Meg Lytton has always known of her dark and powerful gift. Raised a student of the old magick by her Aunt Jane, casting the circle to see visions of the future and concocting spells from herbs and bones has always been as natural to Meg as breathing. But there has never been a more dangerous time to practise the craft, for it is 1554, and the sentence for any woman branded a witch is hanging, or burning at the stake.
Sent to the ruined, isolated palace of Woodstock to serve the disgraced Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and half-sister of Queen Mary, Meg discovers her skills are of interest to the outcast princess, who is desperate to know if she will ever claim the throne. But Meg's existence becomes more dangerous every day, with the constant threat of exposure by the ruthless witchfinder Marcus Dent, and the arrival of a young Spanish priest, Alejandro de Castillo, to whom Meg is irresistibly drawn - despite their very different attitudes to her secret.
Thrilling and fast-paced, this is the first unputdownable story in a bewitching new series.
Review: a fabulous novel about a witch who is friends with Elizabeth 1, as unbelievable as this sounds it really makes for a great story! Meg is a wonderful main character, we discover thought the novel that she is a witch as has been sent to Woodstock to serve Elizabeth as she has been exiled here. We also know that she has an aunt who is a witch and a father and brother who might have the ability to betray her. Meg is actually a very strong woman who knows her own mind, when those around her try to trick her or boss he around, she doesn't allow it, she doesn't use her magic very often, but when she does, she makes sure that she gets the maximum benefit from it.
Like all good witch tales, she comes under the suspicion of a witch hunter and it looks like it could all be over for meg. I have the admit,in found myself holding my breath during some of the scenes where she was being hounded or interrogated and there was seven a really low point where I had a little cry because of events going on in this novel!
Of course there is a love interest too, a saucy Spanish priest nonetheless, and even towards the ending of this novel, we never really find out whether meg succumbs to his Spanish seductions or not, I think this is wonderful twist to the story.
The thing that I really enjoyed about this tale is the historical accuracy. Tudors is a favourite period in history for me and so reading about Elizabeth and her relationship with her sister, and indeed the country, was excellent and definitely surpassed my expectations. I was lucky enough to receive the sequel to this fab historical YA fiction Witchfall and I can't wait to get on and get reading that-look out for the review soon. They are definitely something that should be added to your reading list!
You can get your copy of Witchstruck now by clicking here...
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