A Discovery of Witches: Of course, a better love story than Twilight

In a review that is better late than never, we look at the Shudder Original series, A Discovery of Witches and how it stacks up to others of its kind.

Before you say anything, I know A Discovery of Witches came out in January. There has been a TON of amazing things to come out in the first few months of the year, it’s mind blowing. I deserve to be judged and there is shame.

But, that aside, I finally got to finish A Discovery of Witches and I just have to say that Shudder is knocking it out of the park lately in their original programming. Looks like Netflix has a BIG contender when it comes to original content.

If you haven’t seen A Discovery of Witches yet, no judgement from me. The story follows Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer, Lights Out), a clumsy but talented witch that refuses to use magic after the death of both of her parents in a plane crash.

She has worked her way to a prestigious offer from Oxford University as a historian but must finish her dissertation before she can be officially offered. Her specialty is alchemy, so she digs into the books of alchemist Elias Ashmole and requests book 782 and finds that it is steeped in magic.

Because she opened the book, she awakens a power inside of herself as well as gaining the attention of all of the other creatures around her like vampires and demons. One vampire in particular catches her eye and his name is Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode, Watchmen). He is a tasty piece and gentle vamp and she digs that…hard.

Image courtesy of Shudder

In a whirlwind romance, they get all kinds of touchy feely but their romance is forbidden in an agreement to keep the peace among the species. To which they say…SUCK IT! A Discovery of Witches also stars Valerie Pettiford, Malin Buska, Owen Teale, Elarica Johnson, and Lindsay Duncan.

The story gets really busy and is fast and convoluted at times, but it is an interesting watch. While it does lose a little bit of steam around episode 5 or 6, it does pick up again. I LOVED the chemistry between Diana and Matthew. Even though the romance escalates comically, the love between them is extremely believable.

I am not one to say vampires are especially sexy, but damn Matthew is sultry. They hit the nail on the head in terms of making him a seductive character.

While the story itself isn’t extraordinarily original, it is based on a book by Deborah Harkness. I really enjoyed the highs and lows of the show, although it did take work midway through to keep me involved, but by the end I was invested completely. You can watch the entire show on Shudder, and while you’re there, be sure to watch The Last Drive-In and Critters: A New Binge.

What did you think of A Discovery of Witches? Sound off in the comments!