Recent Read #3

I know I have two more Recent Read posts to write but I can't help but blog about The Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.  As the title implies, it's about witches, vampires and daemons and I am ashamed.  I downloaded it while I was at home sick (call it a moment of weakness) and its been like a train wreck - I just can't look away. 

In summary, the story is a mix between Harry Potter, DaVinci Code and Twilight (I haven't read the series but I'm just guessing - you'll see why).  Multiple times during the course of reading the book, I've put it down and said out loud, "That's enough.  I really can't read anymore" but have always picked it up again.  This would be the book I would have written as a preteen.  And these are the reasons why:

• Dark, handsome and filthy rich knight in shining armor
• Smart, independent, stubborn and orphaned female protagonist
• Lots of time spent in libraries
• Adept horsemanship by both main characters and ample time describing it
• Blossoming, intense, almost feral teen-angsty romance

Regardless, I am impressed by Deborah Harkness, particularly the way she uses words to weave the story (with science even!) and the settings into images that can't help but play in your head.  The amount of research that went into writing this book can't have been small.  But I can't shake the fact that this is a love story between a witch and a vampire and the "trials and tribulations" that come with it.  I feel slightly tainted after reading the "steamy" scenes, simultaneously laughing out loud and cringing.  And I'm oddly embarrassed as the witch and vampire form their relationship over doing YOGA and learning to appreciate WINE together.  Seriously?

In all honesty, I will probably finish the book since I only have 100 pages to go and, unfortunately, wait anxiously for the rest of the trilogy to come out.  I'll just have to cleanse myself afterward with a good dose of reality.