All Souls Trilogy
By: Deborah Harkness
Published Years: 2011-2014
Publisher: Viking Penguin
What I thought
I originally read the first Discovery of Witches not too long after it came out in 2011. It then took me a little while to get to the second book because they were so long. Then I finally finished the series in 2019 so that I could read all the books before the TV series finished. When I heard there was a 5th book coming out this summer, I knew I needed to re-read the original trilogy. I also didn’t know a 4th one had come out so I knew I needed to read that one too.
I absolutely loved the TV series. I think it was done fabulously. I think that helped spark a little bit of my love for this series since it helped me visualize and understand everything. This time around, since the books are so long, I decided to listen to them.
The first book follows Diana as she struggles with her identify of being a witch and falling in love with vampire Matthew Clairmont. I think the first book in this series it eh strongest and my favorite. The narrator does a great job in the audiobooks of giving everyone a distinct voice. Also her accents are top notch.
This book does such a great job setting up the world and the main characters. I was able to follow and visualize everything so easily this time around. The second book goes back in time, and even as an audiobook I struggled with this one a little bit. I enjoyed the TV series, but as a book it moved a little slow. Having listened to this book after watching the TV show (granted a few years ago) I think they did a nice job slimming the story down. This was the only of the 3 books in the original trilogy that I felt could’ve cut out a decent amount and not suffered.
The third book brought me back in. I was a little surprised how long certain storylines took to happen because I remembered them happening quicker, but I was just as invested as I was the first time around. The conclusion to this series is well done and felt like it wrapped everything up nicely. It makes me a little hesitant to see how this series continues.
If you like witches and vampires and history, I recommend this series. It’s not your same old vampire story either. There’s a lot of history and nuance and I like the way Harkness interprets vampires. The series is very solid and it doesn’t fall into the trap of a disappointing third book that jumps the shark. I’ll let you guys know whether books 4 and 5 are worth it!