Title: Shadow of Night
Author: Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy #2
Publisher: Headline
Publication date: 14th Feb 2013
Format: Paperback | 672 pages
Genre: Fantasy | Paranormal | Historical | Romance
IT BEGAN WITH A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES
Historian Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, and long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont have broken the laws dividing creatures. When Diana discovered a significant alchemical manuscript, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to Matthew. Now the fragile coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened. Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realise that the past may not provide a haven...
My thoughts:
I'd been waiting for a while for this book and I have to say, I loved it even more than the first book in the trilogy, A Discovery of Witches.
The only problem I had was that i had to keep stopping and starting again since I'm doing exams at the minute. I literally had to read this a few chapters a day so as you can imagine it took a while longer than what I would've liked.
I immediately got sucked back into Deborah's descriptive, heavily detailed writing and loved every second of it. Especially since this book has the aspect of time-travelling added to it - the way London was described and the differences between the times mentioned in the book were excellent and beyond captivating.
Of course I fell in love with the characters all over again. I really thought Diana came into her own in this book and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of following her schooling as a weaver/witch. Diana became such a well rounded character by the end of the book, full of depth which I found wonderful. I felt the same way about Matthew if not more so. I can't believe how many secrets were revealed about his past in this book - one or two huge ones as well that you will not expect. I didn't think I could like Matthew any more than I did already but I was wrong. They both work so well together.
As for the new characters introduced I found it really hard to remember who was who for the most part. There were definitely a few who stuck out, but the rest seemed a little too inconsequential. The characters who I did know and love were amazing. They had such distinct personalities and I loved the part they played in Matt and Diana's story.
The plot was delicious. There are so many different aspects to consider in this book that I wouldn't be surprised if I read it again and found I missed out on a whole lot. It's definitely one of those complicated story lines. Can't wait to see what happens after this.
My rating: 8/10
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