Christina Allen

Understated and lovely

Revisado: 03-25-24

Beautiful prose, well realized characters, excellent narration. there is a quietness about the story that allows the characters to truly shine.

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Don't waste your time.

Revisado: 11-10-23

I picked this up because I'd enjoyed another book by the same author, but my goodness, this was bad.

Without getting too spoilery, a very boring, overdone trope (alcoholic unreliable narrator) takes up 2/3rds of the book . I definitely felt like I had read this book before. After a sagging midsection, in the final 1/3, the author, seemingly ALSO bored by his own book, completely switches genres in a patently ridiculous record scratch moment. And it proceeds to get more ridiculous from there. I'd expect better from a teen horror movie, frankly.

The narrator sounds several decades too old for the character, who is supposed to be late 30's / early 40's?

And also the premise is just stupid. If you had a relative struggling with alcoholism, would you send them -- completely alone -- to the place where their spouse died? Like. The whole book, start to finish, is not worth your time. Save yourself.

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Narration definitely takes some getting used to.

Revisado: 04-17-20

I enjoyed this book well enough, but probably would have found it much more enjoyable with a different narrator. This particular narrator pinches their final syllable in a way that makes it sound like they have run out of air or might be just on the verge of crying. It's very strange and distracting to the ear, and I kept on with the book in spite of the narration because of the story. Downloading a sample might be advisable here.

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Hey! Did you know that he's a VAMPIRE?

Revisado: 03-07-16

What did you like best about A Discovery of Witches? What did you like least?

I liked the parts of the book that were about the plot. The alchemical mystery. The academia. I also liked the supporting characters-- they were vibrant and 100% more original than either of the leads.

I disliked that this basically became Twilight for Adults. The hero of the story was absolutely insufferable. Overbearing, unnecessarily cranky all the time, and suffocatingly "protective." He spends at least half the book bossing Diana around and ignoring what /she/ wants out of their relationship.

I HATED how the heroine constantly bowed to whatever his commands were, despite being told over and over again how independent she was. Also, I found the discovery of her powers extremely unbelievable. She gets pretty much every cool power you can think of within the space of a few chapters. By the 75% mark there's absolutely no tension because you know she's too powerful not to triumph.

Also-- HEY. Did you KNOW he's a VAMPIRE?! I mean, I didn't realize it until the hundredth time we are told. The author seems totally incapable of going for more than three sentences without reminding us. It was so tedious.

(Plus-- minor pet peeve of mine. I disliked the use of historical innocent victim Bridget Bishop being used as a witch character. It felt very disrespectful to her memory and the memory of those that died during the witch hysteria.)

Would you recommend A Discovery of Witches to your friends? Why or why not?

No. My friends would find the leads just as insufferable as I did.

Which scene was your favorite?

Strangely enough, the scene with Matthew's Scottish demon friend, Hamish. It was the one and only time I didn't want Matthew to meet with an untimely death.

Was A Discovery of Witches worth the listening time?

Jennifer Ikeda did an AMAZING job with the handbasket of accents thrown her way, so I am glad I listened, if only to discover this talented narrator.

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