The things you hated about Twilight don’t exist in A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches is a perfect combination of romance, action, and drama

The world has a love/hate relationship with the Twilight series. Those people who hate it really hate it, and they won’t watch it no matter what. That doesn’t mean they don’t like vampire series; they just didn’t care for Bella and Edward’s romance, especially since the movies revolved around their love story. And some psychologists have denounced the relationship as unhealthy!

A Discovery of Witches, a series based on Deborah Harkness’ books, doesn’t point only toward the romance, which is one good reason why viewers who hated Twilight will, most likely, fall in love with the Sky One series. Here are some others.

The main character, Diana Bishop, isn’t helpless

In A Discovery of Witches, Dr. Diana Bishop is a witch who doesn’t even realize the depth of her power yet. That’s vastly different from Bella Swan who was constantly needing to be rescued or protected. Diana withstood torture and still didn’t break. She took on witches with serious abilities as well as vampires with grudges, and she didn’t back down.

In addition, she has utilized powers that haven’t been available to witches in centuries. Needless to say, she differs greatly from teen Bella who still didn’t seem threatening even after she was changed.

The vampires in the series don’t sparkle

This has long been a bone of contention with fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. According to them, vampires aren’t supposed to sparkle in the sun; they’d supposed to turn to dust. Of course, that was Joss Whedon’s world.

In the world of Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series, Edward Cullen’s skin sparkled like it had been rolled in diamond studs, perhaps to make him more alluring to potential victims. While the rules are different for vampires in A Discovery of Witches, there is no sparkling.

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The vampire in the series, Matthew Clairmont, doesn’t control Diana

In Twilight, Edward is in charge of the relationship he has with Bella. When he doesn’t want her to go see Jacob (the werewolf), he takes the keys to her truck.

He sneaks into her bedroom at night to watch her sleep before they’re even dating. When she’s attacked at her birthday party, he decides to leave her because he thinks he’s protecting her. Ordinarily, couples make such monumental decisions together.

Once Matthew and Diana are in a relationship, they’re on equal footing. They take care of one another, and no one person calls the shots. They make decisions together, and they have mutual respect for one another.

The vampires in A Discovery of Witches are both lethal and terrifying

Let’s face it. No one would see Carlisle Cullen as terrifying. His presence didn’t cause other vampires to be on edge, partially because he was too perfect. And, though Edward is portrayed as frightening, in reality, he, too, had that air of perfection that made it difficult to find him scary.

The vampires in A Discovery of Witches don’t have to try to be scary; they just are. And they have no problem using whatever means necessary to gain the information they need, whether it’s almost draining a witch of her blood or keeping a witch’s head captive in a cage. Even the most powerful of witches are intimidated. Definitely not something you’d see in Twilight.

A Discovery of Witches is worlds apart from Twilight, and while both have their fans, those who dislike Twilight will undoubtedly find a treasure in the supernatural series based on Deborah Harkness’ trilogy.

Have you given A Discovery of Witches a try? What did you like most about it? Share your thoughts in the comments below.