4/5 stars
Have you ever had expectations of a book that were came completely from your head? That's how I feel about Witchstruck (Gooreads | Amazon), which I 1000% thought was going to be a book with a lot of kissing. Do not ask me where I got that idea. The description talks about a young witch named Meg Lytton, living in an England on the brink of inviting in the Spanish Inquisition, who is sent to Woodstock, the old dump of a palace, to service the disgraced Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII. A witch and a disgraced princess? Sounds like my type of story.
The last line of the description does mention that Meg is drawn irresistibly to the young spanish priest Alejandro de Castillo. And from there my kissing expectations SKYROCKETED. Once Alejandro is introduced, it's clear that him and Meg have fiery chemistry, plus there's the whole forbidden romance angle of her being a witch and him being a future Catholic priest (though apparently he's in a fighting branch of the priesthood that's allowed the marry).
The flirtation between these two is just as fun and ridiculous as you would imagine. Even though the chemistry is immediate, there is no insta-love in sight but admiration built over time and theological debate. Meg spends quite a bit of this story fainting, but no worries Alejandro is always around to take care of her afterwards. She also has a tendency to be accused of being a witch (or get caught doing witchcraft) which brings Conflict! Religion! Drama! to the forefront. Meg is a strong and stubborn character who stands up for herself and is willing to risk everything to protect her family. She's determined to be true to herself, no matter the cost.
This book is a guilty pleasure, but for me the emphasis is on pleasure. Sometimes you want a book that's a little bit silly and a little bit swoony. Add in a dash of real life history regarding English royalty and you have a pretty good recipe for an enjoyable book.
I received an advance reading ebook in exchange for an honest review.
3 comments:
I got this one too as a galley. I'm glad you liked it. It does sound really interesting. And I like the combination of historic content and witches and romance.
Johanna @ Challenging Reads
I think it's always fun when you take real history and add fictional elements. Gives you a little bit of both worlds.
This sounds so cute! I thought I had preordered this or got a review copy, but I guess I didn't. To the library!
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