Sunday Series VIDEO Review: The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness
We are back with our Sunday Series Review and this time it’s a video one!!! This time Kim reviews the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. She rated the series…. 4.8 stars!
Books in the Series:
A Discovery of Witches
Shadow of Night
The Book of Life
A Discovery of Witches
Published: February 2011
579 Pages
Deep in the stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.
Shadow of Night
Published: July 10, 2012
584 Pages
J. K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, Anne Rice—only a few writers capture the imagination the way that Deborah Harkness has with her New York Times–bestselling All Souls trilogy. A Discovery of Witches introduces reluctant witch Diana Bishop, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and the battle for a lost, enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782.
Picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night takes Diana and Matthew on a trip through time to Elizabethan London, where they are plunged into a world of spies, magic, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the School of Night. As the search for Ashmole 782 deepens and Diana seeks out a witch to tutor her in magic, the net of Matthew’s past tightens around them, and they embark on a very different—and vastly more dangerous—journey.
The Book of Life
Published: July 15, 2014
561 Pages
Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved 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.
Now that you know what the series is about, here is Kim’s video review:
Purchase Links for the Series:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Here is Kim meeting Deborah Harkness:
Sunday Series Review: The UnWind Series
Today Kim reviews The UnWind series by Neal Schusterman. I am sure you all know by now how much she loves him! He is becoming a favorite author of hers.
The UnWind Series by Neal Shusterman
Books in the Series:
UnWind
UnWholly
UnSouled
UnDivided
UnBound
Series Summary Description:
After the Second Civil War, the Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen. However, a loophole allows parents to retroactively get rid of a teenager through a process called “unwinding.”
Three teens defy the system and run away from their unwinding: Connor, a rebel whose parents have ordered his unwinding; Risa, a ward of the state who is to be unwound due to cost-cutting; and Lev, his parents’ tenth child whose unwinding has been planned since birth as a religious tithing.
As their paths intersect and lives hang in the balance, Connor, Risa, and Lev must work together to survive—and they may change the fate of America in the process.
UnWind
Published: June 2, 2009
353 pages
In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would “unwind” them. Connor’s parents want to be rid of him because he’s a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev’s unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family’s strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can’t be harmed — but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.
UnWholly
Published: August 28, 2012
417 pages
Thanks to Connor, Lev, and Risa—and their high-profile revolt at Happy Jack Harvest Camp—people can no longer turn a blind eye to unwinding. Ridding society of troublesome teens while simultaneously providing much-needed organs for transplanting might be convenient, but its morality has finally been brought into question. However, unwinding has become big business, and there are powerful political and corporate interests that want to see it not only continue, but also expand to the unwinding of prisoners and the impoverished. Cam is made entirely out of the parts of other unwinds; he is a teen who does not technically exist. A futuristic Frankenstein, Cam struggles to find identity and meaning and wonders if a rewound being can have a soul. And when the actions of a sadistic bounty hunter cause Cam’s fate to become inextricably bound with the fates of Connor, Risa, and Lev, he’ll have to question humanity itself.
UnSouled
Published: October 15, 2013
433 pages
Connor and Lev are on the run after the destruction of the Graveyard, the last safe haven for AWOL Unwinds. But for the first time, they’re not just running away from something. This time, they’re running towards answers, in the form of a woman Proactive Citizenry has tried to erase from history itself. If they can find her, and learn why the shadowy figures behind unwinding are so afraid of her, they may discover the key to ending the unwinding process forever. Cam, the rewound boy, is plotting to take down the organization that created him. He knows that if he can bring Proactive Citizenry to its knees, it will show Risa how he truly feels about her. And without Risa, Cam is having trouble remembering what it feels like to be human. With the Juvenile Authority and vindictive parts pirates hunting them, their paths will converge explosively—and everyone will be changed.
UnDivided
Published: October 14, 2014
385 pages
Proactive Citizenry, the company that created Cam from the parts of unwound teens, has a plan: to mass produce rewound teens like Cam for military purposes. And below the surface of that horror lies another shocking level of intrigue: Proactive Citizenry has been suppressing technology that could make unwinding completely unnecessary. As Conner, Risa, and Lev uncover these startling secrets, enraged teens begin to march on Washington to demand justice and a better future. But more trouble is brewing. Starkey’s group of storked teens is growing more powerful and militant with each new recruit. And if they have their way, they’ll burn the harvest camps to the ground and put every adult in them before a firing squad—which could destroy any chance America has for a peaceful future.
UnBound
Published: December 15, 2015
321 pages
Find out what happens to Connor, Risa, and Lev now that they’ve finally destroyed the Proactive Citizenry in this collection of short stories set in the world of the New York Timesbestselling Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman. Connor Lassiter’s fight to bring down Proactive Citizenry and find a suitable alternative to unwinding concluded in UnDivided. Now Connor, Risa, and Lev are free to live in a peaceful future—or are they? Neal Shusterman brings back his beloved Unwind characters for his fans to see what’s left for those who were destined to be unwound.
Kim’s Rating of the Series: 4.8 stars
Kim’s Review of the Series:
This series blew me away! Neal Shusterman is easily becoming one of my all time favorite authors. He manages to bring in philosophy without being pompous and boring. He takes controversial issues, keeps to neutral ground, and shows the reasoning behind both sides. You start out knowing exactly which side of the issue that you’re on, but then find yourself agreeing with some of the reasoning behind the other side. I didn’t think anything could top the Scythe series, but this one did.
I love Connor, Risa, and Lev so much. They are teens who start out with narrow viewpoints, as regular annoying teens and then are thrown into very adult situations, and they shine! The supporting characters are believable and fit the story perfectly. There are several rabbit trails that branched off of each story, but they were simple and easy to follow and keep track of. And as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that there’s a decimal up top in the rating. This was a difficult one to rate, mostly because I wanted so badly to give 5 stars. There were very small things that I didn’t like, a little teenage drama within the series, and some weaker short stories in UnBound that kept me from giving a perfect score. But overall, I loved this series, and I think this is the perfect series for teens. I might even be giving this series out as Christmas and birthday gifts this year! I would absolutely recommend this series to everybody!
Series Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
