Diana Bishop was born a witch, but since the magic-related deaths of both of her parents when she was a child, she's refused to use her powers. Now she spends her days researching in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Every day is similar, until Diana unintentionally calls up a bewitched manuscript. She quickly uses it as she needs then send it back, not wanting to be more involved in magic than she has to be. Unfortunately, the appearance of this manuscript brings out every witch, daemon and vampire nearby. This manuscript has important information, and Diana's the only person to get her hands on it in centuries. Her life is in danger, but there is one unlikely person who will protect her: the ancient vampire Matthew Clairmont. Their surprising friendship begins to deepen into a romance, however, which puts Diana even more at risk, because of the ban on inter-species relationships. Diana has refused to use her magic since she was a child, but she may have to learn how to control it now, if she wants to survive.
This book was interesting in the sense that I don't know if I loved it or hated it. Certainly, there were aspects of both. The beginning was quite slow, but even when nothing interesting was happening, I still enjoyed reading it. I did listen to the audiobook version, so perhaps it was the narrator that made it more enticing for me. Either way, it did begin to get more interesting when Matthew was introduced and the story became slightly less about historical details and more about character relationships. I found almost every scene set in the library boring, so I was also happier when the settings were switched up. I had no difficulty continuing after the first bit, even if some sections later on irritated me. I was determined to push through to the end by that point.
One major thing that bothered me was the character of Diana Bishop. Matthew kept talking about how brave she was, and everyone else in their world seemed to agree. Personally, I didn't see it, and it annoyed me every time it was mentioned. The only 'brave' thing she may have done was enter into a relationship with a vampire, and she didn't even really think twice about that. Diana had good reason to be afraid of magic, yes, since it did lead to her parents' deaths, but she whined and complained an excessive amount when her family began to insist she learn some magic for her own safety. This, combined with some other scenes that I won't mention to avoid spoilers, started to convince me that she wasn't brave - just stupid. And since she was supposedly super-smart with a PhD and invaluable to Oxford, the contradiction bothered me too.
Another of my love/hate things in this book was Matthew and Diana's relationship. There were times when I thought that it was cute, or could be good for them, or good for their world, even, but then other times when I just cringed. Matthew was so overly protective, to the point of violence. Diana knew a lot about history, sure, but she didn't seem to have much real-world experience to attract Matthew, a thousand-year-old vampire, to her. Their relationship progressed much too quickly, based on the amount of time they actually spent with each other. A lot of people have compared their romance to Bella and Edward's in Twilight, and I have just one thing to say about that: no. Just no. Simply because both of the males are vampires, doesn't mean the relationships are similar in any other way.
One thing I did appreciate about this book was how well-built the settings and characters were. Aside from Diana, I thought the characters all had very good reasons for their actions and backstories to support them. The settings were also all very well-explained. There was a lot of historical detail, which I appreciate, because it helps to tie the world of the book to the world of us readers. There were very many characters, which could be expected from a book of this length. However, I found that they were all introduced in such a way to stamp them into my mind, since I found that I could easily remember just about every character when they were later mentioned.
Will I read this novel again? Probably not. But did I enjoy it the first time? Yes. There was enough good to balance out the parts that I didn't like, thankfully. I'd give this book a rating of three and a half stars, rounded to four. Even though there were quite a few aspects that bothered me, it was obvious that there had been a lot of work put into setting up the plot, and all the other details that I appreciated. I would recommend this story to readers who enjoy preternatural creatures, supernatural romances, and witchy magic.
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