There's No Beginning, There Is No End

"There is no point in arguing with me. 
I know this from experience.
Before you I was nothing but dust and shadows.
You brought me to life.
And I cannot survive without you."

--Deborah Harkness, The Book of Life

Genre: Adult Paranormal

Publisher: Viking Adult

Pages: 576

Publication Date: July 15th, 2014

Source: Bought

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Previous Books in Series: A Discovery of Witches & Shadow of Night

Goodreads Description

The highly anticipated finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Discovery of Witches

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 characters 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 consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.

With more than one million copies sold in the United States and appearing in thirty-eight foreign editions, A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night have landed on all of the major bestseller lists and garnered rave reviews from countless publications. Eagerly awaited by Harkness’s legion of fans, The Book of Life brings this superbly written series to a deeply satisfying close.

Love 

Where do I begin? WARNING: SPOILERS FOR A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES AND SHADOW OF NIGHT AHEAD. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. I love all the love. I love these characters. At the core of why I am obsessed so much with this series it is because of the characters and how invested I am in their story. I re-read A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night prior to The Book of Life and I am so happy I did. Not only because it reminded me of plot points I forgot, but because I LOVE spending time with these characters. I realized just before starting TBoL that, honestly, I did not even care if we got the answers to the mystery surrounding Ashmole 782. I didn't care if we never found out the origin of their beginning. I cared about the characters. The love these people have for one another is deep and epic. They live and die for family. Family of blood, marriage, friendship, all of it. You know the character development is good when you really care nothing for the mystery (and trust me, I DO CARE about the mystery) but I was more concerned with how these characters would end up after the final page. I wanted them to be okay. I NEEDED them to be okay...and happy...and in love. I don't know how else to verbalize my deep love for the characters of this book except I am crossing every finger and toe that I have in hopes Deborah Harkness writes more stories about these characters. There is a lot that could be said...and a lot that has already *coughPhillipeAndYsabeaucough*

The Plot 

Now while I'm all on board the character development train, when I do stop to think about everything else I loved about this book it is that the writing of the plot is incredible. I am a firm believer in the final book of any series not just being a wrap of all the unanswered questions. I love when a final book has its own standing plot and story to tell while weaving in the answers from previous books. This book does just that. We delve further into plot points that I never saw coming and we get answers to questions I never thought to ask. The magic (yes I went there) of this book is in all the details.

The Surprises 

I'm not going to lie. There was a lot that surprised me about this book and it was all good. We meet new characters that end up playing a huge role. We are re-introduced to some favorites we thought long gone. And we get characters we thought we hated surprising us in the best way and making us see them in a whole new light. There were so many happy dances going on in my head while reading that I really feared a heart attack at some points. Is Dr Whitmore in the house?...Rawr...

The Fight 

While I love a good love story be it romantic, platonic, family, whatever, the fight to protect those you care about I love just as much. The sacrifices and battles Matthew, Diana and the entire Bishop-Clairmont bunch goes through is inspiring. And they fight with their brains. I could not get enough of how intelligent these books and characters are. They fight for answers but with microscopes and research. The race to find out where they came from and WHAT Ashmole 782 is, while does get physical sometimes, is all about the power of the mind. I think this aspect is forgotten a lot in books. It felt amazing to read an intelligent book featuring ridiculously intelligent people. It made me want to go back to school.

The End?

...It ended. With tears rolling down my pathetic face I was so incredibly sad to see these characters go. I didn't want it to end. I was hesitant to even start it because I was so sad it was the last book! I want more stories. I need more stories. Can we get a trilogy about Philippe and Ysabeau? How EPIC would that be? Plus I just love them so hard. Le sigh.

VIP

Without a doubt one of my all-time favorite series. These books are no freaking joke and have every element I love in a book. History, romance, adventure, mystery, books (!), travel, and a big sexy alpha male like a cherry on top of a sundae. Read these books, guys. You won't regret it.