"Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labelled 'This could change your life'."
-Helen Exley

"A novel is the chance to try on a different life for size."
-Marion C. Garretty

Friday, May 27, 2011

The Betrayal of Maggie Blair

The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird

Pages: 423
In Seventeenth-century Scotland, everyone knows that the devil is real.
Everyone knows that witches exist.
Everyone knows that saying the wrong thing can get you hanged . . .
When Maggie's grandmother is accused of witchcraft, the sixteen-year-old has to run for her life. With English soldier on the march, nowhere is safe--certainly not Ladymuir, where her uncle is determined to defy the king. And wherever Maggie goes, disaster follows. When an old enemy turns up at Ladymuir and settles in as one of the family, Maggie knows that trouble will result, but even she can't imagine the deceit and betrayal that is to come . . .

The Betrayal of Maggie Blair is a book that I have been wanting to read so badly! It was written wonderfully and it was a captivating book once I found the time to sit down and enjoy it! I've been so busy this week, I can't believe it took me this long to finish this book! And though I was pleased, there weres some things about the book that I didn't enjoy.

This book sounded so incredible, and it was, but it wasn't about the witch hunts in Scotland. Yes, the begining is and that's what leads up to the rest of the book, but I have to say I was dissapointed in the fact that after the trial, there is no more witch craft interferring in her life at all. Now, it doesn't say that the witch craft continues, but I assumed it did. Now, who, by the summary of this book, thought it would be all witchcraft? I'm sure many of you are all raising your hands right now (:

This book is about another interesting topic: the Catholic church and the Presbyterians. It was very interesting to learn about what the Presbyterians went through and amazing to see how deep in their faith they were. I lacked knowledge on the whole event in Scotland, so it was pretty cool to learn about that while watching Maggie struggle.

The Betrayal of Maggie Blair is a book about witches and religious battles, but more about a girl trying to fit into a world she has never known, struggling to figure out who to trust, and learning what is right and whether it is good in the Lord's eyes or not.

The plot is amazing because of the topic and the fact that these events happened to some of Elizabeth Laird's own ancestors. I really enjoyed this book even though it's not about what I thought it would be about. If you haven't read it, you should. It'll shed some light on Scotland's past in a gribbing adventure with a sixteen-year-old girl you will find easy to love.

And before I go, speaking of love, there wasn't much of it. I am a sucker for romance and amazing love endings, but I truly think that this book didn't need it. It had the perfect amount. Maggie is such a strong character, I think having a boyfriend, or courting, would have really softened her. She was marvelous.

Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars

2 comments:

  1. i've heard both good and bad things about this book. personally the lack of romance is a turn off, but I love me a good plot. thanks for sharing your honest thoughts :)

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  2. The lack of romance could be a turn off, and part of me wishes there was more romance, but I think it really helped her character prove that she was strong and could be independent. Read the book and see what you think, I'd love to read what you thought of it!

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