The Book of Life

The Book of Life is the final book of the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness

After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness's enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies.  At Matthew's ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of Character from A Discovery of Witches- with one significant exception.  But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.  In the trilogy's final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of  power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consquences.  In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using  ancient knowledge and modern science, for the hills of  Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.

The Breakdown:
1. It is interesting to that Diana is a weaver, when Harkness is quite the fantastic weaver of words herself. The story is wonderfully complex, and Harkness does so well in keeping her plot points hidden until the reader stumbles upon them. She also weaves together an amazing cast of interesting characters. Each of which has their on unique personality. I am never once bored reading this book.

2. I feel that Diana and Matthew grow so much in this book.  Each comes to accept who they are and what they must do to save their love and their family. Diana especially learns to accept the powers she has and the legacy she is a part of, which is a far cry from what she was in the beginning of the trilogy.

3. I love the supporting character so much in this book. Sarah, Ysabeau, Gallowglass,  Fernando, and Jack, I could go on and on, all do so much not only to aid in the story development, but in the growth of Diana and Matthew. I really get the feeling that Diana and Matthew would not be such wonderful characters without their supporting friends and family

3. I do have to admit that Harkness does this weird thing where she switches between third person and first person from Diana's perspective. It really threw me off at first, but  I think that she made it work for her in the end.  I am just not sure that many could pull that trick off.

4. OMG, all the juicy secrets that are revealed at last! This book really does answer all my pressing questions, and questions I did not even know to ask. So much goodness that I am just bursting at the seams to talk about, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone reading this review.

5. My only complaint is that I thought that Gallowglass's story was left unfinished. I really want more from him in the end.

To Read or Not to Read:
Must Read

Currently Reading:
If Only
by A.J. Pine