Written by Deborah Harkness, the second novel in the All Souls trilogy picks up where A Discovery of Witches left off, Diana and Matthew going back to 1590 to find her a witch of a teacher and Ashmole 782, the book.
Married, possibly can have children, uncontrolled powers, vampire and witch, what could possibly go wrong?
I did enjoy the growth that Diana and Matthew’s relationship went through, but I could see why this book didn’t get the same level of great reviews that the first one did. There are so many characters, and so many references, that it was hard to keep them all straight. Matthew’s background went into depth, which forced their relationship to the next level, but it did seem a bit odd. Here is a man, vampire, with an extra 500 years of experience, yet… it seems that it is so easy for him to go back into old habits.
I really enjoyed this book. It was so well written, even despite the sheer number of characters, and it was so wonderful to see a book focused on their growth and to really explore their relationship. But the first book was slightly more interesting.
Diana’s character was the rock throughout this novel. In the best way possible.
It was painful to watch the two of them make all of these connections and then have to come back to the present. The other thing that was odd and kept pulling me out of the past story, which was the point, but was still confusing.
Still really enjoyed this book and the depth of all of the characters, just liked the first one a little bit more.
