, vampires, and demons. At the time, Diana is an unwilling and afraid witch, unaware of her own abilities. Her only desire is to live a normal human life, away from magic, building her academic career as a historian. But there’s way more in store for Diana than she could ever imagine. The fateful encounter with the manuscript leads her to Matthew Clairmont, the mysterious vampire geneticist who has been looking for this very book for millennia. Pushed by the desire to discover the hidden answers in Ashmole 782 about the origin of the supernatural species, Matthew also gets captivated by Diana’s unrealized magical potential and feels compelled to protect her from the complex, ancient, and dangerous interspecies intrigues that unfold. Diana herself can barely realize how important and far-reaching a role she has in this and all the ways that she is tied to the enchanted manuscript and the world of supernatural.
The fateful meeting between Diana and Matthew triggers several events that gradually but surely forge a deep, unbreakable bond between them – one that the supernatural world has never seen and is not ready to embrace. Matthew and Diana need to overcome ancient covenant rules, dark secrets, and threats from dangerous enemies. But they also have to face their own inner fears and weaknesses to reach their full potential and uncover the truth about the manuscript and the fate of the supernatural species. The story carries strong scholarly elements, but also slow romance, centuries-old family secrets, and beautifully crafted character arcs that leave you wanting more. The first book perfectly lights the fire of curiosity and prepares for what’s to come in the other two books.
My Reading Experience
A Discovery of Witches is a layered book that is not easy to describe. There is not one feeling that predominates; the book makes you feel everything throughout, and this is masterfully achieved through the first-person narrative following Diana’s transformative journey. The scenes and characters are described meticulously and with great care and detail as if each scene is a little standalone masterpiece forming part of a grand painting. You can easily immerse yourself and be part of this nuanced world, although sometimes the amount of detail can be overwhelming and slow the story down. Nevertheless, I feel this detailed scholarly writing approach is what gives concrete and unforgettable shape to the author’s specific singular voice. Hence, I was fine with some slower scenes and uneven pacing for the sake of sinking into a deep and detailed story.
The misty autumn Oxford is the perfect background to Diana’s initial feelings of tension, perceived unknown danger, and her inner conflict about her repressed powers. The regal medieval French countryside and the dignified Sept-Tour (Matthew’s ancestral home) tell a story of chivalrous knights, ancient family secrets, and heritage. This is exactly the place where Matthew and Diana’s love story can set roots and take shape. In Sept-Tour, the stakes for Diana are higher than ever. This is actually my favourite part of the book. Diana must face reality and realize her own potential, and the reader can feel every little bit of adrenaline coming with this awakening. (One word – La Pierre).
The last bit of the story unravels in Madison, USA (Diana’s hometown), and because of its homely, cozy feeling, it serves as great preparation for the plot unfolding in the later books. In the aftermath of Diana’s awakening, she needs to learn to trust her instincts while accepting that nothing could ever be the same anymore and a way forward needs to be forged. While there is an anticipatory feeling for some kind of resolution to all the plotlines, this part deepens the connection with the characters and sets the bond of Matthew and Diana in stone. It also showcases their “found family” with the introduction of additional secondary characters – something that will matter quite a lot in the future stories. The many secondary characters in this last part of the book are meant to show that there can, in fact, be a dialogue and good cooperation between the different supernatural species in the face of persecution and danger.
About the Characters
Diana Bishop’s character arc, unfolding throughout the trilogy but making a significant leap in this first story, showcases a powerful transformation. In the beginning, Diana is afraid and traumatized by the death of her parents. She makes considerable efforts to repress her own magical power, which unfortunately cannot be subdued for much longer and threatens to overflow like a powerful volcano. You cannot help but empathize with her. At the same time, you can feel the fire in her and that she is not a weak character. She never gives up, even in the eye of the storm, and even when it becomes unbearable, she stubbornly tries to stand her ground. This first impression of the character makes you respect her and positions her as a strong female lead that you’re interested in exploring and want to root for.
With the help of Matthew, who acts as a strong catalyst and becomes the most important person in her life, Diana slowly but surely, sometimes painfully, realizes what she’s capable of and embraces her own powers. I don’t always like a first-person narrative or the subjective view of some main female characters (reference to Twilight review), but I must admit here the story of Diana resonates deeply with me. If I keep coming back, it is because of her and because she proves that what is meant to be free, the potential that you could have repressed for years, will eventually find its place and things will make sense as long as you do not give up the search for self.
Matthew Clairmont, the male lead, is also an intricate personality, full of secrets, mysticism, dangerous instincts, but also chivalrous dignity. As a 13-year-old, I can tell you I was swooning over him – his dark, shadowy persona, how he was a centuries-old warrior and protector, and how he loyally gives his whole heart to Diana and is willing to risk his life and family and break any rule to protect her. But that was when I was young and did not know anything about love. On my third revisit of the story, the passion cooled down a bit, naturally. I like Matthew as a character and, as mentioned, he is a powerful catalyst for Diana’s transformation, but you can see how their relationship is not a simple one. He is not a perfect character meant for romanticizing.
There are, of course, a lot of supernatural elements involved with their relationship – the vampire mating bond, which is almost as if forged by destiny, or how his primal instincts take charge as the dominant male, or even his constant obsessive protectiveness. But Matthew is already a complex character even without supernatural. The arc of Matthew is somehow opposite to Diana’s. He starts as a confident and compelling figure who has supposedly seen it all in his long, long life and is now interested in Ashmole 782 only from a scientific point of view. As the story unfolds, you can see this confidence cracking, how he becomes more vulnerable the closer her gets to Diana, until he has to give in completely to the strength of their bond. At the end of the book, there’s much more humanity in him than when we first meet him in the Bodleian. In the following books, his layered character and the humane side are only further explored, framing him not only as the unbreakable chivalrous knight but as a being with his own flaws and challenges he must overcome. This makes him a proper and equally important main character, and their common story becomes even more meaningful.
There are a lot of secondary characters, as well as antagonists, that we delve into, but for the sake of conciseness, I’d like to mention the one that made the most impression – Matthew’s vampire mother – Ysabeau de Clairmont. When we first meet her at Sept-Tour, she, very similarly to Matthew in the beginning, has the stone face of coldness, ruthlessness, and dignity as the matriarch of the centuries-old family home. She’s, in a way, a formidable character that makes you immediately respect her. As she gets to know Diana and bears witness to her unfolding powers and the deepening relationship with Matthew, she cannot but succumb to the power of fate. It transforms her into a very loving and pleasant character, and that transformation continues even more strongly in the last books of the series. I especially enjoyed the closeness established between her and Diana during the stay in Sept-Tour. In the end, Ysabeau accepts Diana as her own daughter, and that is truly meaningful given that Diana is orphaned at a young age and this is the closest to a real maternal figure in her life.
Final Thoughts
In the end, if I try to describe ADOW with one feeling (although there are many as mentioned above), this would be empowerment. It’s a story that teaches courage and perseverance in the face of the unknown, the complicated, and the unresolved. But it is also a story about fear, desire, love, family, and acceptance. The supernatural elements are not there just for the spectacle or to entertain young minds. They are actually great tools to showcase deeper topics that might in another context be difficult to think about – acceptance of the different, the danger of conservative minds, overcoming your fears and reaching your full potential, facing struggles and staying strong and true to yourself, believing in the impossible. Even after reading this story for a third time, I enjoy it immensely and never get tired of it. Each reading experience is so different from the other, and I feel like every time I discover something new about the story and myself. Thus, I can definitely recommend the book and the trilogy as a whole, not only to younger people or fans of the supernatural, magic, witches, and creatures of the night, but to people who need an example of the power of transformation and change.
Have you read A Discovery of Witches, or maybe watched the TV series? Or has it perhaps been on your TBR list for some time? As always, feel free to let me know in the comments.
Until next time,
D.D.N.
The Sunlight Writer 