I really liked Discovery of Witches and waited impatiently for the sequel......having that said...

Sheesh! I was bored ! This was some kind of punishment Deborah Harkness thought her newly acquired readers needed, you think?
The time traveling thing for one, she can time travel at will when she's a toddler but now it's this complicated song and dance thing? Really?
You find contradictions and inconsistencies about Diana's magic AND thoughts, this also applies to Mathew's character .
Diana remains relatively incompetent and reckless and Matthew continues to be controlling and possessive. They were playing house in Elizabethan times! Very little time and even less attention was given to the threats of the present time.
I have so many problems with this book that I honestly don't feel like talking or writing about them anymore..

Two stars, after all I guess I will read the third installment in the All Souls Trilogy because I am curious (and hopeful?) about Diana and Mathew's story.

I was reluctant to read A Discovery of Witches. I am kind of "witched" out, I think. I have never found them as interesting as other fictional non-human staples. There were parts of that book I found fairly dull and a few times I had to convince myself to keep reading. Parts of it really dragged.

But after I finished the book I found myself thinking about it frequently. My thoughts were more about the questions and issues raised and the developing mystery than they were of the characters, who didn't seem to click. But the further I moved from the finish of the book the more I decided I enjoyed it. A lot. I found myself recommending it to others and then stopping and asking myself if I'd really meant to do that. I found that I did. The book just grew on me.

I finished Shadow of Night about a week ago. I had the same experience. There were parts that really slowed the pace of the entire book down. Parts I wanted to skim through or skip entirely. But a week out, I have to say I enjoyed this book, rather a lot. And I will recommend it to others.

Again, it wasn't the characters that drew me. I still don't think the connection between the two main characters seems particularly strong. And I was disappointed that many of the historical characters weren't developed more fully. However, just as in the first book my favorite character was Matthew's mother, in this book it was his father Phillipe. He is worth a book or ten.

But the ideas touched upon, the questions that drove the book and the characters forward were fascinating to me. And the more I thought about them, the more interesting they have become. I believe I have to admit that, if I am thinking about a book a week after I read it and I find myself liking it more the more I think about it, even if I cannot explain what I liked about it, then it meets my definition of a good book.

I will read the next in the series. By now my expectation is I still won't have sympathy or empathy for the characters. But I will think about it for a long time after.

I think I will revisit the first two books right before I get the third book.

My favorite character has to be Phillip. He wasn't in much of the book but I grew to really love the man with his 'win me over'/ 'prove yourself' attitude, protectiveness, humor, forgiveness, compassion and protectiveness. I wish we had more of him.

Don't think so. Not sure. She has a pleasent voice to listen to and I didn't find anything annoying about her reading. So I gave her a good score.

Contemporary Romeo and Juliet meets Outlander by Diana Gaboldon.

For those who are reading this for a plot review:
D and M go back in time, meet friends, juggle some witch hunts, meet M's dad, get married again, get pregnant, run around England, France, and another country (it has escaped me), meet D's dad, and come home to family. Of course I left a lot of the details out but gave enough to make you wonder about each person/place.

I liked the historical fiction but some areas were less interesting than others, so it seemed long and wordy. I'm sure this is only me having issues. I like a lot of action and fast moving plots to hold my interest. I can't wait for the next book!

As with the first book, this one was just way too long! It could have been so much better if it were at least 8 hours shorter. There were too many mundane details about clothes, food and even the weather that never really moved the plot along. I also didn't care much for the many characters (historical or otherwise) that really served no purpose to the story.
It was a struggle to finish this book and I must confess I'm not sure I will continue with book 3.

The narrators soft voice was too sexy for this type of book. She is now on my "do not listen" list.
The book itself dragged on with to much uninteresting thoughts. Will not buy the rest of the series.
I want my money back or a free book in its place.

The author's first book was an OK read - had a story line that was entertaining. This one, however, was agonizingly slow-moving and the story line was boring.

Not another one by this author.

This would have been a better listen if it could have included various readers. Jennifer's voice changes were interesting, but male characters lost their masculinity with her voice.

I would not recommend this one for audio book. Perhaps it reads better on your own.

This book seemed a bit slow getting started, but once it did, it took off. I love the alchemical references, the intricate and believable characters, the historical settings... My only complaint is that the main character, Diana, seemed to have times when she was believable and other times when she'd seem to have a wild mood swing and be someone else entirely. I'm not sure if this is something that plays out in the story eventually and it's deliberate, or it's because the author didn't have a good feel of how her main character would act in a certain situation. Overall, though, I highly highly recommend this book. It's incredible, and the narrator was absolutely perfect for this book (seriously, her 'voices' are amazing, and her pronunciation mostly spot-on). I look forward to the other 2 books in the series by this author and this narrator.

I preferred her first book, A Discovery of Witches, and the mystery surrounding Ashmole 782 (or however that is spelled). This book instead moved in more of how difficult it is to love a vampire. I love books about the unknown, lots of mystery, a little romance...this became all about the romance. Or at least it did until I just could not take it anymore! I stopped little more than a quarter of the way through and have NO desire to finish. Too bad, I would have loved the mystery!

Yes, it's very entertaining and written in a intriguing and clever way.

Wedding day

Fight with Luisa

I thoroughly enjoyed it

I can't wait for the last book in trilogy

The scene when Matthew and Diana are talking about how vampires are depicted in modern day romance novels. Hysterical! It's like she put that scene in just to stick it to all the readers whom complained about the lack of sex in the first book.

I can see why some people do not like this story. It's really not that suspenseful, there are no hot and heavy sex scenes every other chapter, and it's slooooooow.

Having said that, I still loved this book. These books are not nail biting page turners, and they are not vampire erotica hidden behind a plot. This story is a long, slow stroll down a road filled with beautiful scenery. Harness does a fantastic job of putting the reader in 16th century England, I found myself looking up many of her characters on Wikipedia just to get more background on them.

If you want a roller coaster experience, you will not like this book. Personally I loved the slow, lazy tide of the story.

The narrator was fantastic!