Deborah Harkness’ A Discovery of Witches is nothing new and undiscovered in the bookish world. I mean, the trilogy itself has been out for years now, and a TV show is currently in the middle of production. There’s also a rabid fan base that meets annually! I recently realized that I haven’t reviewed it (aka forced it upon you) on this blog, so I decided to do a re-read and carefully craft SUPER COMPELLING reasons that you should pick up this novel if you haven’t yet.

A Discovery of Witches: 5 Reasons To Read This Novel (TODAY!)A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Published by Viking Penguin on January 1st 1970
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Pages: 579
Format: Hardback
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A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery, so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks, but her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries--and she's the only creature who can break its spell.

1. HANDS DOWN the vampires of this trilogy are the BEST I HAVE EVER READ. What would be the coolest part about knowing someone who never dies? The history! Harkness really took advantage of this and created fascinating vampire characters who have experienced so many amazing things. She also has made their dietary habits entirely plausible and interesting (which you can imagine is hard to do given that our traditional vampire simply drinks blood).

2. But there aren’t just vampires! There are also witches, whose powers (and homes!) are super fun, and daemons. Again, Harkness created their powers in a realistic way so that they’re actually believable in the world she has created.

3. The detail in the book is phenomenal. Between the alchemy, European history, and even the freaking WINE, there is so much knowledge in this book. It makes it all so much more legitimate and immersive.

4. The characters in this book are fantastic. FANTASTIC. Matthew, one of the main characters, is my favorite book boyfriend of all time. So if you’re looking for a book boyfriend, HE’S NOT AVAILABLE BACK OFF. The secondary characters are also excellent. So many multi-dimensional characters who I feel like I know and want to hang out with forever and ever.

5. An actual plot that I want to know more about. There are a lot of unanswered questions in the beginning of this book. You find yourself frantically turning the pages to get to the parts where Diana and Matthew kiss you finally get some answers! Now, fair warning, this is a trilogy so you won’t be getting too many answers quite yet…



This book has everything: romance, history, action, mystery, and fantasy. I MEAN IT REALLY HAS EVERYTHING. Plus it has Matthew (so what more do you really need?).


Have you read this book? What did you think of it? What’s your favorite vampire story?