ARTFUL READERS CLUB
September 25, 2014
"THE BOOK OF LIFE" by Deborah Harkness
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| Happy Fall, dear readers. The leaves are slowly starting to change colors here in Central New York, as they journey towards their most brilliant hues of the Autumn season. It won't be long before we have a most amazing palette on which to feast our eyes. Truly, this is the most beautiful season of all (in my humble opinion!) | |
It's the end of the month, time for a book review and a piece of art to represent that book. This month, it's the final book of the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. First there was "A Discovery of Witches," then "Shadow of Night..." and finally, the culmination in "THE BOOK OF LIFE." These books offer a mix of everything...that's what makes them such good reads. I picked it up for the paranormal and magic, but appreciate the amount of research that went into the historical aspects of the books, the strong writing, the humor, the horror, the drama and of course, the romance. What's it about? A witch and a vampire, forbidden love, family, loyalty, alchemy, genetics, history, passion, pain, tenderness, time travel, cruelty, Christianity, politics, magic, places, childbirth, betrayal, evil, goodness...all beautifully spun into the golden web of a novel.
Witch Diana Bishop, also a professor and an historian... and vampire Matthew Clairmont... Diana's husband and a scientist...return from the past (time travels) to the present day to continue their all-important search for the crucial, long-lost pages of Ashmole 782, an enchanted alchemical manuscript (better known as the Book of Life.) It's no ordinary book, but rather a book that holds the key to the origin of all supernatural beings. Thus, many creatures are searching for this book to use for good and evil. In addition, dark forces are at work seeking to destroy or separate Diana and Matthew because a relationship between a witch and a vampire is considered unacceptable and against the covenant. They must handle their delicate, yet volatile situation with wisdom, cunning and logic and meet troubles head-on to survive. There are unexpected surprises along the way to keep you turning each of those 500+pages as the novel hurtles towards its conclusion. This last book is about Diana and Matthew's race to find the Book of Life, save those they love, and above all, save themselves. It's about love and family...and the magic we hide within.
This trilogy has been likened to the teen TWILIGHT series...TWILIGHT series in adult format. Having enjoyed reading both series, I can see a similarity... but if you're into reading about the supernatural world, I highly recommend Deborah Harkness's trilogy. It puts supernatural characters in very real, believable, adult settings and encourages you to suspend your sense of reality and just indulge!!
Thanks for checking in.
Hugs,
abbyj
This trilogy is one of my favorite reads (never made it past the first Twilight book, read all the Southern Vampire series). The story is good and the characters are compelling. I like your illustration and review.
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