The Black Bird Oracle

• Author: Deborah Harkness
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: July 16, 2024
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio 
• Series: All Souls #5

Thank you to libro.fm and Penguin Random House Audio for providing me with an ALC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Diana Bishop journeys to the darkest places within herself—and her family history—in the highly anticipated fifth novel of the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling All Souls series.

Deborah Harkness first introduced the world to Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and witch, and vampire geneticist Matthew de Clairmont in A Discovery of Witches. Drawn to each other despite long-standing taboos, these two otherworldly beings found themselves at the center of a battle for a lost, enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Since then, they have fallen in love, traveled to Elizabethan England, dissolved the Covenant between the three species, and awoken the dark powers within Diana’s family line.

Now, Diana and Matthew receive a formal demand from the Congregation: They must test the magic of their seven-year-old twins, Pip and Rebecca. Concerned with their safety and desperate to avoid the same fate that led her parents to spellbind her, Diana decides to forge a different path for her family’s future and answers a message from a great-aunt she never knew existed, Gwyneth Proctor, whose invitation simply reads: It’s time you came home, Diana.

On the hallowed ground of Ravenswood, the Proctor family home, and under the tutelage of Gwyneth, a talented witch grounded in higher magic, a new era begins for Diana: a confrontation with her family’s dark past, and a reckoning for her own desire for even greater power—if she can let go, finally, of her fear of wielding it.

Well, consider me the worst Harkness fan, because I had no idea that there was another book scheduled to be released anytime soon, let alone this month. But since I loved all of the other books, I leaped at the chance to download this one from Libro. 

It was my first time reading one of the books in this series in audiobook format, and I found that Jennifer Ikeda did an outstanding job with the narration. She handles a wide range of voices, very different accents, and I never found it confusing as to who was speaking. I loved the persona that she gave to each character, and I found that they matched up with the depictions I had in my head of who they were.

While the first three books in the All Souls series felt like a complete trilogy, with Time’s Convert feeling a little like an outlier in the grand scheme of the series. I enjoyed the story, but it took readers in a different direction, providing backstory for one of the side characters who plays a big role in the first few books. With this book, it almost felt like the beginning of a new trilogy—the story returns back to the tale of Diana and Matthew’s life, with a growing focus on that of their twins, who are now seven. 

We get an inside peek at what Diana’s life is currently like. She’s blissfully happy with Matthew and the children, and they’ve been surrounded by family—both blood and chosen—all of whom are supportive and protective, especially knowing what they’ve gone through in their time together. So when Diana and Matthew start getting signs that trouble is brewing, everyone is on high alert. It starts with a demand from the Congregation to test the twins magic. It brings up traumatic memories of Diana’s childhood and binding of her magic, so she is determined to take a different path to protect her children.

Diana answers a letter she receives from a great-aunt she didn’t know about, saying it is time for her to come home. She returns to Ravenswood, the family home of the Proctor side of Diana’s family, and enters under the tutelage of her great-aunt Gwyneth to learn more about higher magic. But we know things never run smooth for Diana and company, so of course this all occurs right on the eve of the anniversary of the Salem witch trials, and her infamous ancestor was the first witch to die. On top of that, Diana is dealing with her own trauma surrounding her magic, and some strife in the witch community. 

I always have high expectations from a Harkness book, and this was no different. Much like the others, this one also exceeded my expectations. I really enjoyed seeing so many of my favorite characters from earlier books—not just Diana and Matthew, but Ysabeau, Rebecca and Pip, and then getting to know some new characters, like Gwyneth Proctor. I was a little disappointed to see Matthew fading into the background a bit in this story. Also, while a big portion of the tension in the story centered on the testing of the twins’ magical abilities, I found the actual testing to be somewhat anticlimactic. Aunt Sarah, who was an understanding and kind character throughout the earlier books has made a dramatic shift in this one, letting her own anger and resentment get in the way of looking at things clearly. But the presence of the Black Bird Oracle cards were wonderful—they were like a type of tarot card with a mind of their own.

I’m hoping that this is the start of some more books that are forthcoming in this series, because I loved this series so much right from the very first book, and it broke my heart to say goodbye after Time’s Convert. But after reading this, there’s a definite sense of being unfinished, with more story to be told, and I am here for it. Harkness has a well-honed gift for writing a plot that I can’t put down, combined with well-developed and incredibly rounded characters, immaculately researched history, and the kind of series that I just plan to drool over until it’s complete. 

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