≡ [PDF] The Book of Life All Souls Deborah Harkness 9780670025596 Books

The Book of Life All Souls Deborah Harkness 9780670025596 Books

Download As PDF : The Book of Life All Souls Deborah Harkness 9780670025596 Books

The Book of Life All Souls Deborah Harkness 9780670025596 Books

FINAL DECISION: Satisfying end to the trilogy which wraps up all the storylines (some more satisfyingly than others) and gives a happy ending.

THE STORY: Having returned from the past, witch and historian Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont have to face both new and old dangers as they try to discover the importance of the Book of Life. Their lives and the lives of their unborn children are at stake as Diana and Matthew have to face old enemies and rely on old friends.

OPINION: I enjoyed this ending to the trilogy and Diana and Matthew's story even when I didn't necessarily like all the answers. The book suffers somewhat from expectations which were built over two very long and detailed books. Perhaps the answers could never truly satisfy the expectations, but I loved seeing how these two characters grew and changed and made a family for themselves.

THE BOOK OF LIFE finally answers the question that began in the first book: what is the Book of Life and its connection to Diana. In this book, the entirety of what Diana and Matthew have been building in the prior two book finally come to fruition. This story is is one about tolerance and building a family and being open to change.

I enjoyed the progression of the relationship between Diana and Matthew and how both of them accept and love all the parts of one another. There are few easy answers in this book which was good.

I certainly enjoyed seeing many of the characters in the series come together in the solution. The book ends with peace and joy and hope in the future.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book returns to the interesting combination of magic and science that was the hallmark of the first book in the series.

CONNECTED BOOKS: THE BOOK OF LIFE is the final book in the All Souls Trilogy. This book is meant to be read as part of the trilogy.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.


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The Book of Life All Souls Deborah Harkness 9780670025596 Books Reviews

Back in their present, Matthew and Diana must deal with grief, the realities of becoming parents, and the complex and dangerous dynamics of creature politics and vampire families; Diana must embrace her weaver magic, and Matthew must deal with his blood rage.

(Though reviews are inherently subjective, I prefer to provide some organization to my opinions through the use of a personal rubric. The following notes may contain spoilers.)

Plot and Setting 4.8 -- Plot is engaging from start to finish. Has many unique elements, no major holes, and a sense of focus. Setting is clear and believable. Timeline may be a bit hard to follow. Again, a story with many facets, tied together by Diana and Matthew's relationship and the difficult things they each must learn to accept about themselves, particularly as they become parents and as they navigate the dangerous waters of creature politics. True love, danger, sacrifice, and all that good stuff. Good landmarks to keep track of time passing, but quite a few larger leaps through time, which is a bit disorienting.

Characters 5 -- Relatable, realistic, interesting, dynamic characters. Even minor characters have depth, as do the relationships between characters. All the characters continue to be complex and brilliant. They grow and develop and challenge and help each other, and it's great. Diana is interesting in this one her unusual, supernatural characteristics take over in more and more ways, and yet she is still very much herself most of the time. And of course there are babies, and people relating to babies, which is always a chance for adorableness and deep emotion.

Mechanics and Writing 5 -- Few, if any, typos, punctuation issues, or word errors. (<3/100pgs) Intelligent use of POV. Skillful writing that adds to the story. I actually only spotted one error in the entire book, and it was a trivial one. POV is mainly 1st-person Diana, with some scenes (mostly when Diana is not present to narrate, but not always) in a sort of universal 3rd-person narrative, dipping into the thoughts of whoever is needed to tell the important details. The POV in this one did start out a little strangely, as it took a little while to get back to Diana's familiar narration, and sometimes we are shown Diana from someone else's perspective, which was a bit disconcerting.

Redeeming Value 3.2 -- Partially focused uplifting themes or lessons. Drugs, alcohol, violence, etc, are not glorified, though there is definitely shaky ground. Several mildly explicit sex scenes. Implied moral guidelines for behavior. This one feels darker and more violent; Benjamin is truly evil and depraved, using rape, torture, and murder to further his own agenda, or just for the fun of it. And Peter Knox is right up there with him. Several sex scenes between Matthew and Diana, but again, they may be fairly explicit, but not gratuitous. Strong themes of honesty and acceptance, bravery and love.

Personal Enjoyment 4.5 -- I loved it. Highly enjoyable and very entertaining, with perhaps an issue or two that tempered my pleasure. I’d enjoy reading it again.
Entertaining read. I did not mind the detail; I enjoyed being able to fully immerse myself in the world. And the story was exciting, and relatively well written. Those are the good points. Here are the bad. First, even in the third book, I just could not feel the romance between Diana and Matthew. At all. We kept being told they are the parties to a great romance, but I cannot feel it. If you are going to write a romance, making us feel the romantic tension is Romance 101. As a romance, this book is disappointing. Also, as in previous books, part were quite derivative from Twilight, albeit a much more sophisticated and better written Twilight. This includes having the ruling council be based in Italy, and making one of the main sources of tension be the showdown between the "good" vampire family and the ruling council, although here there is the twist that the de Clermonts have a seat on the council. The ending also, while wrapping up some loose ends, still left some basic questions unanswered. I will go into those in the next paragraph.

SPOILER WARNING. DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT YET READ THE BOOKS.

For example, after two books of buildup about how Diana helped Philippe while he was being tortured by the Nazis, they never show her go visit him, and just give some flippant excuse that "it must have happened, since he remembers it"? Indeed, if Diana can time travel, why not go back and save Philippe, Emily, her parents, etc? Also, what does the book of life say? Who wrote the book? How were the creature skins collected, etc? Is Diana always going to have a tree growing out of her neck? How will she be able to teach when she has letters and numbers in her eyes? Also, as an academic myself, I find it unbelievable that she can disappear for 1 year+ with nothing other than a quick letter, having filled out no other HR paperwork and having no discussion with her dean about who is covering her teaching load, yet still have a job to return to?
FINAL DECISION Satisfying end to the trilogy which wraps up all the storylines (some more satisfyingly than others) and gives a happy ending.

THE STORY Having returned from the past, witch and historian Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont have to face both new and old dangers as they try to discover the importance of the Book of Life. Their lives and the lives of their unborn children are at stake as Diana and Matthew have to face old enemies and rely on old friends.

OPINION I enjoyed this ending to the trilogy and Diana and Matthew's story even when I didn't necessarily like all the answers. The book suffers somewhat from expectations which were built over two very long and detailed books. Perhaps the answers could never truly satisfy the expectations, but I loved seeing how these two characters grew and changed and made a family for themselves.

THE BOOK OF LIFE finally answers the question that began in the first book what is the Book of Life and its connection to Diana. In this book, the entirety of what Diana and Matthew have been building in the prior two book finally come to fruition. This story is is one about tolerance and building a family and being open to change.

I enjoyed the progression of the relationship between Diana and Matthew and how both of them accept and love all the parts of one another. There are few easy answers in this book which was good.

I certainly enjoyed seeing many of the characters in the series come together in the solution. The book ends with peace and joy and hope in the future.

WORTH MENTIONING This book returns to the interesting combination of magic and science that was the hallmark of the first book in the series.

CONNECTED BOOKS THE BOOK OF LIFE is the final book in the All Souls Trilogy. This book is meant to be read as part of the trilogy.

STAR RATING I give this book 4 stars.