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."
This book genuinely put me into a reading slump. I really tried to persevere, as the plot hooks of what was in the manuscript and what happened to Diana's parents kept me engaged. However, I...I just couldn't anymore and actually had to put it down. Harkness's glacial pacing and repetitive/obsolete descriptions where enough for me to start clocking out. The descriptions of multiple wines, intimate knowledge of Diana's exercise routine and a Wattpad like fascination while wardrobe descriptions padded this book far beyond it's warranted length. I am no enemy to atmosphere, slow pacing or heavy descriptions. I have read my fair share of 19th century novels to fine with that. But none of this description actually does anything, it serves little to no narrative purpose.
What irritated me the most, however, was Harkness's characterisation. At first, I thought that this book was going to be an intelligent Twilight for grown-ups. The female lead is Diana, is a highly intelligent woman and well respected in her field. She’s also the daughter of two powerful witches who were murdered when she was seven years old. The main character wasn't helpless, thought for herself, didn't immediately adore her bloodsucking, murderous stalker or find his abusive behaviour endearing, and didn't seem interested in losing her entire identity to the first good-looking guy who wanted to eat her. A rebuttal of Twilight, almost.
But no. Despite Diana's increasing Mary Sue-ishness as she develops every witch ability ever known, she must constantly be rescued and protected by Edward, er, Matthew.
Matthew, meanwhile, is a complete jackass. (Excuse my French) Trotting out the obnoxious "pack mentality" trope so often used in "paranormal romance" (a genre that really, really needs to be marked better so that those of us looking for "urban fantasy" won't be blindsided every damn time), Matthew is neatly absolved from all responsibility for his sexist insistence that Diana obey him as her husband and for his volatile, potentially murderous temper if and when she doesn't comply. Who doesn't want a hyper controlling boyfriend that keeps a huge amount of secrets, keeps important information away from you, uses his temper to make you obedient and says, “I might not be able to control myself if you step away” after a first kiss. Diana is the otherwise highly intelligent woman who acts like a child whenever she’s in his presence. She has to be bullied and bated into using her powers, and saved time and time again by Matthew. Despite Matthew’s continual marvelling about how powerful and strong she is, her strength is barely in evidence.
Matthew, meanwhile, is a complete jackass. (Excuse my French) Trotting out the obnoxious "pack mentality" trope so often used in "paranormal romance" (a genre that really, really needs to be marked better so that those of us looking for "urban fantasy" won't be blindsided every damn time), Matthew is neatly absolved from all responsibility for his sexist insistence that Diana obey him as her husband and for his volatile, potentially murderous temper if and when she doesn't comply. Who doesn't want a hyper controlling boyfriend that keeps a huge amount of secrets, keeps important information away from you, uses his temper to make you obedient and says, “I might not be able to control myself if you step away” after a first kiss. Diana is the otherwise highly intelligent woman who acts like a child whenever she’s in his presence. She has to be bullied and bated into using her powers, and saved time and time again by Matthew. Despite Matthew’s continual marvelling about how powerful and strong she is, her strength is barely in evidence.
It is really unfortunate. I am a sucker for academic settings (having lived in Oxford myself), urban fantasy and the general aesthetic of this book was wonderful. Large French castles, ancient libraries, large dysfunctional vampire families (wish there was more of that), horse riding. All right up my alley, with the potential to be something really amazing. A fusion of urban fantasy and dark academia. Unfortunately Harkness's characters and pacing completely threw me off.
Age Rating 16+. Violence, sex, threat, torture (very tame though.)
