Shadow of Night

Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2)
Deborah Harkness
Penguin Group
goodreads

synopsis:

Deborah Harkness exploded onto the literary scene with her debut novel, A Discovery of Witches, Book One of the magical All Souls Trilogy and an international publishing phenomenon. The novel introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782.

Now, picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies, subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night that includes Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh. Here, Diana must locate a witch to tutor her in magic, Matthew is forced to confront a past he thought he had put to rest, and the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens.

Deborah Harkness has crafted a gripping journey through a world of alchemy, time travel, and magical discoveries, delivering one of the most hotly anticipated novels of the season.

A Discovery Of Witches (the first book in this series)  left me a bit torn. I liked it, but wasn't sure how I felt about the story overall. As I said in my review (which you can read here), I was going to give the second book a try to see how I felt about the series. Well...

I loved Shadow of Night! I thought it was just awesome; It definitely exceeded my expectations.

WARNING: there are kinda spoilers from the first book, so don't read any further if you haven't read it yet. There won't be spoilers for book two.

I'm not much of a history buff, but the trip back to the past was so enthralling! Diana is a witch, and she goes back to a time when witch hunts were becoming commonplace. It was so suspenseful! I didn't think that I'd like that aspect of the book so much, but it kept me turning the pages! This is kind of a long book, but it didn't feel like it at all; I read it pretty quickly!

When I read the first book, I wasn't sure how I felt about Matthew, Diana's vampire husband. I'm glad to say that I like him much more now, even though he's still far from perfect. I think their relationship really changed for the better in this book.

You know, I'm not really much for historical stuff, but this one was so fascinating to me. I guess I liked the paranormal aspect added in.

I'd definitely recommend this series! I can't wait for the next book!