The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy #3) by Deborah Harkness
This is a paranormal fantasy novel (rated NC-17)
♥♥♥♥♥
(Five Perfect Hearts)
Book Summary
The highly anticipated finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Discovery of Witches
After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.
With more than one million copies sold in the United States and appearing in thirty-eight foreign editions, A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night have landed on all of the major bestseller lists and garnered rave reviews from countless publications. Eagerly awaited by Harkness’s legion of fans, The Book of Life brings this superbly written series to a deeply satisfying close.
After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.
With more than one million copies sold in the United States and appearing in thirty-eight foreign editions, A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night have landed on all of the major bestseller lists and garnered rave reviews from countless publications. Eagerly awaited by Harkness’s legion of fans, The Book of Life brings this superbly written series to a deeply satisfying close.
My Review
I love math, history and science. And although I’m an avid
reader, I wouldn’t call myself a scholar of literature. Thus, when a story
details Dante (haha if you can guess what books to which I refer), I can
appreciate but I’m not necessarily wooed. This story is a mass of history and
science whether real or imagined. And it stroked my analytical brain.
You can just tell when an author takes the time to research
or has an affinity with their subject as they bring it to life on the pages of
a book. Deborah Harkness has just found a new fan. I will read anything she
writes (until such time as she disappoints me, lol).
I will admit I was frustrated in the beginning of this book.
She doesn’t give much of a back story which normally I appreciate. But after
two years waiting since the last book and hundreds of books read on my part in
between, I didn’t remember much. However, the further I got in, she did remind
us of the back story along the way. It didn’t matter because I was caught in
the spider web of words that filled my imagination like a movie.
This story had everything, character development, solid
plot, mystery and intrigue. There was romance, even steamy hot romance along
with heart ache and angst. There were highs and lows and everything in between.
I sat on the edge of my seat and waited with bated breath.
Most of all, where the story could have ended and a summary
of events given to push us to the end, this author took her time. She gave us
an ending to a series that wasn’t rushed but flushed out. And dare I hope, she
gave us a somewhat open ending that could mean future books without leaving us
without unanswered questions.
Although this is a prime example of how best to end a series, Yes, Ms. Harkness, I would love to read more.
Overall, if you haven’t read this series, it’s a must. It’s
a treasure. And I would love to see this story come to life in a TV series or
in multiple movies. It’s too much only for one.
Audio Review
Jennifer Ikeda is one of the best narrators I’ve listened
to. With a huge cast of characters, she managed to give the major players of
which there were many, a unique voice. This made it easy to follow and know who
was talking when the author didn’t use dialogue tags. She did male/female along
with multiple accents with practice ease. It was outstanding.
My book boyfriend is
Matthew.
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