The Procrastinators Book Club discussion

Welcome to the A Discovery of Witches Buddy Read Discussion thread! This thread officially opens on October 5th and anyone can join at any time. Please keep in mind that spoilers are allowed in this thread but only up to the group's current reading place. Do not spoil the book if you've read further than the group. Any extra days can be used to catch up!

Each day we will be reading by chapters or page numbers. Page numbers are an approximation based on the hardcover or paperback that is the default on Goodreads. The suggested Buddy Read discussion schedule is as follows:

Week of 10/05
October 5th Chapters 1-7
October 6th Chapters 8-12

Week of 10/07
October 7th Chapters 13-17
October 8th Chapters 18-23
October 9th Chapters 24-29
October 10th Chapters 30-34
October 11th Chapters 35-38
October 12th Chapters 39-43

PARTICIPANTS
~ Leslie
~ Juliane

Hi, how are you doing with the book?
I'm unfortunately a bit further behind than expected and only up to chapter 7 but so far the story reads quite well.
I looked up the Duke Humfreys reading room of the Bodleian and it is such a beautiful place, would love to just walk around and stare at all the shelves ☺️
The magic use is interesting so far, be it the ghostly creatures created by Dianas mother, the way magical creatures notice each other or how Diana seems to attract other magical beings especially while pursuing acting, although a lot of it seems quite volatile.
Not sure how I feel about Matthew yet, there clearly seems to be an urge to protect Diana, although who knows to what purpose and the whole stalking her room at night is creepy.
It's quite funny how everyone of the magical beings seems to think the worst of the other groups "... vampires were well below cats and at least one step below mutts..." 😂
Interesting how Diana tries to live her life without magic as much as possible but I have to agree with her aunt that specialising in Alchemy seems to be a weird subject in that regard.
I hope to hear more from Agatha her views into Daemons were fascinating.

I’m a little behind too but expect to get caught up tomorrow (I’m on chapter 13 now). It’s funny how you mention looking up the Bodleian. When I read this and the Beinecke was also mentioned I started imagining the Bodleian being similar to it (I used to study/research at the Beinecke during winter breaks when I was getting my undergraduate).
I agree that the take on witchcraft, magic and the other non-humans is somewhat unique but I was like where are the werewolves? And some of the stereotypes of each are debunked a bit. I liked the explanation in chapter 12 (great chapter!) that “somewhere in each of these stories, there’s a nugget of truth”. I have come to like Matthew once I got his thoughts and struggles in his hunting chapter - much more sympathetic. I’m getting a little freaked out and angry at the other witches though. Especially the London ones. They are very bigoted and retaliatory from what I’ve read so far. No wonder Diana doesn’t want to associate with them.

Now I just had to look up the Beinecke as well 😄 I hope it was as nice to learn in there as it looks.
Thoughts up to chapter 18:
I find the question about Werewolves justified, I also wondered since so far there seem to generally be no other magical creatures (like fairies or ghosts) in this world.
The general bigotry not just from one group of creatures to another but also the infighting between themselves is quite astonishing. I mean the vampires of Matthews research group can't be the only ones who notice that all groups except humanity are decreasing. One would assume at least one group would be capable of opening their minds just a little towards some form of cooperation.
I find Matthew much more pleasant through the chapters in his point of view but nothing good can come from him keeping so many secrets from Diana.
Also wondering if all vampires consider their makers/fledglings as parents/children the way Matthews family does. I imagine there could be a lot of potential for conflict if for example a person was turned against their will.

Chapters 19 to 26
The Clairmont castle sounds so fascinating, the deal they have with the villagers definitely needs further exploring as it seems to go against the whole idea of nobody should notice any of the three groups of creatures, but I guess Isabeaus life there would be difficult to explain any other way.
I'm glad we are finally getting more information about vampires and Matthew especially because his whole protecting-ploy while sharing no information whatsoever and sometimes treating Diana like a child was becoming a little annoying.
All the possibilities of Dianas abilities are intriguing, the way the witchwater was described as well as her new visions, there is so much potential there.

Thoughts up to the end
I did finally finish although I was surprised how for me some of the parts seemed to drag on, I did not expect that at the beginning.
What was up with the whole kissing means marriage idea? That was kind of creepy especially because it once again came from a point of Matthew ommitting information. Though I am glad the way Diana and Matthew managed to bring forward their relationship.
Isabeau and Marthes development in regards to Diana was really interesting, the way the Clairmont and Bishop families opened up to each other was generally fun to read about, especially Diana seing Isabeau as a mother figure was heartwarming after everything she has been through.
I do hope nothing bad ever happens to Tabitha during the rest of the series 😆
Would have liked to have longer scenes of the whole group living and organizing themselves in the Bishop house, it seems a bit crazy to think the whole book plays in just one month. All the various decriptions of the inner live of the house were really fascinating.