A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy, #1)

After a few years of putting it off for no real reason in particular, I finally picked up A Discovery of Witches. A coworker told me about the All Souls Trilogy back in 2022, and I added it to my TBR but it kept getting passed over. I was hooked almost instantly. I was actually pregnant with Caroline when I started this series, so there was a lot of laying on the couch with my kindle, bluetooth clicker, and stand for maximum comfort and laziness. This series is one I wish I could read for the first time all over again. I can also confirm that the books are much, much better than the Netflix series. Although, I think if I didn’t read them and then immediately watch, I would have enjoyed the on screen adaption much more, but it was too fresh in my mind and I didn’t like what the series left out. That’s how it always is for me though, and most readers I think. We do cling to our books ever so much.

The novel opens in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, where historian and witch Diana Bishop discovers an enchanted alchemical manuscript. She draws the attention of vampire Matthew Clairmont, and then every creature in the scholarly world who wants that manuscript. What follows is a paranormal romance built on an unusually rich intellectual foundation: Harkness brings genuine scholarly depth to the alchemy, the history, and the hidden world she's created, and the result is something that feels both escapist and substantial.

Diana is a heroine I loved immediately. She is brilliant, independent, and deeply ambivalent about her own power in ways that feel authentic rather than frustrating. Matthew is compelling in the specific way that well-written vampire love interests always are: dangerous, devoted, and carrying centuries of history.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Tropes/Themes: Paranormal romance, witches and vampires, Oxford setting, forbidden love, historical depth

Tea Pairing: Lady Grey with a splash of cream. Refined, a little magical