This book is a sequel to the All Souls trilogy. Diana’s and Matthew’s twins (Philip and Rebecca) are six years old and the Congregation wants to have their magic tested (which is a regular practice, and the reason why Diana was spellbound by her parents). Diana and Matthew do not want the Congregation to know that Rebecca has the propensity toward higher magic. The family travels to Ravenswood and meets the Proctors, Diana’s father’s side of the family, who she had been cut off from since she was spellbound and thought no longer existed. Here she undergoes training for her higher magic, receives a Black Bird Oracle deck and learns to use it, accepts and passes a magical challenge from a spiteful witch in the Raven’s Wood, and discovers that there’s a spirit in Rebecca’s doll that has been manipulating her. Matthew stands by her, as the family goes through many threats from the Congregation. He even summons his colleagues to join him at Ravenswood to help him map out the magic of Diana’s family tree and collect DNA from as many of her family members as he can, in order to escape having to yield their children to be tested by the Congregation.

Anyone who read the All Souls trilogy and wants to find out a bit more about what the family goes through after the twins come into their magic.

This is a great sequel to the All Souls trilogy. It is great to read about what happens when Diana’s and Matthew’s children grow up to be six and the powers they possess. I loved how welcoming the Proctor family were of Matthew and his colleagues, Miriam (a vampire) and Chris (a human). I also like how they all banded together as one family, working together and helping each other; they made Rebecca (Becca) and Philip (Pip) feel so free to be who and what they are. I loved that their dead relatives “lived” with them (as ghosts) and they continued to glean from their wisdom, and included them in family functions.

I found it hard to get through the long passages when characters were naming off members in Diana’s family tree and where they belonged. It was a lot all at once and didn’t really sink in. I know it was necessary to the story, but I had a hard time slowing down to try to take it all in. Another part of the book I had trouble reading was the detailed plan of how Ysabeau, Janet and Diana were going to get into the witches’ memory palace to steal the memories stored there. There were way too many names of people and places mentioned that caused confusion.

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Excited for all the magic, and the different kinds of magic in the book. I felt a bit let down at the end, like the book ended too abruptly, perhaps making way for another book.

The author is extremely talented at developing well-rounded characters, then adding to their depth. She is very descriptive, paying very close attention to details that she pulls her readers into scenes through various senses. She made this book come alive for me.

It is fabulous! Deborah Harkness is a very talented writer, who filled this book with great magic, the power of family, the mixture of darkness and light. She used very descriptive language and filled the book with adventure and intrigue.

There are some very erotic scenes. They are quite explicit, but tastefully written.

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Created Nov 05, 2024 at 5:25am • Submit your own review...