A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Description:

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

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.

Honestly, when I first finished this book I really liked it. Now that it's been a little while I'm not sure (and after some thought I was annoyed with myself) why I liked it so much. It's another one of those Twilight type stories where the guy is a vampire and wants to protect the helpless little female (even if it means killing someone who wasn't actually that much of a threat).

The thing is, Diana can protect herself. She just needs to find her power. OK, that just made it sound even more cheesy. I apologize.

I wanted this to focus more on Diana's growing powers and belief in herself but she was so annoyingly focused on her love for Matthew that he has to help her with her powers. Whatever.

This is the first book in the All Souls Trilogy. I am tempted to read the next book in the series just to see where it goes. Hopefully to less cheesy territory.