Y’all I have finished another series, in just under a week of finishing the last, and I am smitten! Not only because I feel like I’m on a roll, but because this series I read was ahhhhmazing!!!
It was everything I didn’t even know I needed in my life, and I had a real obsession with this series over the last week as I read it. My obsession was real y’all. To the point that I was simultaneously re-watching the TV show adaptation for the series, while continuing with reading. (I may or may not have also re-watched it for a third time this week.) I could not put these books down. I was, and fully still am, obsessed. I’m obsessed with the magic, the vampires and witches and daemons. I’m obsessed with the writing of this author that was on a whole different level. I’m obsessed with a forbidden romance that OWNED me mind, body, and soul.
I’m obsessed with it all.
So without further ado, my second series of Summer of Series….
The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness
Now I will be the first to admit that paranormal romance is not my goto genre. I have read it before and loved it, it’s just not the genre I typically go to….but honestly, after reading this trilogy and being blown away by it, I think I might need to be reading more PNR.
When I pick books I love contemporary reads, and typically find myself wanting something that feels real. Though don’t get me wrong, I also love history and magic too. This series was the perfect combination of all of that. It was set in the real world, yet had so many ties to the past. It was so easy to connect into and experience, yet there was so much magic in it. And I don’t just mean the creatures found within this series’ pages. There was something so magical and spellbinding in this story that completely swept me up into everything this author created. That combined with the forbidden romance and emotion of it all gave me life.
It all felt so very real, yet also like so much more. And honestly, that’s just part of what had me loving every word I got of these books.
This series opens up with a book, a library, and a historian who also happens to be a witch. *cue Diana Bishop* While doing research for her work on alchemy she comes across a book that she doesn’t realize a whole world of creatures are after. That book brings her more than she could have bargained for, and it brings her smack dab front and center to Matthew Clairmont, a fellow professor and scholar, who also happens to be a 1500 year old vampire. From the moment those two meet there is a connection and a pull they share that is more than otherworldly…it’s almost like kismet and feels so meant to be, even though it truly could kill them both.
Soon the two of them become ensnared in a forbidden romance that may be written in the stars, but that the world around them threatens to tear apart. What follows in this series is an epic journey that takes them through so much. From complicated family dynamics, to friendships, to war and fight and bloodshed, to unexpected twists and turns that will have you heart in it with them every step of way. Through time and every part of the world, Matthew and Diana embark on a journey, along with the most amazing world of characters you will LOVE, to find the answers they seek, to find themselves, and to find the possibilities their love could bring.
Like I said, this series OWNED me. Fully, completely, and a soul deep level.
It owned me and I truly couldn’t get enough.
I could not get enough of these characters, this world, or the twists and turns. I couldn’t get enough of the fact that this series spanned countries and continents, centuries and creatures, all while giving me a love story that took over every part of my heart. I loved that this world had so many dynamics at play in it. It had the forbidden nature of what was happening between Matthew and Diana. It had so many elements of history that shined the brightest light on this author’s storytelling ability and writing talent. It had thrilling suspense and action that wove together a vivid and all consuming story that I could not put down.
It had some of the most incredible characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It had so many moments that made me laugh and break and soar and melt. So many moments that heightened everything these characters and I was feeling. So many moments where I could not have been more in this world if I tried. This series and its characters allowed me to feel every emotion under the sun and moon, all while living every second of this epic story with them, and I truly never wanted it to end.
Plus the magic of it all was just kind of the best. Getting to know the vampires, witches, daemons, and even the humans of this world was EVERYTHING. The way this author so seamlessly weaves together this world, its creatures, their history, and their simultaneous past, present, and future was simply incredible. I have never read a series quite like this one, and honestly I don’t think I ever will again because there is something so special about this world, these characters, and the story they all share together.
This story and series will definitely make you work for it. It will push the boundaries of your heart, mind, and soul. It will make you question everything and wonder where on earth that next page will take you. It will have you in the thick of it, experiencing every lick of what these characters do. It will have you believing in the power and meaning of a love born of two souls who are so meant to be. It will have you basking in the magic that surrounds and defines this world in the best way.
It will have you knowing that this is one of the best series you’ll ever get to read.
A Discovery of Witches starts with a book and a library. It starts with a witch and a vampire who were not supposed to be. It continues with fire and desire. With fear and absence. With history and fight and blood and all the magic. And in the end, it will show you that there can always be more. There can always be hope, there can always be life and answers, and there can always be love as long as you’re willing to go there and put it all on the line when it truly matters.
I promise you. If you give this series a chance, you won’t regret it. I honestly wish I could reread it for the first time all over again because it is the best. And while you’re at it, check out the TV show adaptation of it. It’s pretty damn good, and I’m just as obsessed with the show as I am the books. (I may already have a countdown going to when more episodes come out.)
The All Souls Trilogy was incredible. I could not have asked for more from it. Even though I am so sad that my time in that world is done, I will treasure what I got within it. And I promise, if you give this series a chance, if you open that page and jump in with all you have, you will not regret it…and you will be awed by the magic it gives you.
This series was everything. This ending was everything. These books were everything. My heart will always have a little piece of it owned by Matthew, Diana, and the world of All Souls…and that just feels beyond right.
Find Out More About Each Book Below!
*While the blurbs for each books don’t have huge spoilers in them, you should be aware that since this is a series they might reveal some plot points you’d like to discover for yourself…so to be on the safe side, maybe only read the blurb for A Discovery of Witches.*
~A Discovery of Witches~
One Click
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 is the only creature who can break its spell.
Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.
Read My Review
~Shadow of Night~
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Picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night takes Diana and Matthew on a trip through time to Elizabethan London, where they are plunged into a world of spies, magic, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the School of Night. As the search for Ashmole 782 deepens and Diana seeks out a witch to tutor her in magic, the net of Matthew’s past tightens around them, and they embark on a very different—and vastly more dangerous—journey.
Read My Review
~The Book of Life~
One Click
Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved 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.
The Never Ending Book Basket 