Book Review: Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

 

Goodreads Summary: Set in contemporary Paris and London, and the American colonies during the upheaval and unrest that exploded into the Revolutionary War, a sweeping story that braids together the past and present.

On the battlefields of the American Revolution, Matthew de Clermont meets Marcus MacNeil, a young surgeon from Massachusetts, during a moment of political awakening when it seems that the world is on the brink of a brighter future. When Matthew offers him a chance at immortality and a new life, free from the restraints of his puritanical upbringing, Marcus seizes the opportunity to become a vampire. But his transformation is not an easy one and the ancient traditions and responsibilities of the de Clermont family clash with Marcus’s deeply-held beliefs in liberty, equality, and brotherhood.

A passionate love story and a fascinating exploration of the power of tradition and the possibilities for change, Time’s Convert will delight fans of the All Souls trilogy and all readers of magic, the supernatural, and romance.

Goodreads Rating: 3.93 stars with over 49,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Paranormal, Vampires, Witches

Previous Reviews on the Series: A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, The Book of Life

Goodreads Challenge: 12/30

2023 Reading Challenge: #31 Read a book with the word "time" in the title (Find the entire challenge here

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! Surprised to see an actual book review post from me? Yeah, I am too. I'll likely go back to this format. I withdrew from my classes recently. I decided that 3 degrees were enough, and I was only torturing myself by trying to pursue a doctorate. So we are returning to my routine of promising more content and never fulfilling that promise. Please let me know if there are some discussion or content suggestions.

Anyway, on with my thoughts on Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness. Fair warning, there are spoilers ahead. This is a recently published (2018) addition to the All Souls Trilogy. I'm not sure if this is considered a spinoff or if it's lumped in, and the other 3 are still being marketed as a trilogy. It takes place after The Book of Life ends and mainly follows Marcus and his fiance Phoebe. Diana and Matthew are still in it, but take a backseat and become supporting cast. Because of this, the vibe of Time's Convert was a bit different.

The story switches between the present day and Marcus's life as a new vampire during the Revolutionary War. It also provides Phoebe's point of view as she becomes a vampire and Diana's while she and Matthew help Marcus come to terms with things that happened in his early days. Because of this, the story felt more introspective instead of driven by events or drama like the other books. I appreciate that Marcus's reflections on his life happened chronologically. It made it a lot easier to follow.

I liked that Deborah Harkness provided snippets of Diana and Matthew's lives as parents to twins. They weren't the main characters, but they were there enough to feel they were still involved and took on the role of parents to their crew. The ending was really sweet. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more books following Marcus and Phoebe, but it also ended in a way that feels like the story could be closed.

Overall, if you like the All Souls series, I recommend this. However, I would only read this if you have read the other three. There are a lot of characters, and their personalities wouldn't make sense with this out of order.