A Discovery of Witches

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A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1)

Deborah Harkness

Viking Penguin: 2011, 579 pages

Audiobook length: 24 hours and 2 minutes

Read by Jennifer Ikeda

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Diana Bishop comes from a long line of witches (think back to Salem, Massachusetts) but refuses to give into her magical heritage.  She focuses instead on her work as a historian, spending the year in Oxford for her latest research.  When she unknowingly comes across a magical manuscript thought long lost for centuries, the creature world becomes abuzz with excitement.  Soon there are witches, vampires, and daemons coming into the Bodleian Library in droves, including one Matthew Clairmont, a very old and very intense vampire.  They all believe Diana holds the key in unlocking the bewitched manuscript but Diana doesn't want to be a part of it, at all.  Soon events bind Diana and Matthew to work together while facing increasingly dangerous enemies.  Audiobook narrator Jennifer Ikeda does an excellent job creating a soothing voice in Diana while also managing a wide variety of accents.

Pennyroyal Academy

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Pennyroyal Academy

M.A. Larson

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers: 2014, 320 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

A girl, later named Evie because she has no name, leaves her family in a far away place, traveling through the haunted forests to come to the bustling city in order to enlist at Pennyroyal Academy.  Pennyroyal Academy trains future princesses and knights in order to fight the war against the witches and dragons.  Ever fearful of being cut and having to leave the Academy, Evie must survive the rigorous training by the Fairy Drillsergeant while also navigating this new world of friendships and enemies, of mean girls and cute boys.  The outside war continues to get closer to the Academy while also becoming closer and alarmingly personal for Evie.  She must draw on all her strength and courage in order to not just stay at Pennyroyal Academy but also to just stay alive.

The Hangman's Daughter

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The Hangman's Daughter

Oliver Pötzsch

Ullstein Taschenbuchvlg: 2008, 448 pages

English version published by AmazonCrossing in 2010

Reviewed by Jessie Park

The first in the Hangman's Daughter series, the historical fiction novel is set in Germany in 1659.  Jakob Kuisl comes from a long line of executioners; he himself is the current hangman in the town of Schongau.  When a young boy is fished out of the river, dying not from drowning but from a brutal attack, the people notice a crude tattoo on his shoulder.  The townspeople are convinced that it is a witch's mark and that the local midwife murdered him.  Jakob is not convinced and neither is the young physician Simon or Magdalena, Jakob's headstrong daughter.  As more children are found slaughtered with the same mark on their shoulders, the main characters race against the clock in order to save the midwife and save the town from the hysteria that will surly bring a bloodbath if it is not stopped.  Readers should be aware that there is violence, including scenes of torture but it is not excessively gory.

Anna Dressed in Blood

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Anna Dressed in Blood

Kendare Blake

Tor Teen: 2011, 320 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Cas Lowood is not your average teenager: he's a ghost hunter.  He is constantly traveling with his mother and his ghost-sniffing cat, putting to rest dangerous ghosts who like to kill.  Following a tip, Cas and his troupe head to Canada to find a ghost called Anna Dressed in Blood.  Anna was murdered in 1958 and still wears the dress she was killed in, except that instead of the color white, the dress drips blood red.  While Cas is efficient and has yet to meet a ghost he can't defeat, Anna is different.  She's not known to spare the life of anyone who dares to enter her house but for some reason, she spares Cas's life.  Readers should be aware that there is a hint of explicit language.  There is violence throughout the book.  It is not extremely graphic but enough to make the more squeamish uncomfortable.  There is a sequel titled Girl of Nightmares.  

Dead Witch Walking

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Dead Witch Walking 

Kim Harrison

HarperTorch: 2004, 416 pages

Audiobook published by Tantor Audio

13 hours and 14 minutes

Reviewed by Jessie Park

In an alternate reality, humans live side-by-side with the paranormal entities (called Inderlanders) such as witches, vampire, werewolves, and pixies after a terrible bio-disease wiped out half the human population.  Rachel Morgan is a witch bounty hunter with the Inderland Runner Services but she's stuck in a rut.  She decides to quit and somehow ends up starting her own runner business and partnering with the Service's best runner, Ivy, a living vampire.  But the IRS does not like it when employees break their contracts and Rachel soon discovers that there's a bounty on her head!  The hunter becomes the hunted in this delightfully entertaining and funny first book of the Hollows Series.  Narrator Marguerite Gavin does a great job creating unique voices for each character.