Book Review: The Betrayal of Maggie Blair

When Maggie's grandmother is accused of witchcraft, the sixteen-year-old has to run for her life. With English soldiers 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's to come....

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The Betrayal of Maggie Blair is a fascinating look into a world where small mistakes can lead to huge consequences and what you believe can get you killed. Historical Fiction never ceases to surprise me with the way it can weave together history and modern principles. Elizabeth Laird has done a great job with that in this book. The Betrayal of Maggie Blair isn't just about history, but also about one girls journey of self discovery and finding out what she is willing to stand up for and believe in.

Trouble was always following Maggie. But regardless of that fact, she remained surprisingly optimistic. Not only that but she hardly ever thought of herself. She was a very selfless character which I really liked. Another character that I thought was fascinating was Tam. He wanted to be helpful, and quite often he was, but at the same time he was only looking out for himself. At first I couldn't decide whether or not I liked Tam because he would waffle between being trustworthy, and then doing something completely selfish. But by the end of the story I really liked Tam and I understood why Maggie really loved and trusted him.

This book sort of had an episodic nature to it. Maggie would get out of one problem only to get thrust into another. It wasn't a bad thing, but it just made the everything fairly predictable. The great thing was that with every problem that Maggie faced, she would grow as a character, and by the end of the book she finally realized where she belonged in the world.

I give The Betrayal of Maggie Blair 4 out of 5 ice cream cones!

Julia :)