The Betrayal of Maggie Blair

photo © 2008 Monterey Public Library more info (via: Wylio)













Title: The Betrayal of Maggie Blair


Author: Elizabeth Laird


Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt


ISBN: 9780547341262


Available: April 8, 2011


Source: Net Galley

Maggie Blair is accused of being a witch. If it was the 21st century all would be fine in the world, but in 17th century Scotland that accusation can bring imprisonment and most often death. Even if she does escape, her family and their Presbyterian faith will lead her to the same fate. Maggie faces many tough decisions in the course of these pages and none of the choices can lead to good....or can they?

Words can't explain how I felt about this book. This book is well....awe inspiring. With all of the paranormal books available for teens out there, I thought this would be another vampire/undead sort of book. I was wrong! This is the history they don't normally teach about in school or in church. Although it was a little slow at first, it really picked up around page 30 and I couldn't put it down. A word of warning for tender hearted, there is a little blood, not so detailed but I could definitely imagine what was seen, heard and smelled. This book has so many realistic scenes that it came to no surprise that the author, Ms. Laird, actually has a real link with the characters in her genealogy. As with many well written suspenseful books, this one kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering just how we got to this point and how were we going to get out.

Ms. Laird who is actually an author from the U.K. has many young adult books on her wall of fame. I, unfortunately, have never read any. That will soon be remedied! She loves to travel and has traveled quite extensively throughout her life and those travels figure quite widely into her books (she was even once chased by a rhino). She has a website and a blog so you can find out even more about this very talented author.

This book gets a 7 out of 7 thumbs up from me, but a word of warning for those who squirm at the thoughts of injustice done to those who deserve far better, there is a bit of blood and gore.

This book was provided to me free of charge from NetGalley. I received no other compensation for this review and all thoughts contained within are all my own!