Although I had some problems with the first part of the book, the story redeemed itself. I did eventually grow fond of Meg and Elizabeth, and I look forward to reading the sequel.

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.

If you’re a historical purist, than Witchstruck may not be the book for you. Lamb has woven together historical figures and events with fictional characters and the supernatural. It’s an unusual combination but one that I really, really enjoyed

Thoroughly enjoyed the world-building, but found the characters a little less compelling than they could have been. Still a good read.

It has been 8 years since I requested this title and I still haven't read it. I am still interested in the book and have since purchased a copy for my shelf but I don't know when I will get to this at this point, if ever. I appreciate the approval for this title and if/when I do decide to read I will leave a review on instagram, goodreads, storygraph, and amazon. thanks again for the approval.

Witchstruck kinda skates by on the strength of its premise: what if Queen Elizabeth I, while still princess and imprisoned by her sister Queen Mary, had a witch for a maid? If that sounds fascinating, this book doesn't disappoint; even though it's alternate history, there's plenty of real stuff to back things up. But it does require just accepting certain things for the plot to work, and while I had no problems doing it, I'll admit this is probably not a book for everyone.

While I wasn't hugely impressed by the character building, I was captured by the plot. It's fast paced and kept me on my toes.
And best of all, the entire story happens with a very interesting time in English history as the backdrop, and a lot of the Elizabeth versus Mary, Protestant versus Catholic, England versus Spain politics of the times shines through, directly affects the story.

I really liked this book, even if there are things about the plot I just had to buy, holes I had to fill in, like Meg being a little too good with magic towards the end and solving all her problems rather conveniently. But Witchstruck offers an interesting glimpse into a fascinating period in English history and I have to say I enjoyed i