Meg Lytton is the maid of Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry the 8th and Anne Boleyn, who has been banished to the countryside until her sister, Queen Mary, decides if she should be tried for treason, even though Elizabeth hasn't done anything to deserve it. And Meg is a witch, a real witch, who has been taught the craft by her Aunt, and who is teaching the Princess what she knows. Keep in mind, this is a time when even being accused of being a witch will end up with you either hanged or drowned.

I loved the premise of this book, but the actual execution had me a bit confused. Meg doesn't seem like she is a stupid girl, but she doesn't go to any great lengths to hide the fact that she is a witch! This was almost too much for me to get past, but I really liked Meg, so I ended up enjoying the story. There was a love interest, who happened to be a priest in training, and a Spanish one at that. Does the Spanish Inquisition ring any bells? Yep, that was going on right about this time. Meg didn't hide the fact that she was a witch from him, either, and when he covered for her and just accepted it, that almost stretched my imagination to the breaking point. But this is a fantasy, so you kind of have to throw caution to the wind and accept these little discrepancies!

I ended up enjoying this book quite a bit, and for that reason I'm giving this book 4/5 stars. ( )

I read for character, and this character just didn't seem compelling to me. Too reckless, to foolish to be a surviving witch in Elizabethan times. ( )

Meg is a witch. She's also a servant to the imprisoned Elizabeth Tudor. Under Elizabeth's sister's Catholic rule, both Meg and Elizabeth are in danger. The arrival of representatives of the Church, and the attention of the village's witchfinder, make things even worse for them.

The priests are there ostensibly to teach Elizabeth about the Catholic faith, but she knows they are truly there to spy on her and report back to her sister, Queen Mary. One of those priests, the young and very observant Alejandro, learns secrets about Elizabeth and Meg that could get them both killed. The witchfinder has long wanted Meg for his wife and he's not above using any means to achieve that end. Meanwhile, Meg's beloved aunt is deathly ill, her brother is involved in a political plot, and her whole world seems to be crumbling around her.

I'll say one thing for this book: it started fast and never slowed down. The action is non-stop, whether it's to do with witches, evil potential bridegrooms, or politics. Even though there was much less magic than I'd hoped for, there was enough plots and schemes to make up for it. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next volume in the series.

(Provided by publisher) ( )

I requested this book to read from netgalley as I'm a huge YA/magic/witches/Tudor freak - all of these things in one book? Score!

Unfortunately, all in all, the book fell a little short of my expectations.

The book is mainly about Meg, who's taught by her aunt to become a witch. The book being called "Witchstruck" I thought there was going to be a lot more magic, and there's really very little. Meg talks a lot about being proud to be a witch, but rarely performs any magic other than using the powers of her voice to convince people to do stuff.

Meg is a servant to Elizabeth, who's imprisoned by her sister, Queen Mary, aka Bloody Mary. I thought there'd be a lot more to that side of the story, considering Queen Mary regularly killed both Catholics and "witches" a like, but this doesn't come to play at all.

There's a small romance subplot between Meg and Alejandro - a young priest in training - if I had to rate just that part of the novel, I'd give it one star because the romance felt very fake, very forced, like an afterthought that was written into the novel.

I read and love YA - read a lot of YA - but the age on this felt more middle school than teens - so I was slightly disappointed there, but I take no "points" off the book for that, just one personal thought.

All in all, I'd rate this 3.5 stars if I could. Everything was GOOD just not quite what I was hoping for. I'm not sure if I'll read the rest of the series / more by this author.
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This should have worked for me. Paranormal set in Tudor times during Elizabeth I's banishment to Woodville.

Ugh. Such petty, mean-spirited entitled characters.

Cannot believe was published in U.K. first as a Random House Children's book (in U.S. by Harlequin). It's pretty dark with the type of witchcraft that uses bloody entrails and suspected witches are tortured and put to death in probably more detail than should be in a children's book.

Cruel magicks deemed "harmless" ... nope. I realize M.C. was a girl in a misogynistic world, servant class, etc. But still often petty and unthinkingly self-involved; an unlikable and often hypocritical bunch of unsympathetic characters.

The time period is an interesting one, as are some of the rare glimpses of Elizabeth (who here condones and even participates in witchcraft). But that's more because I find that setting interesting than because this book made it interesting.

I should have DNF'ed. What kept me going: a quick enough read, reading during Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon, a library borrow meaning I read first, with unbelievably high reviews and recommendations from friends. Seriously, what were they thinking to praise this?
Readathon ( )