Review! Witchfall by Victoria Lamb

London, 1554. At the court of Mary Tudor, life is safe for no one. The jealous, embittered queen sees enemies all around her, and the infamous Spanish Inquisition holds the court in its merciless grip. But Meg Lytton has more reason to be afraid than most - for Meg is a witch, and exposure would mean certain death. Even more perilous, Meg is secretly betrothed to the young priest Alejandro de Castillo; a relationship which they must hide at all costs.

In the service of the queen's sister, Princess Elizabeth, Meg tries to use her powers to foretell her mistress's future. But when a spell goes terribly wrong, and Meg begins to have horrifying dreams, she fears she has released a dark spirit into the world, intent on harming her and those around her.

Review: wow what a fabulous sequel to a magical novel. I was lucky enough to receive book one and book two from Random House for review and I am so pleased because I couldn't wait to start this sequel after having read the first book. I really don't normally like a lot of magic in books and mystical creatures such as witches but in this case, i can definitely make an exception. The first in this series introduces us to determined young witch meg and this book lets us get to know meg even further and she exceeds our expectations in terms of what she is capable of!

Overall this book is a lot darker than the first, there is more magic being brandished in this one, and at one point in the book, I genuinely feared for meg's life. I found that I couldn't read this book before bed because I would have nightmares, but that shows you just how good it was, that it got under my skin so much, just a warning that this one really isn't for the younger end of YA readers...

There was even more of a historical aspect to this novel with Henry VIII making an appearance as well as the spirit of Anne Boleyn, I found this historical aspect truly wonderful and very well researched. For me, it just added another level to this novel. We had the story of meg, the magic being worked, the possible love interest with Spanish priest Alejandro and the the historical aspect in terms of relationships between Elizabeth and each member of here family-truly inspired!

The love story intensifies in this novel too, Alejandro is still very much on the scene and making his presence known at court, and then when Elizabeth and her party move to Hatfield. Meg's family are also around more in this book which I found interesting, her brother and father seem to now be far more supportive of her and I think this only gives her more confidence to be even more of her own person and make her own decisions.

Initially I wasn't sure about the increase of magic in this novel, I didn't think I was going to like it, but when everything ties together at the end of the book, you realise that the magic is a key ingredient into the events of this novel and the development of the characters within. Another great read and definitely something to recommend, the only bad part? We have to wait until next summer for the next book!

You can get your copy of Witchfall now by clicking here...