My mom gave me this book a while back on the pretense of it being a ‘just because’ present.  The truth was that she wanted to read it, but felt guilty spending the money on herself.  I bugged her about that just a little bit, but I love her lots.

Anyway, it started off that I was a bit uncertain about how it was going to be.  I’ve read my fare share of  Urban fantasy books and it seems to be a tough genre to get into without just coming out cheesy.   I think that every writer secretly wants to be the next Stephanie Meyer, but the truth is that a lot of people will say that even she didn’t do a very good job of it.    So, when I read the book description I was prepared to be disappointed, I have to admit.

The beginning of the book was a bit slow, and I thought that Harkness approached the whole “I’m a witch, my family are witches” thing a bit awkwardly, and yes with a fair amount of cheese.   I found it a bit cringe worthy, to be honest, but soldiered ahead hoping that plot would make up for what the characterization lacked.  I was relived when it did!

I’m a big fan of vampires and Deborah handled his personality a lot better than she did the silly witch’s.  I wasn’t too thrilled with the way she handled the idea of demons, though.  However, I suppose if Meyer can make vampires sparkly “vegetarians” then Harkness is allowed to make demons hipsters with ADD.

The deeper I got into the novel, the less awkward it became.  The plot sailed along, becoming romantic, exciting and intriguing.  I loved the relationships developed between the characters and the brief glances of history brought into the story.  Before I knew it, I was approaching the end, and there was not nearly enough pages left to tie everything up neatly.   I started to feel a little wary of how this was going to end.   I read the last page and at the very last sentence cried out, “NOooooo!”  just like Darth Vader, when it said the next novel would be out in 2012.   I really didn’t want it to end, I was so upset!   I certainly didn’t want to have to wait over a year to read the next one.  This is the exact reason why I much prefer to read completed series, I am not a fan of delayed satisfaction.

The novel ended so well that I can’t wait for the next one.  I think  it’s going to be along the lines of an historical novel, which is my favorite genre.  Combined with witches, vampires and demons I think it’ll be a hit.

In the mean time, I recommend this one as a fun, girly read.   You can get it here: A Discovery of Witches