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Deborah Harkness

Author of A Discovery of Witches

20+ Works 24,037 Members 1,198 Reviews 70 Favorited

About the Author

Deborah Harkness was born in 1965. She received a B. A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1986, a M. A. from Northwestern University in 1990, and a Ph. D. from the University of California at Davis in 1994. She is a professor of history at the University of Southern California. Harkness is a show more well-regarded historian of science and medicine, specializing in the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries. Her first novel, A Discovery of Witches, was published in 2011. She is the author of the All Souls Trilogy. In 2006, she began a wine blog entitled, Good Wine Under $20. It provides an online record of her search for the best, most affordable wines. She made The New York Times Bestseller List with The Book of Life and Shadow of Night. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Harkness at the 2018 U.S. National Book Festival By Fuzheado - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72310946

Series

Works by Deborah Harkness

Associated Works

The Voynich Manuscript (2016) — Introduction — 330 copies

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Reviews

Re-Read January 2021: I give another star to this book (originally rated 3 stars, now 4 stars).
I did not appreciate how well-written this book is upon first read. I studied history so I suppose the main character's profession interests me (she studied the History of Science) which makes the book all the more enjoyable.

If you enjoy slow-burn paranormal romance fantasy some fun historical fiction you'll enjoy this read. Maybe later in the year I will re-read books 2 & 3 :)
 
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s_carr | 724 other reviews | Feb 25, 2024 |
Brutal quantities of borderline-abusive heterosexual kink in this otherwise inoffensive disposable urban fantasy. I know how common "strong independent woman falls for overprotective, controlling man and likes it" kinks are among straight people, but y'all need to negotiate that shit properly.

I was going to see if I could think of anything else to say about this book, but... no, not really.

Not great sequence of events:

0. main character puts up token resistance to getting Protected and Taken Care Of,
1. main character get kidnapped,
2. the kidnapper points out all the ways her special new instahusband is abusive and controlling,
3. you're cheering on the kidnapper and hoping this is a turning point in the story/relationship,
4. the kidnapper proceeds to torture main character near unto death,
5. main character spends the rest of the book getting PROTECTED and TAKEN CARE OF but now she's so traumatized she appreciates it.


A few points returned for ~witchy maiden aunts~ who are explicitly witches and explicitly married to each other? IDK, that's a trope I can get behind.

ALSO ALSO: [complaints about fantasy political systems] global government of tens of millions by an unelected board of 9 people (9!!) is a weird system of government and a very weird thing to replicate when you plot to overthrow the existing government.
… (more)
 
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caedocyon | 724 other reviews | Feb 23, 2024 |
Historical fiction meets paranormal romance. Novels about vampires, witches, and demons are generally not my thing, but I enjoyed this book a great deal. The story is imaginative and detailed, with smart writing. I intend to read the next two books in the trilogy to follow the story of witch Diana Bishop and vampire Matthew Montclair and their families.
 
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bschweiger | 724 other reviews | Feb 4, 2024 |
Very much a Mary Sue, though not as bad as in Twilight. Probably because there is intelligent discussions in it. Curious how this plays out in the subsequent books.
 
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BrandyWinn | 724 other reviews | Feb 2, 2024 |

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Works
20
Also by
1
Members
24,037
Popularity
#873
Rating
3.9
Reviews
1,198
ISBNs
233
Languages
20
Favorited
70

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